Seniors on the road, the ocean, off the beaten path—and wherever: They built it

Two days of travel from Tucumcari and we are having a taste of what our Route 66 trip will be like. A bit (very little bit!) of Interstate and a lot of two lane US highways and state highways. We have, before this trip, mostly travelled on Interstates. We didn’t understand the folks who wanted to travel the “blue roads,” AKA state/two lane/country. Now we do!

So, flight of ideas [Aside: this is a wonderful term I learned on my psychiatric affiliation in RN school. Flight of Ideas “is a rapid shifting of ideas with only superficial associative connections between them that is expressed as a disconnected rambling from subject to subject.” Our daughter and son and their spouses use a shortcut: “Squirrel!” when one of us is about to launch on a completely new and totally unconnected topic not connected to what we had been talking about.] On our way from our visit with Ann and Lou, we passed by Kearney, MO, and noted a sign telling us this was, in fact, the birthplace of Jesse James. You can read more here but it can be boiled down to this: “Jesse’s boldness and flamboyance as a bank and train robber, combined with sensational publicity from newspapers and dime novels, soon made him a legend.” Where else in the world do people revere criminals? OK, OK, Australia, but their criminals basically established the country. Full disclosure: I’m reading a novel about Australia called The Exiles. Guess what that’s about!

I was not able to slow Randy down in his Corvette but Ann and Lou’s stories about getting tickets for speeding (in the mail!) in Iowa and Illinois have actually slowed him down!

Speaking of Ann and Lou, we had such a great time with them! We only had one day to spend with them but we made the most of it. We talked and drank and talked some more, ate some appetizers, talked some more, went out to dinner at a GREAT steak restaurant (after Ann discovered that the restaurant she reserved for Tuesday night, wasn’t open on Tuesday!), slept and awakened to an awesome breakfast casserole. All this in less than 18 hours. They WILL come visit us in Tucson!

Lou grew up in Springfield, IL, within a block of Abraham Lincoln’s home. He probably tutored Abe. We have long planned to stay in Springfield for a day and now we have a goal: Find Lou’s ancestral home and take photos. Not that he needs photos, but we love having a goal!

After leaving the Kansas City area (including some wrong turns that brought us past the restaurant we had dinner at in downtown KC) we headed for the Field of Dreams in Dyersburg, IA, site of the eponymous movie. We were prepared to be disappointed but it was definitely not a disappointment. Randy had great fun just being able to stand on the pitcher’s mound and out by 2^nd base (he played 2^nd in college). A very nice man loaned him his glove for a photo and the shop gave him a 15% discount for being a veteran (he was wearing his Vietnam Vet cap).