That title needs a little explanation for sure! Let me start by saying that we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the USA which began with a (all too short) visit with my cousin John and Sandy. Having American cousins always makes for some good conversation when we get together. One of the stories they told us described the ingenuity and genuineness of the American people. In Montana a Taxidermist set up shop next to a Veterinarian..... seeing the incongruity of the situation they placed a sign up between the two shops... "Either Way You Get Your Dog Back!"  
Now besides being pretty funny it really got me thinking of what the American people have gone and are going through right now.  
 
In Oregon we passed a beauty shop named "Curl up & Dye"..... again pretty cute but it also hit me as something the Americans aren't willing to do. 
  
All through our travels we saw signs of the recession.... closed shops, "the bank owns this house" signs, cheap real estate etc. What we also saw (and read about) were people reaching out to help one another. I can't think of one person we met who was bitter or angry. (... well, maybe there was that one radio guy who thinks Obama is to blame for everything but that's another discussion....and I never met him!) The staff at the Safeway store in Carmel were so friendly I thought at first it couldn't be genuine. I can honestly say that was the most fun I've had buying groceries! The funny lady in Bishop all but jumped in our car to help us find what we wanted. There were so many people who made us feel welcome from people on the street to people working in the stores. With all that is happening in their country and in our world it is good to see we can keep joy in our hearts.

Roadside tributes to family members killed in the war were not uncommon. In one small town each lamp standard had a flag displaying a picture, name and rank of a citizen off fighting overseas.
I thought of my cousin who's son just returned, safe, from overseas. I can't begin to understand how it must feel to have a child in the military. What I do now understand is that they will return to families and towns that will support them and hold them in esteem.

It is good to be home again. Good to hug our family and play with my little grandson again. 

The last leg of our journey went far too quickly. We left Bishop on a beautiful sunny day and headed up to the high Sierras. Now that funny lady in Bishop I mentioned earlier had given us fair and loud warning that we just weren't going to get in to the park.... no way, no how! She armed us with our "new best good friend", 511, which is, apparently, the number you call for road reports. With all her crazy warnings firmly planted in our heads (and snow tires on our car) we headed up to the high country. Wow, what an amazing trip we had!! The sun shone in the blue blue sky and the roads were dry. At one point the snow bank sat the side of the road were at least 10 feet high which, for us, only made for great pictures. We couldn't have picked a better day to drive these roads. 
  
The crazy lady was right....we couldn't get in to the park as all the roads were still closed. But highway #395 was open and the views were spectacular. The week before over 25 feet of fresh snow descended on these hills. Hard to imagine that kind of weather so recently. Think our angels were watching out for us!!  

We wound our way down the hill to south Lake Tahoe only to get turned back when we tried to drive up the 89 north. The alternative was to drive north towards Reno on the east side of the lake which was not our original plan. So we left California planning to spend the night in Reno and maybe have a little fun. Nope, I just couldn't get in to the big flashy city lights after such a peaceful day. The best part of Nevada was the side trip we took through Virginia City. Known for having the only elevator between SanFrancisco and Chicago during the boom times of the late 1800's, it still retains a lot of it's character. Many old Victorian / cowboy buildings are still being used today. This old mining town was kind of a surprise near the end of a long day.
 
Anyway, that being said, we pushed our weary selves on for (yet) another 60 miles before crawling in to (yet) another roadside motel in Susanville, California.

Did I mention we had promised ourselves that we wouldn't bolt for home?? We said we would take it easy and just mosey home along back roads. Well I guess it didn't happen.
We woke up the next morning to a kind of drizzly day which meant it would be a good day to drive and that's what we did! Past lakes and forests through Klamath Falls and funky volcanic countryside. By the end of the day we found ourselves in Madras, Oregon. 
Now don't ask me why we stayed in Madras except that it was convenient. Turned out to be a good choice. Though there isn't much to see here there was a good Italian Restaurant (Geno's Italian Grill) and the Best Western had great gym equipment. Yep, you read that right, Shane and I have decided that we need to get rid of what we refer to as Buckeye Butt and Buckeye Belly! The gym at the Crown Plaza in Redondo Beach got us started and the one in Madras damn near finished me off! So, what do you do after a work out at the gym? Go out for a big delicious dinner with 'no guilt' as a side dish!

Still full from last nights dinner we stuffed breakfast down and headed north yet again. The weather forecast was for winds gusting to 55mph and cloudy skies. That seems ominous but just west of us there were flood warnings. So, it seems that our choice of going north was a good one. All the places we wanted to spend time visiting were either under snow or under water!
 
We drove from Madras right through Washington State to Kelowna in one, for us, long day! There isn't much to see along the 97 highway in Washington. The Columbia Gorge is always spectacular but other than that it is mostly farms, ranches and blowing dust. A lot of the countryside reminds me of the Okanagan. Wineries, orchards and sagebrush. Helps to make the long drive shorter.
 
Just picture us with sagebrush blowing past (and under) us as we listened to good ole country music on the radio. YeeHaw!! 
  
Just a side note.... it is really hard to find music on the radio. Seems like every time we tried it was talk radio (mostly angry), sports channels and country music. I like country but it's hard to line dance and drive at the same time!

We got to the border and nearly got busted for my two plums and two apples that have been in the cooler since California. Those little stowaways have been in and out of California illegally and now sit in my kitchen in Kelowna while I sit with my feet up looking out at Okanagan Lake.

Ahhhhhh..... it's good to be home. Looking back at the pictures it's amazing what we managed to pack in to two months.  
So.... now we are getting ready for our next adventure..... white water rafting in the Grand Canyon in June. Don't ya love retirement??