Day 35 and 36 - Thurs and Fri

It has been a long two days. Thursday was the worst of the trip. Going through Wyoming was nail biting. The winds were blowing at up to 75 mph! Swil Kanim said that driving the RV through that wind was like trying to drive a styrofoam cup. We started out really early on Thursday (at 6:30am) in the hopes of getting a lot more miles in. About a half hour into the trip the winds were gusting unbelievably hard. We came upon a truck that had just been blown over by the wind. Another truck had stopped to help and we attempted to do the same but it was blowing way to hard. We kept trekking on and within another 5 minutes we came upon another truck that had blown over! It was unbelievable! We kept going at a pace of about 40mph and after about an hour and a half we made it to a truck stop and pulled over to rest our nerves and eat. We talked to some truckers and some said we should just keep going. As long as we go slow we should be okay. So we continued on at a turtles pace and blowing all over the road. It was quite a LOOOOOONG drive! We finally made it out of Wyoming and into Utah. It was still windy in Utah but not as extreme as Wyoming.

We got as far as we could and finally got too tired to continue so we found an RV spot and got some rest.

We headed out this morning with great weather and NO WIND! So we got to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Utah. I have to say that it has been one of my favorite states to drive through. I love the texture of the landscape. Nevada was not too spectacular scenery wise but we enjoyed the nice weather. After finally getting into California it seemed like it took forever to get through Sacramento. There was a lot of traffic and congestion everywhere. To me it felt like the longest part of trip was getting from Sacramento to San Francisco. Then we had to drive through San Francisco to get to the RV park and of course traffic was at a stand still.
I was so ready to get parked and just relax.

Tomorrow we will be picking up Gene at the airport and attending the reception for all the actors, producers, directors and performers. Then Swil Kanim and Gene will head to the sound check and then the awards show. It will be interesting to see what those two will come up with for their performance.

That's it for now.... my brain is tired!

Day 34 - Wednesday Nov 12th

Today was another good day of travel. We got a very late start from Odessa, Nebraska. We wanted to get a run of CD's made and also rinse out our tanks.

We finally left around noon and we stopped in North Platte, NE at a Flying J truck stop to fill up.

While we were filling up a couple stopped and asked Swil Kanim about the RV. They (Jeff and Tina Bullock) were traveling with a 5th wheel. They noticed the Tree Logo on the back window and asked if Swil Kanim was a musician. The gentleman happened to be a songwriter from Nashville and they have a home in Wyoming. Swil Kanim asked them if they would care to have lunch with us. They had already eaten but joined us anyway. It was a great conversation and we had a great time getting to know a little about them and their adventures. Jeff told us some great stories and Swil Kanim told them some of his stories. We all talked about meeting people in our travels and how there are no coincedences. That we all run into people for a reason.

I'm sure we will cross paths with them again. We exchanged contact info, gave each other hugs and said goodbye.

I am so thankful for the people we met on our paths. Thank you Jeff and Tina for the great conversation, it was so good to meet you!

After that stop we headed back on the road and ran into some strong winds in Wyoming.

We got horrible gas mileage from the head winds and after getting blown all over the road we decided to call it a day and stop in Laramie at a KOA campground. We didn't get as far as we planned but we also know that God has His own plan and its much grander than ours. So, we are thankful for the delays.

We got a call today from our friend Gene Tagaban and he is planning on flying out to San Francisco for the Awards show, if he can find a good flight. We invited him to stay with us in the RV to save money and then he will drive back with us to Bellingham. It will be good to have him aboard. Swil Kanim and him together make for a very interesting trip! They crack me up!

Frog-n-Raven back on the road again!

This should be interesting!

Day 33 - Tuesday Nov 11th

Happy Birthday Swil Kanim!!
Happy Anniversary Mr. Marshall!
Today was a good day of driving. We did run into a little rain but nothing too bad.
We traveled North out of Missouri and then up through a tiny portion of Iowa and then headed West through Nebraska. We thought we were going to go West through Kansas but wound up going farther North than we thought. I had hoped to go through Kansas and be able to go throught Hays and Colby. Hays is where my daughter Chrisi was born and Colby is where I went to High School. I guess there probably isn't much to see there anyway....especially if you're just driving through.
We ended up stopping in Odessa Nebraska. We found a small Motel/RV park just off the highway. It's kind of run down and looks like it's been here forever. The man at the desk was in his farmer overalls and was just as cute as can be and very welcoming. He reminded me of my Grandpa, just a good old down home man.
After we got settled in Swil Kanim received a phone call from our good friends Ann and Leroy.
They sang Swil Kanim the Birthday Song and then followed it with The Happy Anniversary song.
Then right after he got off the phone it rang again and it was our friends (more like family) Joe and Lindsey Bowen and their two little daughters Adia and Alexandra. They were all singing Happy Birthday to Swil Kanim. It was the cutest, funniest thing. Then, believe it or not, right when he got off the phone it rang again. This time it was his Mom and she had everyone in her house sing Happy Birthday to him. It was crazy!! It almost seemed like everyone got together and planned to call him one after another.
The best part of the day for him is that earlier in the day he received a text from Stephanie that said "Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary"
I think this was probably the best birthday he has had in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time!!

We were planning on getting some CD's made tonight but I am looking over at Swil Kanim and he is out like a light. I think I will let him sleep.

Day 32 - Monday Nov 10th

We headed out at about 9am. Not very early but we had to wait for the RV park office to open so that we could get a receipt for our stay.

I received a phone call from my best friend Kim from Colorado. She is a great blessing in my life and I miss her dearly. Her dad is suffering from Cancer and is not doing too well. I pray for him and the whole family. It was good to hear from Kim and I wish we could have stopped in Colorado and stayed a while with her.
We traveled about 500 miles today and made pretty good time. We went through West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and half way through Missouri!! I managed to snap pictures of each road sign with the exception of Missouri...I did get the Arch, though!

So, we are spending the night at Columbia Missouri. We are still managing to have wonderful weather as we travel. We are thankful for that!

Day 31 - Sunday Nov 9
It is 8pm and we just got settled into a KOA Campground in Milton West Virginia.
We didn't get a very early start this morning. We had laundry to do and so we didn't leave Virginia until about noon.
The temperature in this area is much colder. It's the first time we've really had to wear our jackets in a while.
We didn't make very many stops today. We just listened to the radio and were both lost in our own thoughts. We only traveled about 350 miles today so tomorrow we need to get up early and get some miles under us. It looks like we wont be going through Texas which is a real bummer.
Our route will be taking us up and through Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. That of course could change due to weather.
Tomorrow will be a long day!

I did get a picture of my beautiful daughter Chrisi and granddaughter Sofia tonight! ahhhhhh!!!