Monday, March 27, 2017
My location: Home!
Slept pretty good last night. My location on the north side of Walmart was nice and quiet. Had a few rain showers, but no wind and it was warm enough to leave the window behind my bed open.
Got up at 7:00 and put coffee on and started reading blogs and eating little white donuts for awhile. By the time I was ready to get on the road, it was 9:00. Have 325 miles to cover today, so better get going. Told Dolly I would be pulling in around 3 o’clock.
The roads were great, but it either rained or drizzled most of the day.
When I saw the sign saying Fort Leonard Wood, it brought back old memories. I was 22, just graduated in August of 1967 from college, and I was drafted by the U.S. Army. Two months after graduation, Dolly drove me to Kansas City to be inducted and they put me on a bus that very day and drove me to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training.
Those six weeks were eye opening and definitely memorable. I was four years older than most of the draftees, so I was able to view things a little differently than the 18 year olds fresh out of high school. Oh, the good ole days!
The Ozark hills around this area are beautiful, even on a cloudy day.
As I closed in on St. Louis, the rain and fog made driving difficult to see.
For that reason, I made a last minute decision to take I-270, the bypass around the west side of the city. First time I’ve done this. About 20 miles further, but I’m not in a hurry and just had a bad feeling about driving through St. Louis in rain and fog.
Crossing the Mississippi River North of St. Louis.
As I promised, I pulled into our driveway around 3 o’clock. It feels great to finally be home from my three month Southwest journey and have our family whole once more.
Yuma doing one of his high jumps in excitement at seeing his Mom and Fergie looking over at me with anxious eyes. Yes, it’s good to be home.
See you later.
Glad you made it Home Safely.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to some of your Summertime adventures.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Thank you. Was a fun winter. Now back to reality.
DeleteYes, Doug and Yuma made it home safe and sound from their travels in the Southwest. We're glad they're back. Welcome to the 5o° days! 😎
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dolly. Need to pull out my winter coats and sweaters.
DeleteMission completed! Thanks for allowing me to tag along Doug. I enjoyed your pictures and writing. Next year wife and I plan on returning to the great Southwest. Enjoy home base. R Stone
ReplyDeleteThank you. Hopefully, I will be returning again too. Glad you enjoyed reading my blog this winter.
DeleteAnother year of great blogs. Glad you and Yuma made it home safely. Just wanted to thank you for another interesting year of adventures. This is our 3rd year following you (on a tip from Al of the Bayfield Bunch), first year you were solo when you got Yuma, then last year with Dolly, and now this year solo again with Yuma. Your writing style is enjoyable and easy to read, we enjoy your dry sense of humor and always look forward to the pictures of Yuma. Have a great summer and wishing good health to you and the family. Look forward to continuing your adventures next winter. Thanks for letting a couple of non-RVers tag along on your adventures. Linda & Gerry in Buckeye, AZ.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda and Gerry. I am glad you enjoyed my blogs over the years. I enjoyed sharing my adventures with my family and readers. It's also a way for me to remember my journey after I get home. Your home is very near Saddle Mountain, one of my favorite places to visit during the winter.
DeleteNice and safely back home, have really enjoyed your travels and meeting up with you on the southwest.
ReplyDeleteThanks George. You and Suzie have a safe trip home. Hopefully, we'll meet up again next year.
DeleteYou're home!!!! Hooray!!! I'm glad you had a safe trip home and a winter full of southwest adventures! I have loved reading about them! But we're so glad you're home!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sarah. Had a great time, but I am glad to be home. I can see you and Keats now.
DeleteGood for you making it back home safe and sound. Amazing how excited Yuma was and how high he can jump!! I'm sure Dolly and Fergie are happy to see you as well. It has been a lot of fun reading your blog each day and so nice to meet you at Bloggerfest. Hope to keep up with you for next years travels.
ReplyDeleteThanks Patsy. Wish you and Bill a save journey home. I am glad to be home and ready to stay for awhile. Nice meeting you and hopefully, we will all be together again next winter.
DeleteOh, my! That is a high jump! Glad you are home. Now, relax and enjoy your family!
ReplyDeleteTake care. We MAY head out to view some wildflower places today, but the wind is pretty brisk!
Thanks for following along, Cheryl Ann. I hope you and hubby get well soon. I will follow your blog this summer. Have a great retirement.
DeleteOh Doug, so very happy you are HOME safe in the arms of your Loving family.💙 The action shot at the end says it all - I've never seen Yuma jump so high, Dol!y is beautiful & happy her man is home, and the look on Fergie's face - priceless. Hopefully, you will do a couple wrap up postings and not leave your readers cold turkey. You and Yuma have he!ped make a cold winter a little warmer ! 😎 Your photos are a treasure and you are a great story teller with some humor and a little suspense thrown in. Yuma is a great sidekick and very photogenic. It has been a Wild ride and I can never see little white donuts without thinking of you ! Thanks for the memories, Doug. 🐕🌵🌷🐢🌞🌈
ReplyDeleteIt has been fun having you as a reader. We get along great even though we have never met. I'm glad Yuma and I have made your winter more interesting. It has been another adventurous journey, and I am now ready to settle down with the family. I will write a few blogs in the future to keep everyone in the loop as to how Yuma is doing. Until the next time.
DeleteGlad you made it home safely. Hope to see you on the road again next year. Maybe we can return your chair then.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for sponsoring Bloggerfest this year. It was nice to me you and Susan and hope we meet again next year. You are welcome to have the chair and use it.
DeleteHappy to read you and Yuma made it home safe and sound. Great picture of Yuma jumping for joy. Glad we had the opportunity to cross paths a couple of times this past winter. Tom and I have enjoyed your blog especially the pictures. Looking forward to next year, until then take care and enjoy being at home.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom and Deb. Had a great time this winter and enjoyed meeting you two. Hope to see you again next winter.
DeleteGlad to see you made it home safely Doug. I think I heard that big sigh of relief all the way over here in Ontario when you pulled into your driveway. Might want to give some consideration to doing a few posts between now and next travel season. It's always nice to keep in touch with your readers. Maybe our trails will cross again somewhere way out there in that far away great American Southwest. Boogie on my friend.................
ReplyDeleteThanks Al. I do plan to continue to write posts occasionally to keep my readers up to date with Yuma. You, Kelly and Pheebs have a great and healthy summer. Hope to see you again next winter.
DeleteI share your feelings! It's always nice to be at home!
ReplyDelete