Getting Towards the End

This entry will just catch some of the final follow-up stuff.

Since Breaking the West Wind is going viral on the internet, let me pass on a few instructions for those who are just coming on board.  If you haven't read all of the blog entries, start from the bottom and read up.  I know, it's stupid, but that's the way Blogspot does it.  You may have to click on the November link on the right to get to the first entry.  Click on any picture to get it in large size, then click the back link to continue reading the blog.

This last entry will probably be the last (assuming the planes make it back to Roanoke tomorrow), but I'll be sticking stuff in it, like the pictures we've been taking.

Yesterday, Saturday, was spent returning the truck and getting Ty to the mall to see Santa Claus.  Harry stayed home nursing his cold and watching college football.  Ty spent most of the day as Spiderman.


We took some family photos......

First, the Mike Sellers family of Mike, Amber, and Tyler.......

Did we mention what a lovely home they have in the outskirts of Albuquerque (have we mentioned how hard it is to spell Albuquerque correctly)?  They live in a great, quiet, neighborhood ..................................





We're stealing internet access from some good neighbor.  Mike's hub has a password that's been lost and we haven't figured it out yet.

Dennis has made a real friend with Kokomo the dog - guess which one is Kokomo and which one is Dennis....

And a picture of the boys taken by Amber.....

We did make it to the Al Unser Museum on Sunday, which was a nice experience, one recommended for even NASCAR fans.....

Dennis and the family also went down to Old Town while I stayed with Tyler and nursed my cold.

We're starting to think about getting home and what we'll return to.  Dennis is thinking about cows, Harry about...................

Day 4+ - We're Here!!

We arrived, after 1800+ miles, in Albuquerque about 11:45 AM on Friday.  The ole Penske did great, with the possible exception of the less than 13 MPG (with the windows up).

My nephew, Mike, and his son Ty (pictures to come) were here to greet us as we backed the truck up to their garage with the loot.  They have a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood in NW Albuquerque.  After a brief visit, we were unloaded by 2:00 PM and off to a nice lunch at Village Inn.

On something we failed to post:  One of the more interesting characters we met on our trip was our waitress in Tucumcari, NM, on our final night on the road (not what you think).  She is a young community college student who left Michigan with her horse to come to Tucumcari to study rodeo.  She is a barrel racer and goat tier (go figure on that one).  She will be graduating this month and be on the rodeo circuit shortly if she can get her money lined up.  She did a good job waitressing.

Back to our current blog:  On the way from Tucumcari, on I-40 Dennis' wants on this trip were completed.  A guy from Iowa passed us like we were sitting still pulling a 1950 John Deere B restored back to new condition.  Our Penske lost the draft at 75 MPH and we thought we'd lost him - we were needing a picture, but a few miles later when we pulled in to a truck stop in Santa Rosa, NM, there he was still fueling.  So we made acquantence, and took a picture to fullfill Dennis' Christmas wish.

One of Ty's first questions of Grandpa (Dennis) was "where's your girl?"  Hmmmm....good question.  But after a little more investigation it became clear that Ty was asking about Kay, Grandpa's wife.
After the good lunch we had play time with Cocomo the dog, who's energy is unending.  Amber, who was the only one among the whole bunch that was working, finally made it home about 6:30 PM on a Friday evening.  After some visiting, we went to the local Applebee's for dinner.

Everyone sort of slept in on Saturday.  Amber prepared a great back east breakfast (redneck) of eggs, fried potatoes, biscuits, with jelly, and the best coffee since we left home (Beth would have even liked it) - Mmmmmm, mmmmmm.  Even though we had the truck until Monday, we decided it would be a good time to return it, so we declared victory and took it back. 

Nadine, our GPS (I know, it's just wrong to name your GPS), had been a trusty companion on our trip, and she did her job one last time to get us to the Penske return center.  We had developed a positive relationship with the truck, and sort of hated to part ways (Dennis was definitely misty eyed).

We'll add some more family pictures later.  Currently, it's time for Ty to get Grandpa to take him to see Santa Claus and for Uncle Harry to catch up on some football.

Score:  Dennis 2,  Harry 2 - Going in to overtime.......

Day 3 - Breaking Through OK and TX

Minions of followers, a quick update, with more to come.  We are giving our butts a rest in Tucumcari, NM for the evening.  We left Cheecotah, OK this morning, made it to OK City by 9:00 AM and had a wonderful visit of the OK City Memorial Museum.  Truly inspiring. We also hit the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX, which is not truly inspiring. We crossed Texas and entered New Mexico about 7:30 PM eastern time.  We are in Tucumcari for the evening.  After I get something to eat (already had a nice libation), I'll try to post some pictures and update you on the day.  So stay calm.  We'll be back.

BTW, tonight Quality Inn does not offer refunds for less than 15 minutes in your room. But it does offer a room with a TV remote that works.

Also, note that you can click on any picture (even though misplaced in the blog) and it will come up in full size.

...........................................................................................

OK, we're back from great comfort food at Rockin' Y's  Restaurant where chicken fried steak and hamburger steak were abundant.

This morning, we left Cheecotah, OK about 7:00 AM and were at the OK City Memorial about 9:00 AM.  We've been doing whatever our GPS told us, and so far, so good.  She's taken us to all the important places we needed to go.

Upon arrival at the Memorial, we were approached by a guard (after all, we were in a rented Penske truck) who, for about 30 minutes, gave us all the low-down on the Memorial.  It was great, and can't really be covered in this blog.  But it's one of the better museums I've been to and really covers what happened on April 19, 1995.

From there, where we'd stayed two hours and exceeded the time on our parking meter by 60 minutes (no ticket), we continued west on I-40, finishing our trip across OK, and in to the big state of Texas.  But we only went across the top, the panhandle, so it didn't take long.  But as we passed Amarillo, we did stop briefly at the Cadillac Ranch.  Nothing to go back for, but something you're glad you've seen one time.  Another two hours, and we are in Tucumcari, NM, only 3 hours from Albuquerque and the end of our 1700+ mile journey.

Tomorrow, we should be there by noon and enjoy a nice weekend with our son/nephew Mike, his wife Amber, and son Tyler.  We're looking forward to it.

That will complete the breaking of the west wind.  We may do another blog or two, but no guarantees.  Keep your cards and letters coming.  We do appreciate them even if time does not permit us to respond to each one.

Parden the screw-up with the placement of pictures on this blog - it ain't easy.

Dennis - 1, Harry - 1

Day 2 - Travel Day

OK, OK, OK.....we know our fans are waiting on today's update, but you have to give us time to get off the road, into a motel, and start blogging.  So here goes.....

To give you a feel for where we are....our motel had a sign on the front desk that says "If you stay in your room more than 15 minutes, we are unable to give you a refund".  And that is the second motel we stopped at.  We're in Checotah, OK.

Today was a travel day.  We got a decent night's sleep in Nashville.  I awoke to a loud alarm, got up quickly, showered, and headed west on I-40 at about 7:30 AM.  Lots of traffic leaving Nashville, but out of it quickly.  On to Memphis, and in to Arkansas (former home of Bill and Hillary Clinton, some of our favorite politicians) - showers before we go to bed tonight.  That brought up an involved discussion of Clinton/Pelosi, but we're not going there in this blog.  Lots of non-bearing lands in AR and discussion on field sizes, which have increased exponentially as we moved west (that's the farmer in Dennis).

We crossed Arkansas, and headed into Oklahoma (Oklahoma is OK).  We stopped in Checotah, OK, a real toddling town.  Actually, it's dark so we haven't seen anything.

We're a little over 100 miles east of Oklahoma City.  We plan to drive there in the morning and visit the Museum commemorating the bombing.  Then, in to Texas and maybe the Cadillac ranch in Amarillo.  We still look to easily make it to Albuquerque on Friday.

MPG is still dropping, even with the windows up.  We're breaking the west wind with a head wind.

Dennis - 1, Harry - 0

Day 1 - The Rain Day

Our first day on the road got off to an early start.  Beth was taking me to wait at Hardees thinking Dennis wouldn't be out of bed, when surprise,surprise, my cell phone rang and it was Dennis on I-81, exit 156, only 6 miles away.  And it was only 6:50 AM.  We both pulled in to the parking lot at the same time, bought a quick Hardee's breakfast, and were soon heading in the rain south on I-81.

There are few plans, but one that had come into fruition yesterday, was that we'd be going by Murfreesboro, TN on the way to Nashville for the night, to visit a Sellers relative who had some roots on the farm we had both been raised on.  With trepidation, we headed to TN not knowing whether this was a good idea or not.

And it rained........and it rained some more..........and then it really rained.

As we got west of Knoxville, we called William (Bill) Sellers, an 89 year old first cousin of our fathers who we'd never met.  He identified us as those Sellers who lived on Whiskey Creek, so we knew we'd made a connection.  We were in Murfreesboro by about 3:00 PM, and had a wonderful meeting with him covering a lot of family history that we won't put in this blog. Bill spent two summers in the mid-1930's on our farm, getting away from the Polio epidemic, and had interesting stories to tell of those times with our father and grandfather.

From there, we headed the 30 miles to Nashville, settled in to our La Quinta, and met Whit and Jess for a great meal and wonderful reminiscing of the wedding..

Our "gas" mileage is 13.44 MPG breaking the west wind.  Our next tank, we're dedicated to trying with the windows rolled up.

Preparation

Two weeks ago, Dennis started trying to figure out how to get a free truck.  He spent a good part of one day calling all the rental companies for their best deal.  The best deal, initially, was Budget, but after setting up a contract with them, Penske called with an offer he couldn't refuse.  So we're in a 12 ft. Penske, automatic, NO CRUISE CONTROL, but automatic headlights, so we're OK.

When you are a farmer, you can't just head out for a week.  Dennis got up Sunday morning, fed the cows, and got them in pasture where he could move them into a 15 acre hay field, where they'll have to look out for themselves while he's gone.  He went to church (Maw would be proud), and got his short nap in during the sermon.  Came home from church all rested up, Kay fixed a nice lunch.  After lunch, Lady (Dennis' trusted collie dog/helper) and Dennis moved the cows into the hay field (described above).  Lady has been given her instructions for watching the cows and guarding Kay with any free time she has remaining. 

Dennis also had to talk to BO (Barack Obama the Black Angus bull) explaining to him that he didn't want a lot of fence torn up while he was gone and expected him to stay at home and not visit the neighbors (unlike his namesake).  Hopefully, Lady and BO have a clear understanding of what is expected of them in Dennis' absence.

Monday, D-day for the truck, Dennis picks up the truck. He had to go to Waynesboro to pick up the truck, do his normal wrangling in getting the truck, and hurry back home to have his son-in-law, Chris, load it for him. Being late, as usual, getting back home with the truck, Chris had all the furniture already moved out and ready for loading. Now, that's pretty good to have your son-in-law do that his last day of his Thanksgiving holiday.

OK, the truck's ready, rented, loaded, and ready for breaking the west wind.

Why this Blog?

It's the result of overwhelming demand.....

My brother, Dennis (otherwise known as Big Bro), and I will be heading west to Albuquerque, NM beginning Tuesday, November 29, 2010.  We will be taking some furniture from our original home in Augusta County to his son, my nephew, Mike, and his family who live there.  We will be driving a small Penske rental truck and I will try to chronicle all the excitement. Or, at least I'll chronicle all the excitement that 1700+ miles of I-81 and I-40 can produce (expect a short blog).

Actually, I had no intentions of keeping a blog for this trip.  I figured Harry and Jim's Excellent Adventure (http://choteau2010.blogspot.com/) would be impossible to match and enough on travel, but our minions of fans are demanding it, so we will attempt to accommodate.

The plan is to leave when Dennis finally gets out of bed on Tuesday and drive as far as Nashville that day.  There are no plans after that.  Actually, we do plan to arrive ABQ sometime on Friday, December 3, and we do have United Airlines tickets returning on Monday, December 6.  Tuesday, we may go through Murfreesboro, TN to track down a distant relative, who's father was born on the same farm in Augusta County that we were.  Other than that, maybe visiting with Whit and Jess Tuesday evening, and stopping at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, we have few plans.  Once we get on I-40 in TN, we just plan to keep breaking the west wind.