Well, here is one for the books! I was out walking in the neighbourhood which is in a park like setting with lots of mature trees. I spotted a flag at one residence which I thought was for Italy. I thought that maybe Italy won some competition recently. Knowing Italians weren't into cricket, that I knew of, I couldn't figure out why they had that flag up.

The woman of that house happened to pop in for a visit so I asked her what was with the Italian Flag. She cleared her throat and told me it was for their relatives that will be visiting in a couple of weeks and they are from IRELAND! I Nealy fainted!!!

I could hear my father rolling over in his grave. As some of you know I am first generation Canadian. Father was born in Scotland and raised in Ireland of Irish parents and mother was born in Scotland and raised there. They both immigrated to Canada in the late 1920's.

I think a session of studying maps would do me a lot of good now that the TV is all set up.

Till next time...

Life is back to normal and spring is almost here!
A visit with kids, grands and good friends and Old Bro#2 completed I got down to the business of investing in a new TV.
It is a LCD 37" (no more squinting) and sits in just the right spot close to the other home entertainment stuff. Now I have to do my homework and get the thing programed with all the other gadgets. So you can see I will be out mischief for a while.

Till next time...stay well!

Thanks to all of you who commented on my blog while I was on my
Big Adventurer.

I finally got back into the routine of being home.

It is a bright sunny day again and the storm missed us this morning so I popped down to Bayfield for breakfast at JD's and the food was great! There wasn't one place on my trip that measured up to JD's. I love having a meal there.

Enjoy the pix. The first 2 are of the lake with shore ice which is being blown in due to the north west wind which would take your head off because it is so cold. The temp is 32F and 0C but with the wind chill it feels much colder.

The second two pix are of my neighbours Lizzy and Sara holding their new puppy Nala. Their dad took care of my house while I was on the trip. They are a lovely family.

Till next time...

HOME SWEET HOME!

I left the Holiday Inn and fueled up the car and headed home and 8 hrs. later I was home. It is such a good feeling to be home. I had forgotten how nice it is here. As I type this there is a terrific sunset and it is shinning in my eyes. The sun is finally returning to grace us with some wonderful sunsets.

The pic is of my wee hoose last summer. Enjoy!

Till next time...stay well!

THE ARCH OF ST.LOUIS was quite a sight! I went up the arch in a very different 5 seater car with no view of the outside. It took 3mins to arrive at the top and 2&1/2 mins. to get down.

The viewing windows at the top were very limited however I did manage to get a few pix of the area including the mighty MISSISSIPPI so enjoy!

I am getting close to home and looking forward to my wee hoose!

Till next time...stay well!

With overcast sky's it was a good day to travel and I did just that all the way to Springfield MO. and then south to Branson MO. The hwy. going south was very mountainous however that didn't stop anyone from keeping to the speed limit.

Branso is a family entertainment community of about 8000 residents in the off season and into the hundreds of thousands during peak time. There was nothing that interested me so I didn't bother with any shows. Instead I drove around the town which reminded me of driving in Hespeler Ontario only with more altitude. It didn't take long and I headed back to Springfield and onto interstate #40. I have stopped for the night at Rolla MO. which is about 100 miles south west of St. Louis and that's the place I hope to visit tomorrow.

Enjoy the pix!

Till next time...God Bless and stay well!

GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE "66"!

I have been on, off, around, over, and under route 66 in the last few days cuz as the song goes it's 2000 miles all the way. NO I"m not going to sing this time I'll leave it up to you!

From Amarillo to just before Oklahoma City the landscape was, in the words of dear husband, "flatter than a pan of warm pi**"! It was great to start to see the scenery change to rolling hills, greener pastures and trees, large trees although there no leaves yet.

Leaving OK City I was onto Tulsa and two toll hwys. where I wasted on time till reaching Joplin MO. where I spent the night.

Today I'll head to Springfield MO. and the famous Branson MO. which I have heard about. Some call it Vegas west. So I'll let you know what I think of it!

Till next time....Stay well!

It seemed strange to be heading east but I feel ready for new places.

I left Gallup after I found a GMC dealer to replace my back wiper blade and he not only did that he also check the tire pressure which was good. As you can see from the pix I crossed the Great Divide and it is a good thing dear husband isn't here cuz many of you know what he would've done! I"ll leave that one alone.

I stopped to refuel and the sign on the door had me in stitches laughing and at a time when I needed a good thigh slapper! Those people in Texas mean business. I asked the attendant if I could buy a sign and she told me they ran out but she expected to get some in soon...too late for me!

I would have posted more pix but there was no one to take them and I was travelling too fast (within the speed limit) to get some of the landscape. In NM the red rock formations were different because the wind had really worked the rock into smooth rather rounded shapes. The prairie grass is just covering the surface enough to prevent erosion.
I am still dealing with altitude changes and I can tell when the air get thin. I have to take deeper breathes but it doesn't last long.

As I moving along and listening to the radio a Famous American announcer, Paul Harvey mentioned that today was the annual roundup of rattle snakes in Sweetwater Texas and that they hoped to get several thousand pounds of the critters. Cousin Michael, how would you like to have been part of that posse? Well, you got rid of the snakes in Ireland why not try Texas?

I was whipping along the hwy.40 out of the mountains and into the valley where Albuquerque is and planning to stop for the night at a place called Tucumari that is a couple of hours from Albuquerque but when I check the time I thought why not head to Amerillo!

Now things were going just fine when all of sudden a signed appeared which said
Central Time Zone! YIKES!!! I just lost an hour! So I made it as far as Vega Texas and settled in for the night.

Tomorrow I will head for Amarillo and on to Oklahoma City..

Alright everyone, altogether, O, K, L, A, H, O, M, A, where the wind comes right behind the rain!---I can't remember the rest but you keep going. I can hear you Toos!

Till next time...God Bless and stay well!

Well, it happened again...another wonderful day. As I left Flagstaff I could see the San Francisco Peaks in the distant even when I visited the Meteor Crater
which is a few miles off hwy. Interstate 40. It is quite the hole made about 50,000 yrs. ago. The day was beautiful and the temps in the low 60F and not I was headed for the Petrified Forest.

It worked out great for me that I visited the Petrified Forest first cuz the Painted Desert is somewhat connected.

The FOREST was quite incredible and to see all the petrified trees was amazing. They give you free samples which are very small since you can be thrown into jail for picking any off the floor of the desert.

Then it was onto the Painted Desert.
The desert at that time of day which was mid afternoon was vibrant with colour and to anyone who hadn't yet seen the Grand Canyon it must have been a thrill. I took several pix so I hope you enjoy!

Dear husband was with me as I drove into GALLUP NM . It was 12yrs. when we last visited this place following our trek to Window Rock. I know he would have just loved this entire journey.

Till next time...God Bless and stay well!

I was able to revisit the canyon and I did the blue and green tours. The blue takes you around the area which accommodates the guest and residents as well as places for supplies. The green tour stopped at the rim. At one stop I decided to hike 2miles to Mather Point for my last view of the rim. And again more weeping and more pix.

You'll notice in the pix of a couple of dudes on the bus well they were in costume for a function at one of the lodges. The pic of the Indian tepees was taken just outside of Tusanyan and the mountains are the San Fransisco Peaks which I travelled around to get to Flagstaff.

Flagstaff is a University and a Community College town and it is a very nice place. I wouldn't mind visiting there again!

I checked out the Lowell Observatory and since Wed. evening was to view the stars I thought it would be a great experience however it is overcast and raining and I was ready to settle in for the night.

Today I am heading east to the painted desert and the petrified forest.

Till next time...May God bless and stay well!