Traveling with Lyla: Home again

September 12, 2015

7,702 miles divided by 45 days. That's 171.15 miles a day, although we did not drive every one of those 45 days.

Lyla and I arrived home about 6 p.m. Monday, August 31, and that day we drove right at 400 miles, scoring those miles in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. As John Steinbeck so aptly put it, you know when the journey is over. Our journey was pretty much over in the middle of Colorado, although I tried to make Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana (not to mention Ohio) count. Counting Ohio we visited 20 states.

It was a journey I had dreamed about for four years and with the help of many others was able to make come true. Some -- but not all -- of those others included my husband, Don, who maintained and more our 75-acre farm, the four horses and one mule, eight cats and one sad, left-behind dog, all while driving more than 70 miles round-trip to his day job five days a week; my two helpers, Lorrene and Katelyn, who fed equines five evenings a week (Don arose VERY early every morning to feed them), cleaned the house and our rental cabins and kept other household clocks ticking; the members of our Athens SeniorBEAT program who took photos and kept track of attendance and other program details during my absence; my two incredible hosts/relatives, sister-in-law Irene and her husband John, and brother Don and his wife Vicki, who provided creature comforts to two road-weary creatures along the way; and the dozens of people who I met as I traveled who offered everything from stories, shelter, food and information to an incredible horseback ride in Wyoming. I have to also mention my daughter, Keri, who showed up a day before I left with six wrapped packages, each with a label such as "In case you and Lyla are feeling playful," (a frisbee and unstuffed toy) or, "For when you're feeling HOT!" (a miracle towel that holds cold water for hours). Keri reminded me that when she and her brother, Chris, were children I would have wrapped presents for them to discover as we traveled. I've heard that roles reverse as we age and our children become our caregivers.

As I mentioned this list is not complete. Nor is the story of our journey. I did not anticipate how difficult it would be to drive all those miles; talk with people; stop the car multiple times a day for walking Lyla and taking photos; find new lodging almost every day (sometimes that could take up to an hour); keep track of what I needed to do to help my Ohio family cope; make phone calls, write emails and create two newsletters for the SeniorBEAT program; handle all the bookings (phone calls, emails, etc.) for our cabin rental business, WaterSong Woods; and oh, yes, have fun and see sights and enjoy scenery. And blog.

So the plan is to continue this blog, starting back at day 1 of our travels, as much was left out. I hope to be able to do that about every two weeks. In addition, I plan to begin writing a book. At this time I hope to incorporate this recent journey into a story about other journeys -- both mine and others.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of our last days on the road.

See the windmills on the horizon stirring in the eastern Colorado breeze?

As we left our motel one morning I caught a glimpse of what looked like several dolphins swimming in a far-off field.

Then we got closer to a rail line that ran parallel to the road and saw the entire train of several dozen flatbed cars hauling these windmill propeller blades.

It was harvest time during our travels and grain silos like these in Kansas were loading up.

Corn was maturing in the fields.

To keep Lyla (and other dogs safe) our long walks were on roads like this one in Colorado.

Where we got to see indications of a very rural life. The mail delivery does NOT come to each and every door, but is delivered to the end of the dirt road where several families live. Notice the parched and cracked dry earth in front of these mailboxes. In the distance a storm was brewing.