Day 1: June 7, 2013

Our first day on the road, for the most part, was uneventful. We left home on time thanks to all the preparation in the days before. All we had to do was get up, dress, eat breakfast, hook up the car to the RV and take off!

Ronnie drove the first leg of our journey which left me available to read, hold Beau, take pictures, etc. The picture part became important as we drove through Moore, OK. We did not even get off the highway, but the damage from their recent tornado was clearly evident. Seeing those pictures on television was awful. Seeing them in person was horrific. I can't begin to imagine how frightening that day must have been or how hopeless things must seem at times even now.

Ronnie continued to drive until around 1:00 pm when we stopped for  lunch in some dinky little town in nowhere, OK. We switched drivers at that point and I drove us into Kansas. The only "excitement" on this leg of the journey was when we came to a sudden and complete stop in the middle of the highway. We could tell that there was a fire up ahead because of all the thick, black smoke. We could also tell when the fire was mostly extinguished because the smoke turned white. I will refrain from the obvious Pope reference here but I am certain that whatever joke I came up with would have been hysterical. What was not hysterical, however, was the sight we saw when we were moving again...a young family with small children standing with their suitcases beside the state trooper's car as their own vehicle continued to burn on the side of the road. It was totally destroyed!

When we stopped for gas again we switced drivers for the final time today. I went inside the tiniest "convenience store" (insert the word "closet" here) to get us a soft drink while Ronnie gassed up the RV. We continued on to our first camping stop at WaKeeney at around 7pm.  A quick set up, dinner and I am ready for bed! Tomorrow is another day of driving and when we camp tomorrow night it will be at our first destination in South Dakota!

Till next time...



~cheers!