The Adventure: Mineola, Texas to
Olathe, Kansas to Richmond, Virginia
Wednesday, May 9 – Sunday, May 13,
2012
Wednesday, May 9
Our grand
adventure to Washington, DC began around 3:00 pm today as we closed up the
house, double-checked to see that everything we needed was in the car (it
wasn’t, as we later discovered, but there was always Walmart), and headed north
toward Olathe, Kansas, and a visit with Whitney, Jim, and Little Jimmy.
We knew from
the beginning that we would have to spend the night on the road somewhere, so
we weren’t in a big enough hurry today to break any speed limits. We drove to Paris, Texas, and then cruised up
the Indian Nation Turnpike through Oklahoma, before catching U.S. 75 at
Henrietta for the Tulsa leg of the trip.
Our first
unplanned “adventure” began when we tried a new way of getting around Tulsa,
not allowing for getting caught in the dark and being unable to see what we
were doing. Barbara was the navigator,
striving to keep one eye on the map and the other on the road signs. We found what we thought was the right exit
to Pearl Harbor Memorial Drive, but it was really the exit to Memorial Drive,
not the same thing at all. Memorial
Drive has many intersections with traffic lights, and all seemed to be
programmed to turn red as we approached them.
Not only that, but when we finally found the end of the street, we were
dead-ended at some airport buildings, rather than connecting to U.S. 169 North.
After some
prowling around in the dark, we found our way to a convenience store and got
the directions we needed. But, it was so
late and we were so tired, that we made it only as far as the Best Western
Hotel in Owasso. We were able to get a
room for the night and went straight to it, even foregoing computer time, and
crashed until morning.
+++++++
Thursday, May 10
We had a nice
breakfast at the hotel and then hit the road again, just trucking it on toward
Olathe. We decided it was time for a
break when we saw the signs for Chanute, Kansas. What we didn’t know was that Chanute is
actually several miles off the highway, but by the time we figured that out, we
were committed to going on.
We made a
brief stop at McDonald’s and then the driver decided that there was a better
way of getting out of town than backtracking to U.S. 169. There was, but somehow we missed it big time
and after driving 30 minutes toward what the driver thought should be the
highway, the navigator convinced him to turn around. We eventually found what we wanted and got
back on the highway headed the right direction.
Getting lost twice within twelve hours was not a good sign.
The rest of
the trip into Olathe was unremarkable in any way, but the driver, with a set of
directions that Mike had given him at Christmas locked firmly in his brain, got
off I-35 at the Santa Fe exit and proceeded toward Whitney and Jim’s house.
We made a
quick Walmart stop and continued the search for the street we wanted, but
couldn’t find it. Barbara called Whitney
for directions, told her where we were.
I then remembered that the set of directions Mike had given me that
night in December was to Cici’s Pizza, NOT the kids’ house. Whitney got us straightened out and soon we
pulled up to the front of the house to find Whitney and Little Jimmy standing
at the door and waiting for us.
After
unloading the car, we decided that we needed lunch. Little Jimmy’s recommendation was Panera, so
that’s where we headed, and where we had a grand time eating and visiting.
When we finished with our meal, we
returned to the house for a bit and Jimmy showed off his dance moves as he
played with a Wii program. We’d never
seen such a thing, but soon both Jimmy and Whitney were busting some great
moves as they danced to various songs.
Little Jimmy, we found, has more rhythm in his little finger than the
two of us have in our whole bodies! Who
knows, maybe we’ll see him on American Idol or Dancing with the Stars someday
(that is, if he makes it to one of those shows and someone calls to tell us to
watch, since we’ve never seen either of them.
After Jimmy and Whitney had rested
from their dance/aerobic session (and we had rested from watching them), we all
got into Whitney’s car and she took us to the Deanna Rose Farmstead, a local
attraction that gives kids (young and old) opportunities to see farm animals
and implements up close. Jimmy, of
course, went immediately to the playground area where he could swing, climb,
and slide to his heart’s content.
Jim joined us
at the farmstead when he got off work and we all watched Jimmy at play. We even got a demonstration of cow-milking
before we left and learned some new things along the way...guess education
never stops, huh!
We returned to the house for dinner
and an evening of family fun and fellowship as we all got caught up with each
other’s lives and enjoyed Jimmy continuing his play. Of course, there were plenty of photos taken
along the way!
+++++++
Friday, May 11
As this was a
travel day, we got up early, loaded the car, had another quick photo session
with the kids, and headed off into the sunrise with hearts full of joy over the
short, but fun-filled visit.
Our goal for
the day was to have a leisurely drive across Missouri and then a few miles into
Illinois where we had reservations at a Best Western in Nashville. The “leisurely” part didn’t kick in until we
had gotten from the far western side of the Kansas City area to the far eastern
side, although the only dicey section was when we left I-35 for the I-435 loop. There was construction going on for a mile or
so on 435, but the traffic soon thinned out and we were able to maintain the
speed limit until we got to I-70.
One of our
favorite rest stops along I-70 is the Russell Stover outlet store in
Boonville. We first stopped there
several years ago when Barbara and I were taking a West Middle School Odyssey
of the Mind team from Liberal to the University of Maryland for the World
Finals competition.
When I pulled
Big Red into the parking lot and the kids got out and went inside, they were
met by a very friendly staff. We
explained who we were and where we were going, and by the time we left, the
staff had loaded the kids down with bag upon bag of free candies. We also stopped there on our return
trip. When the kids told the staff that
they had placed 2nd in the World Competition, someone grabbed a
camera and soon there was a picture of the team on the bulletin board (and more
free candy for the kids to take home).
The store is now new and improved and
the old staff is gone, but we still enjoy stopping to see if we can find that
“just right” gift for someone.
Another of
our plans for the trip was to stop at rest areas along the way so I could
practice my trumpet. It was going to be
a long haul across the country and hotels and motels are seldom “trumpet
friendly,” so we decided we would just serenade truckers and birds along the
way.
Our first such stop was about an hour
or so east of Columbia. It should have
been a portent that the restrooms were only porta-potties, but not being strong
on portents, we pulled in so we could stretch our legs and I could toot my horn
for a bit.
While I was playing, Barbara decided
to have some fun with the camera. She
took some shots of me and then set the camera on the car to take pictures of
herself reacting to my playing (hands over ears, pained expressions, finger
twiddling, etc.). However, the joke
backfired when the camera suddenly slid off the top of the car, hit the
pavement, and broke what turned out to be a very important corner. Try as we might, we couldn’t get the camera
to turn on again. Luckily, all the
photos were saved on a SD card, but that didn’t help us with taking new photos.
As we
continued our route for the day, we looked for a place where we might be able
to get a new camera. We found a Walmart
along the way, but discovered that no one in the camera department knew
anything about cameras. Not only that,
they weren’t particularly interested in finding anyone in the store who did, so
we got back into the car and drove toward St. Louis, hoping to find a
replacement camera in that area.
We took the
I-64 cutoff as we approached St. Louis and made our way without difficulty
through the city and across the river to East St. Louis. From there it was a hop, skip, and a jump to
O’Fallon, Illinois, where we found an Office Max that had just what we needed
for a replacement camera. It wasn’t in
the budget, but we just gritted our teeth, bought the camera and a few extras,
and headed down the road to Nashville to settle in for the evening.
We found our
hotel easily enough, got checked in and unloaded, and then decided that after a
long, hot day of driving, a dip in the well-advertised pool would be the
perfect thing. Like many of our
thoughts, it was good at the time, but we quickly found that not only was the
pool closed, it was pretty well torn apart.
Oh well, so much for believing all the advertising one sees.
The saving grace, other than the nice
room and good internet service, was the little restaurant next door. We checked out the menu, ordered a couple of
chef salads to take back to the room, and settled in for a nice, quiet evening
and a good night’s sleep.
+++++++
Saturday, May 12
We were up
and at ‘em fairly early this morning...had a light breakfast at the hotel,
gassed up at the station next door, and headed east on I-64.
Our first
stop of the morning was at the Indiana Welcome Center. We got out and stretched our legs for a bit
and I managed to get in a few minutes of trumpet practice. There were very few others in the parking lot
at the time, so we think it is safe to say that we didn’t offend anyone very
much with the morning musicale.
Barbara suggested that we do some
comic shots, so I sat on the curb with my hat turned upside down as if I was playing
for donations. The money in the hat came
from my pocket and I thought more than once that someone might come along, take
the $5, and put back only $2. Now THAT
would have been embarrassing! Barbara
decided that since I wasn’t wearing the hat and no one was making donations,
she’d try it on for size and style.
Moving on
down the road, we crossed Indiana without any incidents, stopped on the eastern
side of the state for McLunch, and then continued toward the Kentucky state
line and Louisville.
After
crossing the Ohio River and then skirting Louisville on I-264, we made our way
across Kentucky before stopping at a rest area for yet another practice session
and some clowning around, not to mention a very necessary break for both of us.
Barbara decided that she had listened to me enough that she could probably play the trumpet, too. She strikes a good pose, doesn't she?
We ended
today’s travels at the Best Western Mall in Huntington, West Virginia. Luckily for us, there was a Sonic and a gas
station right across the street from us.
Since we needed both places, we drove over to fill up the car and get
something from Sonic for supper in our room at the hotel.
While we were checking our email in
the room, we received the following picture of Jaycie, all dressed up for the 8th
Grade banquet for Evans Middle School in Lubbock. It sure is hard to believe that Jaycie is now
14 and headed for Monterey High School next year. Where have the years gone?!!!
+++++++
Sunday, May 13
We left
Huntington in the rain this morning, but by the time we got to Charleston, all
we had was cloudy skies and perfect driving weather. Charleston is one of our favorite cities to
drive through. Each time we come here,
we wish that we could have several days to capture all the scenic views and
vistas. Barbara was busy snapping photos
as I kept my eyes on the winding road.
When we got
outside of Charleston, we made a decision to try some local food. We’d seen several signs advertising Biscuit
World and made a stop at one of their many locations. The stop was well worth the time and what
little we paid for our breakfast.
Barbara ordered a couple of biscuits, butter, and jelly, but I decided
to try the local specialty, a fried bologna, cheese, and egg biscuit. It was delicious and so big that it took me
nearly a half hour to eat the whole thing.
Biscuit World will definitely be on our agenda the next time we come
through this part of the country!
Our next
stop, after a brief photo op stop at a rest area, was at Tamarack, the West
Virginia Arts and Crafts Center. We’ve
visited Tamarack before and loved it every time. It is so nice to see a state that puts its
money where its mouth is to support and fund the arts. We can think of a couple of unnamed states
such as Texas and Kansas that would do well to emulate West Virginia’s example.
When we stopped at Tamarack and I
started practicing my trumpet, Barbara spotted a bird perched at the base of a
tree. She tried to get photos, but the
bird kept moving around the tree to avoid her.
I told her it might have been the spirit of Jimmy Clint, a notorious
photo-avoider.
From Tamarack
to the Virginia state line is a long, winding incline that taxes patience and
brakes. While I kept my eyes on the
road, Barbara took pictures of the beautiful scenery. As “they” say, a picture really is worth a
thousand words.
We continued
driving east on I-64 until we crossed into Virginia...made a quick shopping
stop at Covington, and then continued to I-81, breaking away at Staunton to
follow I-64 up into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Shortly after
the spot where the Blue Ridge and Skyline Parkways intersect with I-64, we
stopped at a scenic turnout overlooking Rockfish Gap.
A commission
appointed to select a site for the University of Virginia met in Rockfish Gap
August 1-4, 1818 in a nearby tavern. Among
the 21 commissioners present were former presidents Thomas Jefferson and James
Madison. The commissioners chose
Charlottesville over Staunton and Lexington for the site of the
university. The tavern where the commission
met was owned by Samuel and Walter Leake.
It later was enlarged and became part of the Mountaintop Hotel and
Springs, but the popular tavern burned in 1909.
From the
Rockfish Gap turnout, we traveled a couple more miles to another of our
favorite spots, the Virginia Department of Transportation Memorial. On the back of the memorial are engraved 131
names of VDOT workers who lost their lives on the job.
This was to
be my last trumpet practice stop until we got to Mike and Kelly’s house, so I
did some quick warm-ups and then stood behind the memorial and played, “We are
Standing on Holy Ground.”
And then it
was on to the Richmond area and the kids’ house in Midlothian. We’d been many miles over the last few days
and were ready to stay put for awhile!
"One's destination is never a place, but a different way of seeing things." - Henry Miller
Road-weary but happy to be in Midlothian with Mike, Kelly, and Ava,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams
