Los Flemings

The move is officially under way. The trailer was delivered yesterday and thanks to the help of a neighbor a significant portion of our belongings are on board. More went in today and tomorrow we'll stow the remainder, strap it all down and put up a bulkhead for shipping. In the afternoon we'll start out for Cary with a stop somewhere in GA for the night.

Sam even got to blow the air horn.

the truck arrives.

Back safely in Tallahassee after 5,231 miles of seeing our lovely country. The highlight of the day was the stop in Enterprise, AL to visit the Boll Weevil Monument, but even better was finding homemade ice cream at Smoochies. It's good to be home. Sam went straight to work covering the living room floor with train track. Next stop: Cary, NC.

Just one more day on the road to go. We had a comfortable drive today from Arkansas down to Birmingham with a break in Tupelo, MS for a stroll in the mall to stretch our legs (and escape the heat). There was even an indoor carousel to add to the excitement. The only disappointment of the day was that we passed up the opportunity to visit the birthplace of The King of Rock n' Roll - just too weary from so many road miles. We did make it to Birmingham in time for dinner with Jim/Bunk. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day on the road and that tomorrow night we'll be back home in our own beds.

Homeward bound in the heatwave and we have finally sought the air conditioned shelter of a Holiday Inn here in Forrest City, AR., in the face of 100 degree temperatures. Since departing Durango we had a very pleasant evening camping in Cimarron Canyon State Park in New Mexico and then two hot night in Palo Duro Canyon S.P. near Amarillo, Texas (pictured left) and last night in Greenleaf State Park in Oklahoma.

Along the way we took a little detour past the Philmont Scout Ranch (the site of one of my boyhood adventures) and crossed the Kiowa National Grasslands in N.M. The highlights in Palo Duro included watching the sunset from up on a ridge, a shooting star and sighting of a painted bunting. Since then the drive has been pretty uneventful but with plenty of stops to stretch our legs and buy more gas!

Awaiting the ride on the Bar D Shortline Railroad at the Bar D Chuckwagon.

Lunch with Aunt Reba and G.G. at a nifty new Durango kid-oriented cafe - P is for Peanut.

Racing the train out of Durango.

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge getting ready for the 9:45 departure.

Serious digging with Uncle Dale's backhoe.

Baking zuchini bread with G.G. (courtesy of Chris's Denver-based gardening friends and their monster sized zuchini - it yielded enough for a double recipe).

Sam (and his parents) survived his first rafting experience yesterday on the lower Animas River through Durango. The highlight (pictured right) was Smelter rapid near the end of the run. Sam thought the water splashing over the front of the raft and completely covering him was pretty fun - although the water temp was in the 50's. The other fun part was jumping out of the raft on the section that they call 'the lake'.

This afternoon we're resupplying and getting ready to start home tomorrow morning. Our first stop will be camping in Cimarron Canyon State Park in New Mexico.

We reached Durango, our western most destination, on Tuesday much to the delight of Sam's great grandmother. The stay in Denver was pleasant but our baseball plans were foiled by dreary wet weather and a stomach bug that I caught in the middle of the night Saturday. The one small bright spot was that I got to watch the World Cup final our friend Chris while Mame and Sam explored the Denver Childrens Museum. I recovered in time our departure on Sunday and the good news is that no one else got the bug but me.

From Denver we drove southwest to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park to a spectacular campground down in the canyon and by the river. The rain stopped as we arrived and the clouds rolled away. We took a nice walk upriver in the evening and then explored the rim the following morning. If you're ever in the neighborhood of Montrose, CO we highly recommend stopping to see the canyon.

In the afternoon we drove up and over the mountains through Ouray and Silverton, CO on our way into Durango - another scenic (and white-knuckled) drive in time for dinner with Grandma Adelle. Yesterday, we stayed in one place for the most part out at Aunt Reba and Uncle Dale's house in the country. Sam got to climb on all the tractors and at the end of the day even got to drive one of the diggers. This morning we came into Durango in time to watch the 9:45 departure of the steam engine. We positioned ourselves on the edge of town on the bike path and raced the train for about 1.5 miles on our bikes until dad's legs gave out and the train headed up into the mountains. It was great fun at one point we were right next to the engine with just a chain link fence and a few feet separating us.

Tonight we're headed out to the Bar D Chuckwagon for cowboy chow and cowboy music. Tomorrow we're planning on a family friendly float down the Animas River through town. Sam saw some rafters today and said he was ready to give it a try. We'll see what he thinks of the cold water!

Picnic stop on the banks of the Arkansas River. Sam was ready to hop on a raft for multi-day trip downriver with his 'goggles' on.

Hard at work with the magic markers driving across the Front Range of CO.

Departed Ft. Kearny State Recreation Area in Nebraska this morning and made the drive into Colorado in time for dinner with Chris, Mame's good friend from her days in Salamanca. Finally hit some grey weather and some rain, which also brought some cooler temperatures. Sam was a bit under the weather today and napped a good portion of the drive so we made some really good time. Keep your fingers crossed that the sun will shine on the Rockies game tomorrow.

Check out the new photos below.

Gettin' corny in Nebraska outside Ft. Kearny State Recreation Area.

Sam daydreams of playing in the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska someday (or at least his parents do).

A firewood vending machine in Rock Creek State Park, IA.

Stopped to visit the vintage cargo plane parked outside the Don Q Inn in Dodgeville, WI on our way out from Gov. Dodge State Park.

Our first off-road trail-a-bike experience at Gov. Dodge State Park in Wisconsin.

Our home away from home in Door County - the Moose Valley Lodge just south of Egg Harbor. Thanks to Donna and Frank for being our hosts. Sam really liked the jacuzzi tub upstairs in the loft.

On the road from Iowa to Nebraska - and posting from an Iowa rest stop with wi-fi! Camped last night at Rock Creek State Park in Iowa. A nice spot by the lake but a brief stop over. We spent more time the day before exploring Gov. Dodge State Park in Wisconsin and completed a mini-family-triathlon. Biked to the Stephens Falls trailhead, hiked to the falls and then cooled off with a swim in the lake before striking out for Iowa. Sam and I even had our first off-road biking experience with the trail-a-bike.

We're headed west and plan to camp one night in Nebraska along the Platte River and then we'll head on into Denver on Saturday.

Thirteen hundred miles after leaving Tallahassee we've made our way to Door County, WI. Along the way we stopped first in Birmingham for dinner with Bunk. Then it was on to Mammoth Cave National Park in western Kentucky for two nights camping - and one 'car-free' day. The stop at the park was terrific. We went on one cave tour, hiked to the River Styxx to see where the spring came out the side of the mountain and biked to the Green River Ferry. At dusk Sam was enthralled by the number of 'bug lights' (aka fireflies). Then we made the big drive on Saturday from KY to WI in one big day. Along the way we stopped for ice cream at the Fair Oaks Farm Dairy Adventure north of Indianapolois, IN (pictured above). The ice cream was great and they had one of the biggest sand boxes ever for Sam to play in. We rolled into Door Co. around midnight and got some rest and a dip in Green Bay before the big birthday bash for Fred Lockwood on Sunday afternoon. Today we went down to Sturgeon Bay and did some biking. Tomorrow is Fourth celebrations and fireworks here in WI, then we'll set out for Colorado on Wednesday.

Fred Lockwood playing 'Eidelweiss' on his harmonica at his 90th birthday celebration.