Our Long & Winding Road

 We are still on Sabbatical but we are home in Dedham. I have missed our town but have come home to quite a mess. Backed up sewage in the basement, rotted-out kitchen flooring, and a messy house. I always like to clean things before I leave but we left the dogs here and work has been going on in the house. Alas, nothing could be done but plug away at a long to-do list. I wonder if living in the pop-up would be a preferred life for me. The giant parsonage feels so overwhelming sometimes, where the pop-up you just sweep a little floor and you are often done. Thank goodness I have more help with the parsonage :) Once we were nearing the end of the trip I couldn't wait to get home. I did get the norovirus in the last few days so that may have helped me want to get home- it isn't easy being sick on the road. As you might also remember I got covid after our January trip to Florida so perhaps home is where I want to be sick? Or home is where I can tick off my to-do lists.  My heart is

5/10/23:   Like the beginning of our cross-country journey, this last stretch is far more about people than places.   We spent two nights with the Indiana Pietraszek’s earlier this week, and it was such a treat to be so seamlessly folded into family.   Sword fights with twigs and run-away scooter captures on a walk along the Lake Maxinkuckee, a grand campus tour in the fancy 6-seater golf cart, yummy meals both around the dining table and in the local hot spot . . . Super fun!   Thanks, Steve & Beth.   Last night we were in Columbus, OH, staying with one of my fellow Dandelions.   The Dandelions are fierce.   We are 7 women from the fabulous class of ’93 who have not only kept in touch but also endured quite a variety of significant life challenges over the 30 (?!?!?!) years since we graduated from college.   Our bonds are tight, and it’s a very special treat to have 1-on-1 time together.   Thanks, Tracy. While a significant allergic reaction to a combo of ingested soy and inhaled

4/21/23:  I write from a Super 8, where we'll be for two nights, after staying in a hotel last night, too.  This is luxury at its height!  Hot showers that require neither inserting quarters every 3 minutes nor walking 100 yards from the camper to the campground bathroom...Life is good. Today was a travel day, but tomorrow we'll see Wind Caves National Park, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore. 5/10/23: Looks like I neither finished nor published that post.  I can tell you now that all three South Dakota stops were cool.  The Black Hills are sacred lands to a number of Native tribes.  In fact, Wind Caves are believed to be where humans were created.  The Crazy Horse Memorial , conceived of by Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, is very cool.  In addition to a monstrous blasting project that will eventually create the sculpture below coming out of a mountain 6500+ ft above sea level. Here's the progress thus far as seen through some light falling snow from the Visitor

Rali and I are sitting in the dark inside our toasty little Turtle listening to rain fall on the roof - and on the fire we attempted in the pit just outside - while we drink Bud Light Lime, nibble on Dot’s Homestyle Honey Mustard Seasoned Pretzel Twists, and contemplate our dinner of Noodles & Beef, which we’ll make by boiling water on our JetBoil, stirring it into the pouch of dried food bits, & waiting 15 minutes as it rehydrates. There’s no internet connection now, so I’m writing this in Notes to transfer later. We spent the last two nights at Cascade Locks outside of Portland, OR.   Beautiful spot surrounded by state parks with lots of waterfalls.   We’ll include some picks from our hike yesterday.   Last night we met Rali’s friend Tori for dinner at The Sports Bra.   No typo there.   We hadn’t heard about this place, but it’s gotten some national press attention.   The place plays only women’s sports on its TV’s and serves beers made by female brewers.   The walls are cove

A meteor only 140 ft across blasted a hole as deep as a 60-story building is high and 3/4's of a mile wide.  The meteor was something like 93% iron - wicked heavy! - and almost completely disintegrated as it tore through the atmosphere and then struck the earth at 26,000 mph.  The impact threw 175 million tons of limestone and sandstone over a mile away.  Pretty cool. Meteor Crater was not on our to-do/to-see list the day we saw it, but signs on the road lured us toward this as a must-see roadside attraction.  It was a bit expensive ($25/person), and yet it was indeed cool to see and learn about the largest and best-preserved impact crater on earth and to know that the entrance fees collected support continued research.

Rali: When I was in sixth grade I wrote a paper about the Petrified Forrest. I have been secretly wishing to go there ever since.  Today was my lucky day! Several people we have met on our travels have told us that the Petrified Forest isn't worth it, so my hopes weren't very high. I knew that the trees don't stand on end like a forest. I also knew that the vast expanses that we have been traveling through would likely be in the Petrified Forest as well and the rockified trees would be far apart, and they were. Since we had been traveling through the Painted Desert for days and I knew that, in 1932, 53,000 acres of the Painted Desert were added to the Petrified Desert before it was made a national park in 1962 (by  President Dwight D. Eisenhower), I suspected that much of our time in the Petrified Forest national park would include time in the Painted Desert, and I was right. I knew that all the colors in the mountains were from different minerals and how much oxidation hap