May 6, 2011 we began a trip to Idaho to visit my sister-in- law. No one, who knows me, could imagine me driving a 30 foot motor home to Statesville let alone all the way across the country! Because of health problems my husband cannot see well enough to drive at this time so it was up to me to under- take the task.
The first night we stopped at Clarksville, Tennessee just east of the Ohio River. I was concerned about crossing the flood waters being broadcast on the news. We were not delayed because the interstates highways that we traveled were well above the flood waters.
All the water covered farmland and City Streets near the banks of both the Ohio and the Missouri Rivers in the areas of Paducah, Kentucky and Metropolis, Illinois were heartbreaking to see. We also witnessed the flooding Mississippi River rushing angrily southward as we crossed it at St Louis, Missouri. It seems like every river we crossed during the whole trip was flooding.
The second night, we stopped in Booneville, Missouri, where the campground was so isolated that I had misgivings about choosing that particular campground. There were some other trailers parked there but no other people were in sight. I choose not to use the bath house at that facility. I locked up tightly and carefully. All was well next morning as we continued on our way.
When we stopped in Nebraska on the third night, the wind was blowing so strongly, I ask the camp ground attendant if Tornados were predicted, she said “No, but if a warning is announced , we signal all the campers with a siren and flashing lights.” And then she pointed to the storm shelter just directly in front of our camper. It consisted of a Semi freight trailer embedded in a little hillside.
While traveling into Wyoming we began to see, on far distant ridges, groups of power producing Windmills twisting lazily in the endless wind. I was so surprised to see them in so many areas of the West. My brother-in-laws niece, Dawn Marie, works for Grand Cooley Dam hydro power facility on the Columbia River in Washington state. While visiting with her, she commented that when her company produced too much power they had to pay the windmill facilities to take their excess power.
The fourth night we camped at a KOA in Rawlins, Wyoming. It was at that location where we began seeing snow covered peaks. It was windy, and cold. It was so cold we thought we were going to freeze. I couldn’t remember how to run the furnace. Bob said the propane was on. (Turns out it wasn’t) Since his last stroke, his memory is compromised. But we stayed almost warm enough by using all the blankets we had and huddling up to share our body heat. (Including Lilly, our small dog.) Our thermometer in the camper registered 37 degrees the next morning when broke camp. As we continued on our way we ran into snow flurries. We stopped a little further on at a rest area where a sign posted a warning of the possible presents of rattle snakes. I wasn’t worried because it was way too cold for any self-respecting snake to show its face.
The fifth night we camped at Rupert, Idaho beside the Snake River. It was lapping at its banks but not dangerous to us. That campground had a little restaurant that made deliveries to your campsite. No Campbell’s soup that night!
We were overwhelmed at the vast openness of the high desert with sagebrush being the only vegetation discernable for miles and miles. The next day we pulled into the street in front the home of my husband’s Sister, Carol and brother in-law, Donald. We visited with them for a week and a half. My husband, Bob, marveled at the acres and acres of flat fertile farm land, some fields being irrigated, while other fields were waiting their turn for the life giving water. Some places were irrigated with a moveable wheel operation while in other areas a canal system was used to water the fields. Having plowed fields for a farmer as a teenager, and later for gardens he raised as an adult, he said it looked like “too much work.” But, of course, he wasn’t pulling a half acre of plows behind an enormous tractor. ( Continued on next Blog)
Nancy Shoemaker nancy.shoemaker@cbunited.com 704 663 9085
Coldwell Banker United 278 Williamson Rd. Mooresville, NC 29117
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Nancy Shoemaker's Blog- At Lake Norman 