Sunday, October 1, 2017

Day 5 - Heading East - Home Stretch

Friday - We slept in a little this morning, then drove into Mt. Vernon (about 1/2 mile) for breakfast before we hit the road.  We really liked this little campground, it's a very convenient location if we come across I-64 so we will have to remember it -- Archway RV Park.
 Cute little cabins (above).  Campsites are fairly roomy.

We finally got on the road at 9:40, had a few miles to drive on I-57, which was south, then reconnected with I-64 and headed East again. But the sun was high enough that it wasn't blinding us this morning, and we crossed the Indiana state line about an hour later, at 10:35.  Shortly after that, we hit U.S. 41, headed north, and arrived at Mike and Rachelle's (have to get used to calling it that, rather than Mom's house), at 12:42.  No one was home, so after we got parked, we drove on into Vincennes to go shopping for funeral clothes, since I didn't pack any "church clothes" on this trip.  We ran into Judy Ann there, and visited briefly with her, got our shopping done, stopped at Barbara's "country cottage" where Dixie and Jim were going to stay, and visited with Maurice until Barbara arrived, then visited with Barbara until Dixie and Jim arrived. 

Joe had announced that we were doing Bobe's pizza tonight, and I called ahead and reserved their back room, so we had a family get-together there.  That was fun, and the pizza was delicious, as usual.



Joe and Ashley's selfie.
We ended our day and headed back to the RV to get some rest.  We had hoped to work a nap in this afternoon, but that didn't happen.

Saturday was a busy day.  We met Dixie and Jim for breakfast at 9:30, and went to the funeral home at 10:30.  Aunt Nellie's funeral was very nicely done, with Marilyn's kids and grandkids providing a wonderful personal touch with their singing and reading of the scriptures.  As soon as the graveside service was over, Joedropped me off at another funeral home so I could attend the funeral of Glenda Williams Carie the sister of one of my classmates, Sherry Williams Hedge.  Glenda actually had graduated in my sister's class, and I spent many overnights there.  I met Barbara there and we paid our respects to this Decker Chapel family.  An added treat -- another classmate, who is now a musician and Elvis-impersonator, and a nephew of the deceased -- was there and we got to catch up a little with Eddie Carson.  We hadn't seen him for probably 54 years.
I missed the "family dinner" following Aunt Nellie's funeral since I went to the second funeral, but some of the family migrated out to Mike's afterwards, so it was much like old times.  We all thought Lucille would have appreciated having the family together, on her carport.

Mike got out the barbeque grill and cooked up some hamburgers and hotdogs, so along with the leftovers from the funeral home and dinner afterwards, there was plenty to eat.  Another long day, but a good one, given the circumstances.

Sunday morning, we did make it to church, as did Dixie and Jim.  Joe and I slept in until almost 9:00, unheard of for me, although we still haven't adjusted to this time zone.  But we had the opportunity after church to walk over to the cemetery and see the new tombstone at Mom and Dad' grave, which had just been set about a week ago.  It is very lovely, Dixie did good.

After church, we gathered up some more family and drove in to the Ponderosa for lunch.  Then, Jaclyn gave us a tour of their new house, which they will be moving into shortly.  I left my camera at home so I don't have pictures, but it is lovely, with lots and lots of room, and two wonderful garages.  We are all envious of those garages.

From there, we headed back to the RV and Joe and I finally got our naps.  Our travel days caught up with us and we were both really tired, so it didn't take us long to fall asleep.

This is my final blog of this trip.  We plan on leaving here Wednesday and heading to Florida.  At some point, we will head back to Arizona, probably after Halloween.  John and Bridgette have sold their house and bought another one, as well, so it looks like they plan on putting us to work.  Everyone seems to be moving this year.

I totaled up some numbers of our trip thus far: 

Grass Valley, California to Vincennes, Indiana -- 2,241 miles

RV miles since we left home - 5,631 miles
Buick miles since we left home - 7,994 miles (we did lots of day-trips seeing the sights).

Out of curiousity, I added up the hours we spent driving across the country from California to Indiana --
approximately 44 1/2 hours (that's 43 for Joe, 1 1/2 for me).  In approximately 4 1/2 days.  Thanks to Joe, the marathon-driver!

The End!