The Last Legs Home

Sorry all, but I needed to catch my (bad) breath, before I could complete this epic story. Ok, where were we????? OH yeah, we woke up in Eagle, CO....picture this, cold, no snow, but it could of but didn't. I got walked around the neighborhood on a short leash, because Lisa, our hostess, mentioned that there are "bears and bobcats" in the neighborhood....WHAT THE HECK???so I stayed close to dad and did my duty as quickly as possible. We had a peanut butter and toast breakfast, took some pictures of the now observable mountains that surround the Hammond's abode, the New York MT range, to be exact, and left with some elk jerky that Dave Hammond had hunted, cleaned and prepared (it tastes like steak au poivre).

Mom decided to go through the car wash, so we could start out fresh and shiny. NICE,we got on the highway, adjusted our eyes to the truly amazing views that are abundant in Colorado, the steep hills, mountains framed by millions of pine trees, and snow capped peaks!!!!HHMMMMMMMMMMMM....So it wasn't surprising, no it was a little shocking actually when we hit, about 30 miles out, near Vail, a roaring snow storm..windy, fairly good visibility though.....but the clean shiny car was history, as was high altitude, beautiful sights, nice friends, and lastly Colorado.

Now we knew, that the next phase of the trip, Nebraska, was a long way, about 662 miles from Eagle to Omaha, or about 9 hours 7 minutes. From a dog's point of view, this drive was borrrrrring. Same old cornfields mile after mile, and then it started to rain, until it hit the windshield at an alarming rate and a pounding sound, rattling the car, and you all know me, that I hate that exact sound and I start to tremble and usually need a beer or pina colada. Well I toughed it out folks! The rain is the only thing that stood out in Nebraska, as this was the first time we weren't driving in sunshine the whole trip, our first dreary day. We didn't make it all the way to Omaha, but managed to plow as far as Lincoln, the state capital, find a hotel, and search for a good steak dinner, this our last night away, before we arrived home. Ma and Pa found a steak house all right, they made good Maker's Mark Old Fashions, and the remains of the filet and rib eye became my dinner for the next two days. I love Nebraska!

Back on I-80E, headed for home, a mere 560 some miles to go, the trek through Iowa was equally uneventful....we were tempted to seek out the sights of Madison County, you know, those bridges..in Winterset, where Meryl and Clint had that fling while her family was at the state fair....we passed it up 'cause we had a bee in our bonnet for a Steak and Shake lunch that was advertised on a few billboards, just as our stomachs told us it was time for something "bad". Dad had NEVER been to a S&S before, but mom had and it peaked his interest considerably. I got left in the car again and watched them trot into the gates of grease and heavenly shakes..you gotta try the Caramel and Apple Shake, it's the BOMB!!!! The burgers ain't bad either. They came back for me and to my surprise, we walked to the Petsmart for a toothbrush and Breathe Spray since mom couldn't take it anymore....at least I got a chance to unwind in the long stretch of parking lot before I was tortured by mom in the car, she actually brushed my teeth and squirted breath spray at me until I couldn't stand it anymore!

Then it was clear sailing from then on, across the Mighty Mississippi River, through central Illinois, missing Chicago rush hour, and cruising onto I-94 into Michigan. This ended a trip that included eighteen states total, over 5500 miles and alot of gas, ten different hotel-motels, no-tels, 3 car washes, countless rest stops/areas, lots of truly gorgeous natural terrain, and not once in that 17 day span did we see another Michigan license plate until we got back to Chicago. Well now we all can cross this trip out West and back, off our bucket list. Hope you all got a chuckle or two from the adventures of the road warriors, as Brandon called us, early on. Next on the agenda will be a list of Worst and Best of trip, stay tuned for that tomorrow.

Love to all,
Barclay and J&J

I'm so happy to be back home, as is mom...dad wishes he were still cruising the Interstate...so nice to come back to our bountiful little garden, still brimming with tomatoes and peppers and fragrant herbs, Grandma took good care of it along with a few others...we really appreciated your time and effort, thank you so much. As for me, I can't wait to get back to my routine of walking along Lake Boulevard, getting groomed every two weeks and riding in the car with dad for short rides.