Thursday, October 4, 2012
We finally pulled away from home at noon but only went as far as Les Schwab to get a final check of the tires. Then we were off. About an hour down the road we stopped to fix some sandwiches for lunch. Further stops at McDermott, Winnemucca, the lovely rest stop at the turn to Fallon, and Taco Bell in Fallon were necessary to relieve some of the cramping of muscles from having three of us in the cab. It was about dark when we left Taco Bell, but we headed on to Walker Lake. We had planned to stop at the state recreation area along the lake shore, but could see no lights to indicate an open camping area, so continued on to the casino parking lot in Hawthorne. It was late and we quickly readied to crash.
Friday, October 5 - While enjoying breakfast in Bishop Friday morning, we enjoyed watching the cars gather for the “Fall Colors Car Show” happening that weekend. It was going to be huge – we saw lots of cars on the street, and others being trailered in. The rest of the way down 395 we continued to see the classics heading for the show. With a few stops along with way, we arrived in town and settled into the RV park, then cleaned up and took off for the rehearsal dinner. We had already missed the rehearsal. After the dinner we stopped by the newly rebuilt house to see what they had done after the fire. Very nice for them.
Saturday, October 6 – The big day! We were present on demand at 3 pm for pictures before the 4:30 ceremony, but the ones we needed to be there for didn’t happen until afterward, so we got a lot of practice standing around. The ceremony was very nice. Rather than a minister to officiate, the couple had asked a friend who then went through the effort and training to be commissioned. He did a great job. When it came time for the vows, the bride shouted a huge I DO while raising her bouquet as high as possible. After the group pictures and more standing around we gathered to watch the “first dances” before being sent into the reception area for dinner and other reception activities. Pebbles and her dear friend Julie did a fantastic job of decorating the lobby, the room for the ceremony, the reception tables, and even the restaurant where the rehearsal dinner was held. The bride let Pebbles know that her dream wedding was possible because of all their hard work.
Sunday, October 7 – Two others had 6 am flights also, so Chandani got a ride with them, and we didn’t have to do the 4 am run. Many thanks to the driver! We owe you! We left the RV park at the noon checkout time and helped Pebbles shuffle vehicles before heading back to Barstow. We fueled up and had some lunch, then made a quick stop back at the Harvey House to pick up a couple of park stamps at the Route 66 museum. So it was about 2 pm when we connected with I40 and noticed the sign “Wilmington, NC 2,554 miles.” No, we aren’t going to see the end of it, at least on this trip. But we will see plenty of it.
Many hours and miles later we thought we would stop for the night at a rest area just west of Flagstaff. You guessed it, it was closed, so we stopped in Flagstaff long enough to fix a quickie supper and continued on toward Winslow.The next rest area had a nice level area to park overnight, so we took advantage.
Monday, October 8 - The only distraction from the miles of road today was a stop in Holbrook, Arizona at the old courthouse to pick up a couple of park stamps. We have been close before, but unable to get there when it was open, so we took advantage. The host at the visitor center even stamped our pages with a little Route 66 stamp. One stamp we thought would be there was not available. He said it had been stolen a few months ago. We found a good place to park overnight at a rest area. Not one of the nicest rest areas, but it served its purpose.
Tuesday, October 9 - From the rest stop near Tucumcari New Mexico, through the panhandle of Texas, on to a rest stop near Shawnee, Oklahoma. No fun stops, just travel. But this rest area was very nice, and we got a good night of sleep.
Wednesday, October 10 – We didn’t have a long drive today with a destination of a COE campground on the Arkansas River at Ozark, Arkansas. We stopped at Waffle House for a great breakfast, then hit the local Walmart and finally found the campground so we could shower and just kick back a while today. Tomorrow we have a couple hour drive to Harrison to visit friends, then we will continue on to our destination.
Fred has gotten a few laughs at the expense of the neighbors fire (smoke) building skills.
From only half of the Bedrock bunch, goodnight.
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