So we took a little drive........

I know I am a little behind, so am trying to start 2010 right and get caught up......
Ok, to be honest, we took a BIG drive. Houston to Milwaukee Wisconsin and back in 8 days; 3100 miles. Yes, YIKES! are we crazy? well...... maybe (hey, watch the wise cracks!) LOL. But don't they say that necessity is the mother of all invention? We had to go because we still had some stuff in a storage unit where we used to live just outside of Milwaukee; so with several prayers for good traveling weather, Roy, Rio and I pointed Moby, our white Ford truck north one early one Friday morning. Yes, we took the dumb dog, can you believe it? Roy really couldn't either but I couldn't bear to put him in a kennel for a week. Too much like his horrible time in Auz quarantine. He is better traveled than many people I know. Under duress, running low on gas and hungry, we had lunch in Hope, Arkansas; which if you don't know is the birthplace of a certain Mr. Bill Clinton: a man that I have absolutely zero respect for. Or his wife for that matter. "And that's all I'm going to say about that." (what movie is that from?) We spent the night in Cape Girardeau, Missouri - another birthplace of: "anyone, anyone"? (another movie quote. Do you feel like you're playing "Scene It" ?) Rush Limbaugh. We didn't see any statutes or anything; cute little town though southeast of St. Louis.
We arrived safe and sound in Franklin/Oak Creek WI and had a great reunion with many wonderful friends there. Oh, and we picked up Alex who had flown in from Rexburg/Salt Lake City to help us load and drive back. Great to see him! Many thanks to Gayle and Georgia for hosting us for wonderful dinners. Extra huge thanks to Troy and John for helping us load our ABF trailer. Where did all this stuff come from?
We then sprinted south through Illinois and Indiana and caught our only rain of the entire trip. We were so blessed with great traveling weather for late November considering the terrible blizzard that hit the Midwest 10 days later. We did make a brief stop for some sight seeing in Kentucky - it was too good for us history buffs to pass up.








The farm is actually called "Sinking Spring Farm" because the nearby spring was sunk in the ground. Must have been a wicked climb down to fetch water in the early days. Pretty nifty that it is still trickling away today.
The picture below is a memorial they built to Pres. Lincoln in 1911; there are as many steps as years of his life - 56. It houses a small log cabin that is very similar but not the original Lincoln home.This very large granite and marble building seems a little out of place but the Lincoln Farm Association wanted to do something to memorize this great man. Unfortunately we didn't have time to wander down the road to see his boyhood home - the farm on Knob Creek.
We had a nice, albeit quick visit and wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my sister Marilyn, hubby John and visiting sister Judy in southern Tennessee. Thanks again!
Coming home through Mississippi just before we crossed that great river into Louisiana, we just had to make a brief stop at the Vicksburg National Military Park. Only had time to see the Visitor's Center - but it's is on our short list for get-back-and-see-it-soon!




Now you may be asking; did the Woodward's set out with a historical agenda? No, it just seemed to have worked out that way.
We arrived home in Houston safe and sound late, later that night, Friday. Didn't believe me when I told you one week, did ya? I seriously doubt we will ever do that kind of trip again. whewww! Man-o-man were we sick of driving!

Oh, the first movie mentioned is "Forest Gump" and the second one is "Ferris Bueller's Day off"; the line is Ben Stein's in Economics class.
With this trip Roy and I were able to add new states to our "states visited" list. Three for me and two for Roy, I think. We both now only need New Mexico and North Dakota to have visited all 50 states in this incredible beautiful nation of ours.