Family in Illinois

We began our journey by visiting friends in Oklahoma and we are almost at the end of our journey with a visit with family. MDH has an Uncle D and Aunt D who live in Lincoln, Illinois. We arrived at their lovely home around 11:30 a.m. this morning and enjoyed a wonderful visit with them and Aunt D's parents. They took us to a wonderful local Italian Restaurant named Guzzardos and after a huge and I mean huge dinner, we went back to their home for dessert, girl talk and the 1st NBA playoff game for the guys. (Hooray! Boston Won). What a wonderful day it has been visiting, eating, eating some more and visiting and actually resting a little bit. We love this family and the extended family (Aunt D's mom and I are book buddies) and want to say thank you once again for their hospitality. Aunt D is learning to play the harmonica so she entertained us with a few songs. Don't look for her to be on the David Letterman show anytime soon but you can check out her public debut by watching this......

Dogs, Dogs, and more Dogs

One of the hardest parts of this trip has been leaving our baby dog Oscar at home. I believe I covered that in an earlier blog. We've seen a lot of dogs on this trip. People travel with their dogs all over the United States. We've seen big dogs and little dogs, cute dogs and ugly dogs, sweet dogs and mean dogs. We are blessed to have family in Illniois (more about them later) who own dogs. The demon eyes in the top picture actually belong to a sweet beagle named Scout (a solid southern name). Scout has a big brother named Rocky Top (also a solid southern name) and then there is their cousin Marmaduke. He is part dog and part horse. He is taller than my 5'11" Big C which means he is two feet taller than me. He is a gentle giant and loves to give kisses. He also has a large water dish. We got a doggie fix today watching Scout and Rocky Top perform some tricks. Take a look.

Bye, Bye Birdie

I love birds! I love their feathers and their beaks. I love the different variety and the fact that every bird makes its own unique nest and has its own unique call. How can anyone look around at the different types of birds, from the tiny hummingbird to the ostrich, and not believe in Intelligent Design? I forgot my daggum Audubon Society North American Field Guide to Birds book on this trip. I could have identified a thousand variety of birds, but alas it sets on my bookshelf at home. So why does the above picture bother me? I know you can't see it well. I don't have Photo Shop on this computer to edit; but it is a big black raven or crow. Look at its proportion to the trash can and you can tell he is BIG. The problem with this bird is that we've seen it everywhere we have been since the Painted Desert. Little I was taking random pictures at the park, we noticed the bird and he captured this image. I don't mean to imply that it is the same bird, that would be spooky right? But, how do you explain that this bird has shown up in strange places where we are? We woke up this morning and Big C went out to pack the car and this bird species was setting on our car and had done his birdie business on our already filthy vehicle. He has shown up at the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Cody, and several little towns in between and at odd places like a wall, or dumpster, or a small tree in hotel lots or walking around in the sand, etc. He is always alone. Don't birds flock or something? As much as I like birds, I don't notice every bird nor am I always looking for them, but I sure have noticed this one. Just thought I would creep you out a bit.

Basketball and Chicks

Big C who is a basketball freak of nature has gone into withdrawal. There have been no basketball games for him to watch this past week since the NBA championship doesn't begin until tomorrow night. He is pumped that his "team" the Celtics are in the finals. We have felt sorry for him because I think this is the longest time he has gone without a basketball in one hand for about eight years. He's also a chick magnet! Little I has traveled well. We've put over 4,000 miles on the car already and are still three days away from home. These guys have been real troopers as this has not been a theme park vacation. I've tried to surprise them with special treats along the way and made sure that the places we've stayed had indoor pools for them to work out their energy at the end of the day. Who knew that Sioux Falls, SD had a Ramada Inn with an indoor water park? We just lucked up on our hotel search for the town and found the place. They enjoyed the basketball goal, volleyball goal and water slide about four hours last night and I even got hugged and kissed! For what more can a mom ask?

Animal pictures from Yellowstone

1. We think it is Elk scat.

2. Buffalo

3. Desert snake that MDH wouldn't let me touch. It wasn't poisonous!

4. Mountain goat with kid.

5. Grizzly bear track -- just kidding! We saw this where we picnicked.

I've posted a lot this evening so if you are following this adventure be sure to scroll down and catch the sordid story.

Thanks for reading!