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THE TRIP BACK TO OKLAHOMA FROM SEATTLE WA (JULY 13-19 2002)!!
Let me take some time to tell you about the trip so far. As you know we started this journey on Saturday
and so far have driven about 1050 miles. We have another 1500 or so to go!! The car (my 19 year old brown SAAB)
was a trip for sure, it got around 105 degrees in there but I can handle the hot stuff!! Why is that you ask??
I had to start running the heat up at full blast so the engine began running much cooler as its only 110 degrees around here.
The first night in Redding CA was a trip and a half. We ate pizza and just tried to rest up as much as possible.
It was hot as a volcano and its hot here in Tulare as well. On the way down we saw beautiful Mt Shasta on one side of
Interstate (I)-5 and a forest fire on the other side!! We appreciated the show!!!
Even though I needed to
stop the car once yesterday for a cooling stop I still believe I got a bad tank of gas on Saturday as the car ran just fine
yesterday. On Saturday the car stopped three times with engine shuddering and near overheating!! As long as I'm
running with the heat up (in the middle of the summer) Its ready to roll for the rest of the trip!! Monday was like
totally unbelievable as we visited Sequoia National Park home of the big trees!! The giant Sequoia Trees are HUGE!!!
They are like the oldest living thing on the planet (2000 + years old!!!!!!!!), they are fire resistant, bug resistant but
can be blown down by strong winds!!! (duhhH) The ride up there was fantastic as we went around a man made lake
and then climbed up to 6,400 feet!! We had a blast going up there!!!! Now we're back and the kids are in the pool and
we're relaxing and doing whatever. This hotel has dinner included in the room price and I guess that's what we'll
do!! Me and Sam and his friend Billy with 5 women!! What a trip its been as Wilma's great girlfriends (two of
them) came up from Oklahoma to help us pack out and drive back home. We need all the help we can get and they are great
friends.
I'm doing OK although I do so very much wish Eugene was here to see this great land, but I smile knowing he's
up in heaven seeing much GREATER things!! I do miss him though ......... Anyway Tomorrow Grand Canyon and
then Oklahoma soon after.
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We
left Monday for the Grand Canyon and had a good drive to get there. Let me tell you something. The great state
of California should be its own country. You wouldn't believe how much agriculture exists in that state. I also
never seen a place that had so many power lines crossing it. Its got all the climate regions except for winter and has
both the giant Redwood trees and the Giant Sequioas!! It also takes forever to drive through but enough of that.
We made it out of California and I survived the desert heat (with the heated car) as we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona.
We
grabbed a quick bite to eat in Arizona and then pushed onto the Grand Canyon, we stayed at a hotel 2 miles from the Grand
Canyon and snuck up there that night to see the GRAND freakin' Canyon!!!! Its unreal, incredible, breathtaking and undescribable!!
Like WOWEE!!! Then on Wednesday we stopped by the Grand Canyon again for some pictures and then off to Four Corners
which is pretty cool. I have a great pic of me standing or reaching out to all four states -- Utah, Colorado, New Mexico,
and Arizona!! The Four Corners area is on Navajo Indian Lands and they charge about 3 bucks to go see it. On the
way the Four Corners we passed through the Painted Desert and Monument Valley and some places that looked like the Moon!!
The whole area is just plain AMAZING!!!!!!!!! It is something to see, and I mean something to SEE!!
The
mesas and steppes and crevasses and valleys and all the different color rocks and the WIDE open spaces where you can see the
road like ten miles ahead of you are just plain incredible!! I always see commercials with them showing cars going down
the open road - WIDE OPEN ROAD UP TO THE SKY, that's what driving through here is like - I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING like these
places up here in Northern Arizona, God blessed America with so much to offer it just makes me proud to be an American!!
(saluting the flag). The wide open road, it was so wide open it made me want to motorcycle across it!!
Now
we're in Gallup N.M. resting up for an early departure tomorrow. We all slept well and are eating well. We'll
take an afternoon nap and then go to bed early We have only 677 miles to go!!! What a trip so far!! Keep
the prayers coming, we should arrive in Oklahoma City early evening time frame on Friday!!
Well that ole' brown car performed like a champ all the way from Gallup, we made it back to Oklahoma with
no problems - God bless our family, friends and America!!!
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