Memorial Day

This is my Uncle John. He was in the Army in Vietnam, and in 1966 his plane went down and he and the pilot ejected. He received a Purple Heart and went on to live a full and adventurous life.

I last saw him about 3 years ago when I was visiting family in Kansas City, right before my Aunt Lela, his oldest sister, died. Uncle Johnny died last month and the memorial service was in Kansas yesterday. I'm proud of him. I so wish I could have been there.

Instead, Sam and I are off on a road trip. Sam's last day of driving the school bus was Friday. I took Mom into Tucson to stay with Becky. Our brothers, Ben and Tim, are also coming to stay with her this week and next week. And on Saturday morning, we packed the cats and our stuff into the car and headed east!

We gave Dingus and Frankie a break on the banks of the Rio Grande River in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They aren't real comfortable out in the wild, or in the car either, for that matter, but we're all adjusting.

Sam drove about 700 miles the first day and we slept in the back of the car in Ozona, Texas. We wanted to see this automobile museum, but it was closed, so we pushed on.

Yesterday we stopped in Ingram, Texas for a photo op! It's a nice little town in beautiful countryside.

Pretty wildflowers were everywhere, including the same orange and yellow daisies we have near the ranch.

In Columbus, we had lunch at Mikeska's Bar-B-Q, which Sam visited many times when driving his semi truck. Evidently Mr. Mikeska was a hunter!

The barbecue was good, too.

Last night we got a hotel room in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dingus and Frankie loved it and thought we should stay there forever. As opposed to going back out into the noisy parking lot and the car.

Today we see New Orleans!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone.