bostaurus
Well-Known Member
We are so happy to be home! Out trip south took us 3 weeks and a bit under 4,000 miles. I am getting too old for trips like that!
We had not really seen any spring here in Wisconsin when we left on April 25th. The trees had not even started to leaf out yet. Gradually things began to green-up as we headed south and by the time we stopped at friends' house in St. Louis everything was leafy and blooming. The next leg of the journey, to my brother's house in Memphis, was a mess. We decided to take backroads to break-up the monotony of the interstate. We kept getting turned around due to flooded roads. Once we got to the Memphis area the land was higher so the flooding was not an issue. Unfortunately a big storm had passed through earlier and now the 15 min to my brother's house took almost an hour due to downed trees and power lines. The GPS in useless in those situations...it just wants to keep taking you back to the same roads.
The next day we headed to Jackson, Ms for my oldest daughter's graduation.
She had been working on two separate degrees...a BFA in Creative Writing and a BA in History. The school informed her 3 weeks into this last semester that she could not use some of her credits for both degrees. Threw a big monkey wrench into her graduation plans! Fortunately her two major professors worked things out for her. She quickly started an online course, on top of the classes she was already taking, and she will get credit for the internship she is doing this summer. So, she really graduates at the end of the summer but got to walk in this graduation. Two degrees in four years and with High Honors. We are very proud of her.
We headed to the in-laws' in Louisiana after that. The river is in flood stage but they are in a drought! The river is so high they had to close the Mississippi Ferry at St. Francisville so they opened the new suspension bridge just south of there early. We had to do the geeky thing and drive up there just to cross the bridge and back again.
From there it was on to San Antonio to visit with friends. I loved living in San Antonio but I love green grass and big trees too. They are in a big drought also, but even with rain the trees are short, the soil sandy and dusty, and I can do without scorpions..snakes I can handle but not the scorpions. I did buy a bottle...my only one on the trip.
Off to Abilene to pick up the youngest daughter from college. At least they had been having a little more rain....so the trees were still short but greener.
The three days getting back to Wisconsin were very long but it was nice to watch the grass get greener, and the trees taller the the weather cooler...okay maybe not that last one.
Trips like this always remind me what an outstanding land we live in. To drive from almost semi-tropical Louisiana to the mesquite of San Antonio in one day, the beautiful forested hills of north east Oklahoma and south west Missouri, and the huge farm fields of Illinois. We saw turkey, deer, elk, foxes, coyotes, snakes and even those nasty scorpions. What a great place to live.
Terrible picture but the only one we got with our camera. Hopefully my youngest got better pictures with her camera.
We had not really seen any spring here in Wisconsin when we left on April 25th. The trees had not even started to leaf out yet. Gradually things began to green-up as we headed south and by the time we stopped at friends' house in St. Louis everything was leafy and blooming. The next leg of the journey, to my brother's house in Memphis, was a mess. We decided to take backroads to break-up the monotony of the interstate. We kept getting turned around due to flooded roads. Once we got to the Memphis area the land was higher so the flooding was not an issue. Unfortunately a big storm had passed through earlier and now the 15 min to my brother's house took almost an hour due to downed trees and power lines. The GPS in useless in those situations...it just wants to keep taking you back to the same roads.
The next day we headed to Jackson, Ms for my oldest daughter's graduation.
She had been working on two separate degrees...a BFA in Creative Writing and a BA in History. The school informed her 3 weeks into this last semester that she could not use some of her credits for both degrees. Threw a big monkey wrench into her graduation plans! Fortunately her two major professors worked things out for her. She quickly started an online course, on top of the classes she was already taking, and she will get credit for the internship she is doing this summer. So, she really graduates at the end of the summer but got to walk in this graduation. Two degrees in four years and with High Honors. We are very proud of her.
We headed to the in-laws' in Louisiana after that. The river is in flood stage but they are in a drought! The river is so high they had to close the Mississippi Ferry at St. Francisville so they opened the new suspension bridge just south of there early. We had to do the geeky thing and drive up there just to cross the bridge and back again.
From there it was on to San Antonio to visit with friends. I loved living in San Antonio but I love green grass and big trees too. They are in a big drought also, but even with rain the trees are short, the soil sandy and dusty, and I can do without scorpions..snakes I can handle but not the scorpions. I did buy a bottle...my only one on the trip.
Off to Abilene to pick up the youngest daughter from college. At least they had been having a little more rain....so the trees were still short but greener.
The three days getting back to Wisconsin were very long but it was nice to watch the grass get greener, and the trees taller the the weather cooler...okay maybe not that last one.
Trips like this always remind me what an outstanding land we live in. To drive from almost semi-tropical Louisiana to the mesquite of San Antonio in one day, the beautiful forested hills of north east Oklahoma and south west Missouri, and the huge farm fields of Illinois. We saw turkey, deer, elk, foxes, coyotes, snakes and even those nasty scorpions. What a great place to live.
Terrible picture but the only one we got with our camera. Hopefully my youngest got better pictures with her camera.
