COMPLETING THE CIRCLE

Sunrise from the windshield as we start our "stop and drops" home

Bessie has now made 3 “Grand Circles” (from NC to CA and back) and depending on how you measure it we have made 4 in vehicles and 8 or more if you include flying over the middle of the US. Bessie has traveled at least 36,000 miles since we bought her in 2010.  Each time we learn something new about our vast country.  Some of the things that struck us this time:

The desert bloom in Arizona and California was spectacular.  The desert is not always brown.  But I’m not sure I’d feel that way if I had never seen the desert brown in the summer.  While the blooms were amazing on their own, the contrast to the other times we had seen the desert was what made it so special.  Seeing California’s “golden hills” green was pretty amazing too.  I had never thought of Southern California as having seasons, but their spring is truly special.

Each town, city and region has something special.  This time we discovered dates in the desert.  Where else can you get a “date shake” or a 3 pound box of dates for $15?  Unfortunately we only bought one, and they didn’t last as long as they should have!!

 Another example is the rocks, geodes, and petrified wood in Quartzsite and Holbrook.  The first time I learned about geodes were when Dave and his Dad brought some back on Dave’s first cross-country trip when he was in high school.  They are still fascinating.  We are bringing some home to Abbie and Ella.  Will they find them fascinating and remember their first encounter with them?  Will they make a Grand Circle, and take their children on one?

One of the delights of this trip was the serendipitous discovery of RoadSideAmerica.com.  It helped us find some really quirky, fun, and unique examples of Americana as we traveled.  We’ll never forget the 5 million barrel oil tank in Texas, or all of the fiberglass statues in Hatch, NM. We have told almost every camper we’ve met about the site!  Yesterday, it lead us to a small restaurant in Little Rock that had a miniature train similar to the one at old Charlotte Hotel restaurant, close to the ceiling of the restaurant.  The big difference was it was rigged so that the train delivered your food to you by lowering a boxed tray down to your table.  The place was packed with families with children!  (See the video at www.all-aboardrestaurant.com)  

train, delivering food at All Aboard Restaurant

Another good website or actual app we discovered is “RV Parks”.  It gives you a map of the RV parks and RV friendly businesses (ie. where you can actually park a big rig and/or get gas – see July 7, 2011 post:  "How to Put Gas in the RV") in any area you zero in on.  Their park ratings are pretty meager, but it has helped us out several times and is easy to use.  On each trip, we remark about how much we rely on the internet and GPS.  I am continually amazed at how Mom and Dad did even more Grand Circles without either (and stayed married!!).  I keep a paper atlas by my seat, but it’s the GPS and Google Maps that really gets us there.  And without them we would have trouble finding the fun stops after we settle Bessie into a park.

The bronze statues on the Canal Walk in Oklahoma City

(one of our early homeward stops)

And now for Deb’s list of funky signs. 

•     Soulman’s BBQ
• Sharon’s BBQ (in Abeline, Tx…. My sister is Sharon… who knew she could wield a green egg!! NOT)
• St. David’s RV Park  (the Saint part eliminated it from being “my” David’s… lol)
• “Left lane closed… use both lanes….Take turns merging… merge here”   - what a better way to handle a lane closure!!  Seen in Texas.
• Hogs and Hops BBQ (you know what you can get there!!)
• Simply Kneaded (I thought it was a bakery, turned out it was a massage parlor!)
• Slim Chickens (a not-fried chicken fast food place)
• Hog Wash (a car detailing place in Arkansas – Razorback Country)
• OK RV Park (and you would just have an OK time there?... lol   I was really hoping it was an OK KOA!)
• And my favorite:  ROOT 66 RV PARK (from the homemade sign, I think it was true a misspelling!)

So far I’ve been unsuccessful at finding all 50 state license plates.  Three have eluded me.  I still hold out a little hope for Vermont and Rhode Island, but now that we’ve left the West, the odds of seeing Hawaii are slim. (I saw 3 Alaskas!!)

Sometime Wednesday as we were driving through Arkansas, and we realized we were truly back in the South.  The hills and mountains had trees (as opposed to scrub and rocks) and the deciduous trees were leafing out with that wondrous “new spring green.”  Redbuds and Dogwoods were sighted and admired along the interstate!  So we have reveled in two different springs, the amazing desert bloom, and the familiar but still glorious spring in the Southeast.  Mollie tells me that when I get home, our crabapple tree is about to bloom, and “my” doves have returned to nest in the planter I put out for them on my front porch.

As I write this we are barely out-running a storm that is marching across the Southeast.  It is just about the first rain we’ve encountered.  We are between Birmingham and Atlanta.  Depending on the weather, we will stop for the night, or push on to Charlotte.  We had thoughts of investigating  a park on Lake Hartwell near Clemson, that we might like to bring the girls back to this summer, but with the weather will probably push on the Charlotte.  (We did.)