RAVENLEA'S EXCELLENT(?) (INTERESTING?) (INSANE?) ADVENTURE

ON THE ROAD

Ok... So, the truth is that the trip is kind of a blur in many ways - a wonderful, pleasant blur, but a blur none-the-less. We sped (literally) across the country. Had good talks, listened to music, sang, discussed politics, life, you name it... Stopped at rest stops from time to time and ate vegan sandwiches which Diana made. Interestingly Fritos are vegan too and the sandwiches were excellent. I think I started to feel lighter and freer from the first minute we got in the car.

We used MapQuest for our directions and they started out wrong in the very first line, instructing us to turn the wrong way onto a one-way street. The rest of the route was pretty accurate except that they were SO detailed that it often became misleading. But we made it, which is what matters. Only got lost once and I'm just assuming it was some kind of divine intervention that let us see something pretty or miss something unpleasant. Luck was on our side almost the whole way - we missed rush hours around big cities and were only slowed once by construction and not for long even then.

I kind of forgot to take pictures for most of the first day of driving. Diana - noble, awesome Diana - drove 12-14 hours a day and got us to Arizona in - 40 hours driving time, which about 3 hours less than the time everyone said it would take.

So, anyway. We left Stuyvesant Town at about noon on Tuesday and arrived in Mesa at about 9:30 on Thursday, tired but happy. We made a bet on the arrival time at the end and Diana won, but I say she cheated. I had predicted that we'd arrive at 9:15 and she said 9:40, I think. Anyway... it was looking good for my prediction when suddenly she had to stop for a bathroom break. Sure....

There's not a lot to say about my pictures for this part of the journey. Almost all were taken from the car window. One of my favorites is a sign that says OZ since OZ music is my theme song for these Adventure pages. Unfortunately I can't remember what state we were in. I think it might be Oklahoma - whatever state it was had lots of signs with letters like AG and QV and such. I had been meaning to take a picture of one and then - like a gift from a laughing Buddah - Diana pointed out the OZ sign and I managed to catch it in time.

Now, I'll pretty much let the pictures speak for themselves, I think... But first...

Abby's Trip

Of course, I should also say a bit about the adorable and amazing Abigail's journey too. We put her into her harnass (she looked SO cute) the night before we left and while not thrilled with it, she accepted it with pretty good grace. I think with all the furniture movers thumping in and out and removing her universe, a little thing like a bright red harnass was pretty tame as far as traumas go. Abby seldom fails to surprise me and the trip was no exception. First day in the car she howled non-stop and tried to claw and hurl her way out of her travelling cage. She was NOT a happy kitty. I think she may have been a bit hungry too since the vet told me to give her very little in the morning and feed her at night... But anyway... She entertained us pretty much without cease for 15 hours and I was worried about how she'd handle the motel stop.

MapQuest's pet friendly motel had changed it's policy by the time we arrived but those people sent us off to another place which turned out to be wonderful. Wish I could remember the name. I may have a record somewhere and I'll try to look it up and mention it for other travellers. Anyway, we arrived late. Diana went in to check and see if they would let us stay with Sweet Abby and they said yes but it would have to be in a smoking room. The man was so kind. I went hobbling in to pay the bill and he saw me struggling and changed our room to a non-smoker on the first floor. Also gave us some discounts for no particular reason. Very sweet. But back to Abby. We got into our room and instead of being all traumatized and anxious as I expected (I've only known her for 18 years!), she set off to explore the place, had some supper and settled in happy as the proverbial clam. More amazing still is that she slept her way peacefully through the next two days of the trip without a peep. During some of the more boring parts of the drive we were begging her to sing for us, but not she... Always unpredictable, that Miss Abby...

Now for some pictures. Not the greatest photos, I'm afraid, but they are all I have. The scenery is pretty enough to make up for my failure, I hope.

Well there are no pictures for Day 1. I just felt the healing soaking into me and the weight of the past years lifting away. Very nice.

First pictures are at our motel (see Abby above) and then the next morning. I thought it was kind of cool that we were put into Room 29 which in numerology becomes an eleven which I think is supposed to be good. So, anyway, I had to take a picture of Diana next to the door even though she thought I was goofy. And of course you can't actually SEE that it's room 29 in this picture, but it was... honest.

OHIO

MISSOURI (St. Louis)

OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS

To be honest, I'm not really sure where Oklahoma and Texas begin and end. They both have wonderful red soil (at least where we travelled). We went across the Texas Panhandle against everyone's advice. Dangerous. Boring. We loved it. It has it's own special kind of beauty, I think...

NEW MEXICO

Well, New Mexico was REALLY beautiful and I think by the time we got there I was also less worried about running out of film, so there are lots of New Mexico and Arizona photos. Some sunset shots coming up in the Arizona batch. Sorry I can't tell you more about what these are pictures of...

ARIZONA!

And on to my new home...

Packing Is Not My Favorite Sport

On the Road

My Arizona Home

Snowflake