Homeward Bound

We stopped in Shreveport, LA on our way West. The RV park owners told us to be sure and see the R. W. Norton Art Gallery if we were interested in art. Us? Off we went!

This gallery is BIG and it houses the art collection of R. W. Norton. It was built by his son as a tribute to his father and open to the public free of charge. The staff told us the family struck oil in Louisiana and this is what oil could buy. There are special exhibits, collections of Steuben glass, 19th and 20th century paintings, 16th century tapestries, and rooms full of Western art (by the biggies) with large galleries devoted to Remmington and Russell. It took us more than two hours to tour the collections. (No photos inside, of course.) It's a fabulous collection. Ben and Sarah called to tell us that we had to go to Strawns Pie Shop to try their strawberry pie. We did - and they were CLOSED! Guess this means we'll have to go back to Shreveport one day...

We made a decision to forego our planned stop in Fort Worth and head home. It just felt like it was time... We were 830 miles from home - 2 1/2 days in RV terms. On day one we stopped for gas in Texas where Ed got a made to order lunch on the road in the convenience store. Nice stop. Ed posed with the chef.

We stopped for the night in Wichita Falls, TX and watched the weather reports of a "severe weather warning." We left early in the morning planning to go only as long as the driving was good and the conditions not dangerous. We drove into some fog and misting rain. It was COLD outside! but the roads were not icy and Ed felt good about continuing the drive. Finn stayed on his rug...

The worst of the storm had passed during the night. The trees were covered in ice and with the fog there was a very ethereal quality about the scenery.

We pulled into a rest area so I could take a few photos of the trees.

When we hit Amarillo the storm was over. There were still warnings about wind, but Ed decided to continue on to Tucumcari. It was the toughest part of the drive, but not unsafe. We were delighted when we saw this sign:

We hadn't seen sunshine for about a week but it was out in New Mexico!!! We made a short stop at the New Mexico Welcome Center.

We pulled into a park in Tucumcari where the owners handed us the menu!! Homemade dinner to be delivered to our RV at 6:00 p.m. Heaven. They gave us a level pull thru site so we didn't have to set up anything, and told us the winds would stop at 8:00 p.m. They did - on the dot.

It was so cold in Tucumcari that our water froze. We decided Winter camping isn't for us...

Going Home Day! A beautiful sunrise...

A hot shower, clean clothes, and we were on our way. Weather - perfect!

Our off-ramp!

Home! and our mountain has snow on it!

Our street!

Ed unhooked the car for the last time on this trip. That storm left it so dirty you couldn't see through the windshielf.

Coming up our driveway! H O M E!

9100 miles in the RV and even more in the Jeep. What an adventure this has been!

On the way home we talked about the experiences we've had. We couldn't come up with one highlight because every sentence ended with "and..." Maine and..., Charleston and..., meeting so and so and,... New Orleans with Ben and Sarah and,... Appomattox and..., Lowell, MA and..., Chautauqua Institute and..., the Hudson Valley and... It goes on and on.

We've both come back a lot smarter than we were when we set out on this journey. We learned so much...in every possibile way. This trip was so much more than we expected. We feel blessed to have had this opportunity. We're certainly richer for it.

It's good to be home...for awhile...