It's common knowledge that Lucy had Ethel....
know that I have Lanie!
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| Lanie & Me June, 1973 |
In the early years after I got my driver's license, between June 1971 and June 1973, Lanie and I frequently ventured out on our own. Granted, our destinations were all in northern Illinois or Wisconsin, but the two of us would set out for the day or a couple weeks with some cash, a blank check (for emergencies), a road map, a sense of freedom and adventure and no fear. While we were always close, our lives went different directions and we raised our families with only occasional opportunities to get together. When I moved back to Illinois in November, 2018 and my brousin (also Elaine's husband), Norm, went into hospice, I began monthly visits to their home and promised both of them that when he was gone, I would always be there for her. That promise included a willingness to go on adventures, so, when Lanie told me about her desire to go to Yuma, Arizona to visit her friends/neighbors from Cornucopia, Wisconsin at their home in Yuma, it was already a done deal! (As this post already is in danger of being quite verbose, when the "story" is best told through a conversation, I will relate the conversation as best as I can remember, referencing Lanie's (aka Elaine) comments with an "L." My comments will likewise have a "C.")
My daughter, Brooks, army wife and expert at planning cross-country moves is also great at finding good hotels, cheap gas and interesting stops along the way to entertain her five kids. I enlisted her help to know how to best plan our trip and she took on the challenge of plotting our route for us, adding in surprise, interesting tourist opportunities along the way.
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| Day 1: Ready to go! Our first of many selfies! |
That first day on the road was pretty uneventful. Well, other than technology challenges... We opted to take my Jeep since it's a little newer than either of Lanie's vehicles and I had a GPS unit so we wouldn't need to rely on cellphone apps and run down the batteries. I also have satellite radio, so we'd be guaranteed entertainment. Great in theory... The only problem with that was Lanie needed to have her phone plugged in to the USB port most of the time and every time she tried to do something on her phone, it would override the radio!!! It could be a little frustrating at times, but we figured out how to deal with it most of the time, although it's made her have second thoughts about getting a new car with "bells and whistles." Since it had been so long since we were alone in a vehicle with nothing to do but talk and listen to 60s on 6 or 70s on 7 on Sirius-XM Radio, we talked and sang along to oldies music; just like the olden days.
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| Gas Stop: St Clair, MO |
Our first gas stop was at a Phillips 66 in St. Clair, Missouri. Since our kids wanted documentation and updates on our trip, I insisted on a selfie every time we stopped. I don't think she was thrilled, but she humored me AND our kids!
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| Lunch & Gas Stop: Joplin, MO |
By the time we made our lunch stop in Joplin, Missouri, it was becoming obvious that we were "selfie-challenged." How on earth does everyone make them look so simple AND so good?!?!? This one didn't seem TOO bad, except for the wind blowing my hair everywhere, until Lanie's kids gave us their input: "Mom! What are you looking at?" "Mom, look at the camera!" And then Brian resent this picture back to us with the Arby's sign reading the right way... Yes, I sent it backwards, 'cause I didn't know you could flip the mirror image! I learned to correct that quickly! Well, apparently not quick enough...
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| Courtyard by Marriott Oklahoma City North, OK |
After 10 hours &46 min on the road for 661.7 miles traveled, we arrived at our first hotel in Oklahoma City. Excited to arrive early enough to get in the pool before heading to dinner, we were sorely disappointed to see the sign on the front desk announcing that the pool was closed. Lanie asked about breakfast in the morning and our smiley, friendly desk clerk looked at her and said, "I suggest IHop." At that, we decided we'd just rest a little while before heading to dinner...
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| Oklahoma City, OK |
Forgetting it was Friday evening, perhaps we rested a little too long before heading to the restaurant and ended up with an hour fifteen minute wait for our table. But, then again, it gave us time for selfie practice!!!
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| What IS she looking at??? |
After our delicious dinner at Texas Roadhouse, it was back to our hotel to get rested up for another long day on the road Saturday. Mostly, things went very smoothly between us, but there were a few idiosyncrasies we've adopted over the years that created some challenges; take this "Toto" for example...
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| Manufacturer name: Toto Unlike all the Sloan plumbing fixtures I'm accustomed to... |
As I'm sure at least some reading this can understand, I've begun to take a venture or two into the bathroom in the middle of the night. Typically, I don't bother with a light, especially if there's a night light, as there was here. Lanie has developed her own habit of closing the lid on the "toto" to prevent the spread of germs when she flushes. Not a bad practice at all... unless of course you drank a LOT of water the day before and are making an urgent middle-of-the-night run, unaware that the lid may very well be CLOSED!!! I'll let you use your imagination to fill in the blanks here, but will assure you that I narrowly missed the opportunity to mop the floor with bath towels in the middle of the night!
Saturday, October 16: As became our trip norm, we were up by 6am, and on our way. Day 2 began with a stop at the Oklahoma City Costco for gas and another chance to try for a selfie...
Another run through a Dunkin' Donuts to get a coffee for Lanie (to use her coupon before it expired, but she forgot to use it on her order...), some cooler food for me and we were on our way. Lunchtime found us in Amarillo, Texas with empty bellies and full bladders, so first order of business was our scheduled gas stop. But wait! The Phillips 66 station was an Express, with NO BATHROOM!!! Around the block we went to the Toot 'n Totum where we got to tour the backroom and go through the mop closet to reach the restroom!
Lunch was scheduled at the Chick-fil-A across the street. We pulled in, drove around the building, found a parking place and were just discussing where to take our lunch selfie without getting in the way of the typical long line of drive-thru customers when we were intercepted by one of the employees who informed us that the dining room was closed due to staffing shortages! Back in the car and one more time around the building to place our order and around again to pick it up!
We arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico with plenty of daylight left. When we pulled into our parking spot at the Hampton Inn, Elaine was face-to-face with a very friendly man who started up a conversation. Next thing I know, she's getting a lesson on how to properly pronounce Albuquerque! Apparently Al'-bah-ker-kee isn't correct. Fortunately, she is able to roll her r's and got BORRRRR-kay out properly so we could get to unloading the car! This time the pool was open and with a couple of hours left before dinner time, we decided to hit the pool!
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| Hampton Inn, Albuquerque, NM |
Sunday, October 17th: Day 3 began with a normal hotel buffet breakfast and on the road by 7am. We had a scheduled gas stop in Sanders, Arizona and followed our GPS as best we could, but we saw no signs for Sanders! We found a gas station not too far off the interstate and pulled in. Once again, Elaine found a buddy as soon as we got out of the car. She asked the elderly, native American man (who was filling up his old pickup truck with "Clothes 25cents" hand-painted on the side) where Sanders was. He responded that "This is Sanders!" She probably scared the poor guy when her response was a shout of "Hallelujah! THIS is Sanders!!!" After conversing with him long enough to tell him where we were headed, fill the tank (twice, 'cause the pump kept kicking off), and take turns going into use the facilities, we were finally ready to hit the road again... in the OPPOSITE direction he wanted us to go to see all the sites between Sanders and our Yuma destination! He wasn't too concerned that we had an agenda and an itinerary to follow! He DID tell us that we HAD to go to Winslow. We assured him that we would...
Lunch time meant another gas stop at the Mobil Kwik Corner and lunch at Wendy's in Mesa, Arizona.
Unfortunately, only about a half hour from Yuma, the urge became too great and we had to stop at a rest area. It was a nice stop with covered picnic areas and a type of "Welcome Center" with large maps, etc.
There was one MAJOR problem at the rest area, though!!!
And the Porta-Potties were DISGUSTING!!! We saw a woman come running out of one and wondered what her issue was. Then we found out for ourselves! The waste was even trying to escape! I was going to take a picture, but decided that was one memory I didn't need to document. One man, who was driving a motor home commented to us that he should have just used his own! So true!!!
They have a lovely home, decorated all in the southwestern style and provided accommodations for us for the next two nights in their new motor home!
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| Our bedroom Sunday & Monday nights |
Day 4: Monday, Oct 18: I left Lanie to visit with Sue & Jill while I backtracked to Gila Bend, Arizona to meet my old friend, Karen Kissack, from Spokane, Washington who was visiting her daughters in Arizona! (Karen now lives in Florida!)
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| Top Left: Lanie with Sue Top Right: Jill with Lanie and me Bottom: Karen and me |
Day 5: Tuesday, Oct 19 we said our good-byes to the lovely Goss women, filled Reggie's tank and were ready to begin our scenic return to Illinois! Little did we know, this day would become the most difficult and most memorable of all on our roadtrip! On the way out to Yuma, Lanie kept watching for the cacti and as we were leaving, she was again commenting on all of them. Usually, whenever there were a lot of good, visible cacti, there was a lot of traffic or areas weren't available to safely pull off to the side. Whether Lanie has a special love for cacti or she just knew we needed to have proof that we had indeed seen some, I decided to pull off the road to get a selfie with one lone cactus. Once again the selfie attempt turned into a comedic event you wouldn't believe if you didn't experience it.
And on to our first surprise sightseeing stop in Yarnell, Arizona (insert a southern twang here; we just couldn't say "Yarnell" without it...). On the way, however, there was a lot of beautiful scenery in the Prescott National Forest; good place to take a selfie! 😉
Surprisingly, we were both getting quite excited when we pulled into Yarnell and the GPS announced our destination was on the left!
C: (looking at the old gas station and two antique shops on the left) Which one is it?
L: It's "Penny Lane!"
C: What?!?
L: That shop! It's called "Penny Lane!"
C: That's got to be it then! Brooks knows the Beatles are from our younger days. It's perfect for one of our surprise stops!
Since the shop was closed, we entertained ourselves in other ways...
Thoroughly impressed with our first secret stop and excited to head to the scenic southern rim of the Grand Canyon, I entered the next gas stop address into my phone (the GPS couldn't find it) and we headed on down the road! Driving down the road, singing along with Sirius-XM, after about 20 minutes, I looked at the map on the screen and realized no information had changed since we left Yarnell!!! I had neglected to tell my phone to begin navigation!!! Oh well, it was just a straight road, we hadn't made any turns, so we must be okay, right? I hit "start" and Lanie pulled out the Google Map printout I had made for "just in case" and we continued on our way. Before long, we saw that we were supposed to make a left at the "roundabout" and sure enough, here was the roundabout. We were fine! We were already at the entrance to the park to drive around the Grand Canyon. I wasn't sure how we'd missed our gas stop, but we were here now. As we pulled up to the gatehouse before the gates ahead, I rolled down my window to talk to the man standing there.
C: Hi!
Man: Hello! How are you ladies today?
C: Excited to be here! We're looking forward to driving around the Grand Canyon.
Man: Well, you've got a little drive yet.
C: It's just through there, isn't it?
Man: About three hours in that direction, yes...
C: Oh. Okay. Well, how much do we have to pay? (Because Brooks had warned me that we'd have to pay to enter the park)
Man: (looking very confused) There's no charge. You can just drive on in.
C: Well, that's very nice! My daughter told me we'd have to pay to enter the Grand Canyon!
Man: This isn't the Grand Canyon. This is Wickenberg Retirement Community.
Our conversation went on a few more minutes with Lanie waving our maps and itinerary at the man; insisting that "her daughter planned our itinerary and Brookie said this was the Grand Canyon!" The poor man was trying to tell us how to get to the Grand Canyon from there, but eventually he told me I was going to have to move because he had a line of cars waiting to get into the "community!"😢 I think he was as confused as we were, but looking back, we should have gotten his picture to remember him! (He was pretty good lookin', even though he wasn't in uniform...) So, we tried to rely on the GPS to get us back to where we needed to be until it told me to turn down a dirt road to a ranch! In desperation, I called Brookie. What I thought she was going to do for us from New Hampshire I'm not really sure, but I figured she could at least tell us if we had to go all the way back to Yarnell!
Poor Brooks seemed as confused as we were, trying to figure out how we even got to where we were. It should have been as simple as putting the address in the GPS! Well, except you have to START the GPS... Then she asked if we had seen the gas station in Yarnell. Gas station? No. We weren't scheduled for a gas stop in Yarnell. We just saw Penny Lane.
- Brooks: Penny Lane? What's Penny Lane?
- C: The cute antique store you sent us to, but it was closed.
- Brooks: I didn't send you to an antique store. Didn't you see the old Texaco station?
- C: I saw an old Texaco sign. It was two doors away from Penny Lane, but we saw Penny Lane and figured that's where we were going...
Strike 2! Not only were we lost, we had also missed our first surprise sightseeing stop! Turns out the real stop was an old Texaco Service Station that had been restored to it's original 1955 glory! (1955 being significant in that it is the year Lanie and I were born). Ah well. No harm, no foul. We had to backtrack back through Yarnell to get on the road again to take us to Grand Canyon Village...
After our second stop in Yarnell, we were once again headed in the right direction toward Grand Canyon Village for gas and then onto the Grand Canyon as dusk was rapidly approaching. Here we met a more appropriately attired park ranger who greeted us and saved us $15 on the entry fee because we are senior citizens! I'm now the proud owner of a year long pass to all national parks! She then assured us that there would be "many places to pull over" and enjoy the view of the canyon. That phrase ended up leading to disaster....
As we came around a curve we came upon the first scenic view of the canyon just as a beautiful, HUGE full moon was rising over the canyon. (The picture doesn't do the moon justice 😢) Deciding we had to stop to get a picture of this (because it would be dark soon!) I weighed our options to park. All of the paved parking spaces were on the opposite side of the road with several cars parked, going the opposite direction. On our side of the road there was a gravel area where two other vehicles were parked. Assuming this was one of the "many places," I opted to pull off the road there, bouncing off the pavement and down the "slight" incline. (Lanie loves reminding me of my comments about being glad I have a Jeep as we bounced to a stop and she practically rolled out of the car.) The gravel was soft and difficult to walk on; fortunately I had my buddy to help me step up onto the pavement so we could cross the road. I went to the first lookout area and began taking pictures while Lanie headed around to another lookout area to take some pictures of the moon not blocked by trees.
While I was taking pictures I heard some teenage girls laughing and looked over just in time to see one of them stop running and throw her arms out to the side as she was approaching the side of the canyon. As she did so, she accidentally dropped a cellphone and watched it fall! The next girl came running up and asked the first where her phone was. The first girl looked over the edge and the second began screaming at her! Next thing I knew, the first girl climbed over the edge, lost her footing and dropped about a foot! I did NOT want to see a teenager lose her life over a cellphone and took off in search of Lanie, while the two friends were laying on their stomachs in the dirt to help their friend back up.
Of course, Lanie had found her own adventure; a new friend (and his lovely lady) from Cameroon who was willing to take our pictures. Maybe Lanie was trying to save us from a selfie on the edge.... at any rate, her new friend was very good at directing poses, but was very nervous if we got too close to the edge!
After the photo shoot with darkness rapidly approaching it was time to get back into Reggie and head out to the next scenic overlook. Walking to the car, recalling how we sank into the gravel and looking at Reggie leaning at about a 45 degree angle, Lanie asked if it would be better to have her in the car to give it more weight, or if she waited outside. When I said I wasn't sure, she opted for waiting; perhaps a little nervous that it was her side at the base of the angle and if Reggie went over, he would roll on her side???
So, I started Reggie up, put him in gear and began to ease up the incline, but didn't have quite enough umph to get up onto the pavement. I backed him up and tried again with a little more gas, until I heard a thunk on the underside of my Jeep and came to an abrupt stop. Lanie said she thought I was going to make it, but then she realized the rear passenger tire was just spinning. In. The. Air. Fearing I was going to do more damage than good, I backed down the incline once more and decided we needed to do something else. Strike 3! We were officially STUCK! At this point, I suggested Lanie get back in the car. It was nearly dark and the temperatures were rapidly falling. Once she got back in, we began to weigh our options... (Here's where you need to keep in mind that Lanie knows me well enough not to push her ideas/opinions on me. She knew I needed the time to process...)
- L: Should I look at the map and see if there's an emergency number?
- C: I don't know. Hand me my Jeep packet so I can get my insurance papers. I have roadside assistance. (I looked up the number, placed the call about 6:30pm, told them our situation and location and was assured I would hear back within five minutes via text. Sure enough, the text came through to assure me they were working on our case, and five minutes after that, another text saying it was taking a little while to find a service provider near our location and I would hear back within ten minutes. I did; with basically the same information)
- L: I found a phone number. Should I call it?
- C: Sure. See what they have to say. It couldn't hurt. (And she proceeded to call the number she had found; on speaker)
- Man: Grand Canyon Visitor's Center
- L: Hello. We're stuck in the gravel off the side of the road by the first scenic overlook along the southern rim. Is there a tow truck available to help us?
- Man: Well... there's only one, and I gotta tell ya... well, do you have Triple A?
- L: No. Do we have to have it?
- Man: Well. I gotta tell ya, it's gonna be pricey. They contract exclusively with Triple A so without it, it's gonna be pricey. For a lockout, he charges $75 just to get you into your car. I have no idea what he'll charge for a tow. And, do you have cash? He doesn't take any credit cards, you'll have to pay cash.
- C: Well it doesn't matter. We've gotta get out of here...
- L: Do you have a number I can call?
- Man: I'll connect you... (and then the line went dead...)
- L: Should I call him back?
- C: I don't know. I got another text that my insurance company still hasn't found anyone to come... (In the meantime, I had called Brooks again to tell her of our new predicament, not sure what I expected her to do about it, but felt like someone should know what was happening; especially since she expected updates on our progress through her itinerary...)
- C: So, I have no idea when we're going to get out of here, but pretty sure we're not going to be out of here in time to meet Janelle for dinner in Flagstaff. Will you call her and let her know? I don't want to tie up my phone in case the tow truck calls.
- Brooks: You want me to CALL, Janelle? I don't even know her.
- C: It's okay. She knows you created our itinerary. She knows who you are. She changed your diapers, for crying out loud.
- Brooks: Okaaaay... what am I supposed to tell her?
- C: Tell her what happened; that we're stuck at the Grand Canyon with no idea how long it will be before we get out and it doesn't look like we'll be able to make dinner tonight.
- Brooks: Okaaaay... (For those of you who don't know Brookie, she doesn't like to talk on the phone and doesn't particularly care for new/uncomfortable situations. Much to her credit, she took pity on our situation and did as I asked; via text rather than a phone conversation. By the time she was done, she felt like she and Janelle were old friends- which they were- and made a plan to meet her for breakfast in the morning. After more thought and text conversation they decided we should add an extra day to our trip; have a day of rest after our ordeal, and meet Janelle for dinner Wednesday evening. I then asked poor Brooks to check with our hotels. If we were able to add a second night to our stay in Flagstaff and were able to change our other hotel reservations, we'd take her advice. Once again, she rose to the occasion and let me know all of our reservations had been changed and we'd be meeting Janelle the next afternoon. Janelle also offered a lot of different suggestions for us to sightsee around the area before meeting her.)
While I was doing all of this, Lanie was busy with her own calls. She talked to two of her kids AND put in a call to her own insurance man, who REALLY sounded confused why she was calling HIM since we weren't in her vehicle. She assured him we were just looking for alternative advice; any other suggestions for us to handle our situation. Unfortunately, he had no new advice for us, but he was concerned; even reached out to Lanie the next morning to make sure we were alright. Eventually, I got a phone call back from my insurance company:
- Insurance Lady: I'm just calling to check on you to make sure you're okay and let you know we still haven't been able to find anyone to come out to help you. We aren't contracted with anyone in the area and are having a difficult time finding someone who will work with us. We're still trying to locate someone, but I wanted to make sure you're okay and we'll keep texting you with updates.
- C: Could you tell me, we have an emergency phone number for here in the park. If we can find someone to come get us out, should we do that?
- IL: Certainly. If you can find someone to get you out sooner than we can, by all means, let them help. Just call me back and let me know if they get you out.
- C: Okay. Well, we've been told they only accept cash. Is there a way to get reimbursed if we use their services?
- IL: Definitely. Roadside assistance is part of your policy, so just keep the receipt and turn it into your agent when you get home.
Lanie and I began to discuss our options and decided she should try 911. While she was talking to 911, at 7:23pm (nearly an hour after I called the insurance company) I got another text from my insurance company saying they had finally been able to dispatch a service provider, but it was going to be an HOUR AND A HALF before they'd arrive. The 911 Operator needed to get Lanie off the line since it was an emergency line, but she gave Lanie a phone number to call for assistance.
- L: Okay. I have a number to call for assistance. Should I call it?
- C: Well, we have a long wait before help from the insurance company gets here, so if they could come get us out sooner than that, I think we should go for it.
- L: Okay. (Calls the number) Hi. I was given this number to call to see about getting towed...
- Man: I'm glad you called back! The wrecker driver said to put you through when you called back and he'll get you out.
- L: Okay, thank you (pause on hold while the connection went through)
- Wrecker Driver: (with a bit of a hillbilly twang that made Lanie second guess whether we really wanted to rely on him) Hello?
- L: We're stuck in the gravel on the side of the road by the first scenic overlook on the southern rim of the canyon and we need help to get back onto the road.
- WD: Ok. I'll come get you; it'll be about a half hour to find you.
- L: Well, do you know where we are? We came through the main gate to the park; turned right onto the scenic drive around the southern rim; hadn't gone very far, maybe a couple of miles and pulled off at the first overlook area.
- WD: I'll find you.
- C: Tell him we're in a yellow Jeep...
- L: We're in a yellow Jeep. With our flashers on... (Call ended) Now what?
- C: I guess we wait. I'm not gonna cancel with my insurance, until after this guy gets here and gets us out. We've got a full tank of gas, so we can keep warm.
- L: And we've got food and water... we're not gonna starve.
- C: I'm not gonna be drinking much water; I don't need to have to go to the bathroom!
- L: Uhhhhh... why did you have to say that???
About fifteen minutes after Lanie talked to the Wrecker Driver (around 7:45) a pickup drove by slowly. We wondered if it was our rescuer, because none of the other cars that had passed our way even gave us a second glance. As the pickup came to a halt a little ahead of us I rolled down my window. There was a young man leaning out of the pickup:
- YM: (yelling back to us) Are you alright?
- C: We're stuck! We can't get out!
- YM: Do you want some help? We have a tow rope.
- C: You have a tow rope?
- YM: Yeah
- C: You REALLY have a tow rope (at this point I may have felt slightly apprehensive about accepting help from a stranger in a filthy pickup by the side of the road surrounded by thick forest on one side and a 6000 foot PIT on the other)?
- YES! We can get you out. (At this point he got out of the truck and began walking toward us, Lanie and I got out of Reggie and the man's friends pulled ahead to get the truck out of the middle of the road.)
- C: Where's your tow rope? (I may have sounded a bit obsessive)
- YM: Actually if you trust me to drive it, I think I can get it out without a tow.
- C: You REALLY think you can drive it out?
- YM: (Assessing the situation) Yeah. I used to have a job driving cars. (That sounded kinda lame to me, but I'm a trusting sort...)
- Okay.... well, we have two tow trucks that are on their way, but if you can get us out of here quicker, have at it...
While the young man and I were having our discussion, Lanie was being freaked out when the young man's older companion "sneaked up" on her on the other side of the Jeep and said something. Neither of the men LOOKED particularly reputable; clothes were kind of shabby, the young one's pants were barely hanging on, long, straggly hair, teeth looked like they hadn't seen a dentist in awhile, but, so far, they hadn't made any moves to attack either of us! (The girl never said a word; just pulled her jacket around herself more tightly and kind of wore a grin the whole time; kind of made me suspicious) So, the men proceeded to walk around the area, calculating the angle to use to drive the Jeep out and helpful Lanie pointed out the large rocks and tree trunk/limbs that were laying in the way. Our rescuers began tossing the rocks and limbs out of the way like they were nothing to worry about... (Sort of) confident that the men had it under control, I spoke again to the young man:
- C: The keys are in it. You just need to step on the brake and pu....
- YM: Yeah. I know. I used to have a job driving cars and my truck has the same thing...
- C: Oh. Okay. Well, we'll just go across the road to get out of your way.... (Lanie joined me on the way to the other side of the road, closer to the 6000' drop...)
- L: (whisper-like) I sure hope they don't get it out and then drive away with your car....
- C: Yeah... me too... then they'll have our food and water too. It'll just be us out here in the dark with whatever animals are in those woods...
It appeared that they were going to be able to get it out! They had everything all lined up and ready to drive Reggie out when the wrecker appeared and stopped right in front of the Jeep, blocking the way of pulling it out! He said a few words to the other men and then they headed back toward their pickup. The young man kept hollering back to me as he walked away "We coulda done it. We coulda gotten you out!" I responded that I believed him and really wanted to offer them some money to thank them for stopping to help us (and not killing us), but Lanie and I had just over $300 in cash between us and I had no idea how much Mr. Wrecker Driver was going to charge, so I just let them go with a thank you for trying...
Mr Wrecker Driver began to assess the situation and decided to use a different tactic than the other guys. He pulled his wrecker forward, out of the way, got into Reggie and began to drive him up toward the road, once again turning parallel to the road. As he neared the pavement, Lanie and I heard another terrible sound; she was sure he had blown a tire... He then began to drive in reverse to get the rear, driver's side tire on the pavement (as he was getting closer to the other abandoned car that was probably stuck from earlier) and then the front tire onto the pavement. He kept driving backwards (getting closer and closer to the other car; I'm praying now that we don't add crashing into another car to our list of failures...) then easing the rear passenger tire onto the pavement and FINALLY all four tires before pulling Reggie over closer to us. I couldn't believe it! Reggie was FINALLY out!
- C: Thank you so much!
- WD: (silence)
- C: So, what do I owe you?
- WD: (Looking back and forth between where Reggie had been stuck to Reggie now; back and forth; back and forth... I'm thinking "this is NOT going to be good...") $96
- C: $96??? (SOLD!!! I didn't give him ANY time to consider changing his mind! Threw open my car door, grabbed my purse-which our other rescuers would have also had if they had left with the Jeep- counted out the $96, went back and handed it over to the driver!)
- WD: Do you wanna receipt?
- Yes, if you're able to write one up for me, that'd be great so I can turn it into my insurance company...
With that, we said our good-byes to Mr Wrecker Driver, got in the Jeep and resumed our drive along the "scenic" southern rim, resolved to the fact that there would be no more scenic overlooks for us in the dark, watching for animals to run across the road and listening for any sound of distress from Reggie. We thought surely we'd have a flat tire or would have gas (or some other fluid) leaking, but Reggie seemed to be no worse for the wear. I once again was proud of my Jeep, recognizing my poor old Petey would never have been able to handle that, even new!
As we drove into Flagstaff, we began to follow the GPS instructions to find our hotel. We were too exhausted mentally and physically to go for dinner or to worry about getting any gas. We opted again to go for cooler food and just set our sights on the hotel. As the GPS told us we would arrive at our destination in 3/4 of a mile, Lanie looked up:
- L: There it is!
- C: It can't be. GPS says we have .6 miles yet.
- L: Well... there it is!
- C: (Turning onto the street while GPS is telling me to turn around) Maybe there's a different one down the road a little further...
- L: What are the chances there'd be TWO Hampton Inns a half mile apart?
- C: I don't KNOW... but why was the GPS telling me our destination was 3/4 of a mile on the right if it's here ON THE LEFT?!?!?
- L: I don't know, but here it is...
- C: (Still skeptical) Well there's an address on the building. What's it say? We're looking for 990...
- L: It's 990!!! I TOLD you this was IT!
Still muttering to myself, I had to cave in and admit we were FINALLY here, although I still wasn't 100% convinced until we checked in and they had our reservation....😒 With that, we found our room. Our scheduled 9.5 hour day had turned into 13 hours and 41 mins for a total of 615.9 miles and Day 5 had FINALLY come to a close around 9pm....
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| Outside our Hampton Inn Flagstaff, AZ |
Wednesday, Oct 20, Day 6: As suggested by Brooks and Janelle, we took a much needed and deserved day of rest. Even though Janelle offered us several suggestions for sites to see in Flagstaff and nearby Sedona, Lanie and I were really feeling content to just relax around the hotel for the day. Out of habit, however, we were awake at 6:00 and decided we'd go down for breakfast. We joined a man on the elevator to ride down to the lobby...
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| Hampton Sign on the inside of the elevator door |
- L: I wonder what they're laughing about.
- Elevator Man: I thought that was a picture of ya'll....
- C: Maybe in our younger years....
We never did figure out what we had done to make him make that comment. We were still exhausted from the previous day's adventures. We certainly weren't laughing, but better to be seen as a happy pair than a couple of nasty witches, eh? Anyway, after breakfast, we went back to our room and relaxed for a little while before we decided it was a good day to take advantage of another swimming pool. This time, we had the pool all to ourselves. So, another good opportunity for a selfie!
After our swim, we still had a nice leisurely afternoon to get showered and ready for our dinner with Janelle. Perhaps I should take a minute to explain about Janelle. When Brooks was planning our itinerary, she mentioned that we would be in Flagstaff and that she thought Janelle was living in Flagstaff. Now, you might be wondering how Brooks would know where someone she doesn't know lives. Ordinarily she wouldn't. However, Janelle is one of the stars of the tv show, "Sister Wives" which Brooks watches pretty regularly. To me, she's still Janelle Schriever, our teenage babysitter from Bountiful, Utah. I lost touch with Janelle after we left Bountiful in 1984, but after I saw her on the show, I was able to reconnect with her on Facebook and able to reach out to her to see if she'd be able to meet with us while we were in Flagstaff. I was overjoyed to see OUR Janelle after 37 years!
While we were waiting for her to pick us up at the hotel we had another perfect opportunity for our hotel selfie. (This video had even more challenges as I switched the camera angle... don't get dizzy watching it...)
Janelle drove us around to see some of the beautiful scenery around Sedona, Arizona and then took us to dinner at The Table at the Junipine Resort in Oak Creek Canyon.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner and got fairly well caught up after decades of not seeing one another. Then again, I was somewhat familiar with her life and family from the tv show and she was fairly informed about our family, since she's friends with some of my kids and I on Facebook. But, we talked and laughed and shared a few memories (especially about how good her mom and the rest of her family had been when Sami was so ill and when our twins were newborns); like most old friends do when they reconnect. Janelle was so graceful when we were leaving and the woman sitting at the next table reached out to stop her and have a short conversation about the restaurant. In fact, the connection was so natural, Lanie thought Janelle knew the lady. It was a nice evening and so nice to reconnect with the fun, independent young woman I knew so long ago.
Thursday, Oct. 21: Day 7 we began our 9.5 hour trip to Amarillo a little late; getting on the road at 8:03 to a sunny 50 degree day with blue sky and some light, wispy clouds. This was the day we made our one INTENTIONAL, non-scheduled stop in Winslow, Arizona... such a fine site to see....
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| Intersection by "the Corner" in Winslow, Arizona |
EVERYONE told us "you can't miss it" when we discussed going to Winslow. Lanie's elderly native American friend from Sanders, Arizona, my friend Karen, Janelle; they all said "you can't miss it." Well, they didn't know us very well. They all said it's right on the main street going through town. Well, we made it ALL THE WAY THROUGH TOWN and didn't see a thing! No. That's a lie. We did see a flat bed Ford sitting on a corner parking lot, but it was nothing to get excited about. I was beginning to get quite disgruntled at the lack of information we had received, when I realized...
- C: We've been driving on a one way street...
- L: Yeah.....
- C: There's another one way street going the other way over there... do you suppose "the corner" could be on the OTHER main street going through town?
- L: Well, it's not on this one...
So, at the next intersection, I made a left, another left onto the one-way street going the opposite direction, drove a few blocks, and THERE IT WAS!!!
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| Two girls by a flatbed Ford... |
I'm not really certain why we were so excited to be here, but we weren't the only ones! (In case you're unfamiliar with the song "Take it Easy" by the Eagles, perhaps you'll understand a little better at 1:07 into the song. The rest of you, just enjoy and let it get stuck in your head like it got stuck in ours!)
A stop in the "Take It Easy Store" to pick up some t-shirts and souvenir maps and we were on the road again to Gallup, New Mexico. Gallup was our first scheduled gas stop of the day, but all of the pumps were closed at our Phillips 66 station! So we pulled into a nearby Love's Truck Stop where we enjoyed some unexpected scenery courtesy of an Army transport! It was the first time in my life I enjoyed walking into a ladies room with no waiting, while observing a 12' line for the men's room!
Since we had a good breakfast and started out a little late, we opted to skip lunch in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We were intrigued by some of the billboards along the way advertising moccasins, ponchos, serapes, bajas and bolos and when one had the added draw of a DQ, we decided to stop to check it out and grab an ice cream cone about 1:30. I really wanted to pick up an authentic pair of moccasins and was thoroughly bummed when I saw all the "Made in China" tags. I immediately opted to purchase nothing... well, except for my DQ cone...
Due to our eastward travel, we lost an hour of daylight and arrived in Amarillo, Texas too late to see our next surprise sightseeing spot. Since it was already dark, we headed straight for Torchy's Tacos, ready to give the recommended Tipsy Chick Taco a taste test. Well, except the Tipsy Chick was on a seasonal menu and no longer available. The girl at the counter took on the task of explaining the Torchy menu to us and we proceeded to look for a table in the PACKED restaurant! Having never eaten at a Torchy's before, neither of us knew what to expect, but assumed we'd receive portions like other Mexican restaurants offer. Finding ourselves to still be hungry and on the recommendation of Lanie's son, Michael, she headed back to place a second order for us. She returned shortly
- L: Wasn't this place packed when we got here?
- C: Yeah, this was one of two empty tables in the restaurant
- L: Where'd everyone go???
At that, I took a look around us and realized that the place was, indeed, nearly EMPTY!!! I hadn't really paid attention earlier, but we were definitely the oldest people there. I didn't think we were so freaky that we'd empty the place out! Oh well... onto our final stop for the night at the Hilton Garden Inn in Amarillo after another 611 miles in 9.5 hours!
Friday, Oct 22: Day 8 saw us starting out later again, because we wanted to let the fog lift so we had a chance of doing our previous day's sightseeing stop before leaving Amarillo.
Obviously, the fog hadn't lifted enough to see what the Cadillac Ranch was all about. As we started to drive away, we realized that a little way down the road there were other cars parked and people were walking across a field into the fog. It kind of reminded me of "Field of Dreams," only with fog instead of a corn field... I didn't think I should risk walking out there with my bad knee and coordination challenges, but Lanie was up for the challenge!
I could explain these pictures to you, but why read my boring explanation of what's happening here when you can get a tour from our own on-the-ground reporter???
I hope you enjoyed that thorough report and impromptu interview as much as I did! One more quick stop by the Cadillac Ranch RV Park before saying our final good-bye to the lovely, smelly, foggy Amarillo!
Down the road again and on to our first gas stop of the day in Weatherford, Oklahoma before we got to have lunch at the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma.
Top Left: The Rock Cafe Sign Top Right: The exterior of The Rock Cafe
Bottom Left: Entrance to The Rock Bottom Right: The Rock Souvenir Shop
Our visit to the gift shop here, we also learned about the Route 66 souvenir passport books; a state-by-state scavenger hunt with pages for each of the historic stops along the route where visitors can stop, get the pages stamped and turn it in for a special souvenir when complete! After finishing our burgers and fries (what else would you eat at a Route 66 historic diner?) we were on our way to our first surprise stop of the day.
Driving down the road, we experienced an anticipation similar to that which we felt before our ill-fated stop at Penny Lane Antiques! Driving through Catoosa, Oklahoma and hoping we didn't goof again, we followed the GPS directions, did a U-Turn and pulled into a park-like area with a pond and a HUGE BLUE WHALE!!! How fun!!!
The 80' Blue Whale was built as an anniversary gift in the early 1970s. The area was turned into a swimming park and the whale was used as a water slide until it closed in 1988. Looking more closely at the water, we could understand why it says "No Swimmin!" It also used to be used as a fishing pond and Lanie did see a fish jump in the water near the whale's tail! Nearby is also Fort Spunky, which served as a relay station on the Old Star Mail route between St Louis and California. Will Rogers uncle was the postmaster.
This stop provided opportunities for not one, but TWO selfies!
Not sure why Lanie is giving me that look....
After spending longer in Catoosa than we probably should have, we were back on the road to nearby Chelsea, Oklahoma for our next surprise.
This stop was totally for my benefit since Brooks knew I used to collect Totem Poles. Lanie seemed to enjoy it too, even though these are made of cement and painted; looking nothing like the real totem poles you find in the Pacific Northwest. But it was another fun stop!
After enjoying our time at the Totem Pole Park, we were back in Reggie and on the last leg of our trip for the day to our hotel in Miami, Oklahoma.
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| Our Final Hotel Hampton Inn; Miami, OK |
After traveling 485.7 miles in 8 hours 18 minutes we arrived and checked into our final hotel! 😢 We were SHOCKED when we realized we didn't have an assigned restaurant for dinner that night! So, we Googled our way to a restaurant that had decent food, but poor customer service! Then again, every place is short-staffed from Covid, so maybe I should give them the benefit of the doubt....
I probably should have had Lanie take the bottom 2 pictures so I could have stood in the picture and waved... The picture on the right shows the list of all major cities on the historic Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Dinner done and it was time to head back to the hotel for a good night's rest in preparation for our final day of travel!
Middle Left: Seating in the Dairy King Middle Right: Selfie with Treva
Bottom Left: Trademark Chocolate Chip Bottom Right: Trademark Sugar Cookie
The Dairy King is owned by Treva DuBois, pronounced do-BOYCE in these parts! She was very friendly and extremely proud to tell us that their famous route 66 cookies (which come in sugar or chocolate chip) are trademarked, as they are made to scale of the original Route 66 signage. (Unfortunately, they're not very good; definitely NOT worth the $1/cookie, but they are a novelty.) The building opened as a Marathon Gas Station in 1927 and has been in business ever since, although it switched to serving food instead of gasoline in the 1950s.Treva stamped our passport books and pointed out all the pages we HAD to see before we left Commerce!
When Treva saw us go across the street to our second stop of the day, Allen's Conoco Fillin' Station, she was quick to let us know that it was FAKE! It wasn't originally there. It never operated as a gas station. And, it's FAKE!!! We got the message, Treva, but we still got our selfie at another stop along our Road Trip Scavenger Hunt!
Leaving the fake gas station behind, we headed down the road for our final, surprise sightseeing stop, also in Commerce!
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| Boyhood Home of Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees Legend Commerce, OK |
We completed our sightseeing in Commerce and finally hit the road for the day at 12:07 with a gas stop scheduled for St. Robert, Missouri. (Sorry... no selfie there...)
And then it was on to Springfield, Illinois where we were scheduled to have dinner at the Cozy Dog Drive-In, family owned-operated since 1950!
I must admit, I didn't quite understand why we were supposed to stop a half hour from Decatur to eat dinner at a drive-in, but then again, I should have known there was reason behind all of our stops. I'm a hot dog addict and the Cozy Dog is the home of the original Corn Dog!!!
... and going for one final selfie...😢 (maybe Lanie should have been taking them all! Then again, good selfies wouldn't have made for all the goofy videos...)
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| Final selfie at the Cozy Dog Springfield, IL |
Our adventure couldn't end without one final mishap, however... The Cozy Dog is on a very poorly lit street and as I was trying to obey the GPS and make a left turn out of the parking lot...
- C: Is there a median there or can I make a left?
- L: I'm not sure... I don't see a median...
- C: Okay then; here we go...
And away we went... about a half block before the stoplight ahead turned green and three lanes of traffic was heading right for us! I pulled as close as I could toward the very wide, grassy median on my right until all of the honking cars were past us and I was able to flip a U-ey and go with the flow instead of against it... 😅
After a slight snafu with the GPS that lost all of the Illinois roads when I updated it to calculate our cross-country route, we found our way home using Lanie's phone until we were on the highway that I knew to Decatur! Our final travel day covered 472 miles in 7 hours 55 minutes and we unloaded our bags one more time in Decatur for one more night together before Lanie headed back home to Sugar Grove Sunday morning.
Reflecting on our trip of 4,235 miles, which took us 72.5 hours of drive time, I was thinking, in reality we were together a solid 233 hours and we were still laughing. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and many good friends, but how many are fortunate enough, after all these years, basically apart, living our own lives with our own families and careers, to be able to be together that long in unique circumstances, getting lost, getting stuck, getting confused and still be able to say it's all good and actually be looking forward to our next adventure together??? Through all our misadventures, my buddy never criticized me once. She never got frustrated with me (that I could tell, anyway) and I never got frustrated with her. She even knew me well enough to not push when I was trying to calculate our best move at the Grand Canyon! God blessed us on our trip, he watched over us and, at times, must have sent angels to protect us. That wonderful day in 1967, when our friendship began has become one of the greatest blessings of my life. I love ya, Buddy and I'm looking forward to whatever adventures lie in our future as we explore new aspects of our friendship.
