Where To Now?

The title of today's post is, unfortunately, the most memorable thing about today. The roads in Ohio and the first part of Kentucky were atrocious. There were several times I fully anticipated a blow-out, and I passed several who had them. One time I think I even bottomed out! In my SUV! Our first stop of the day was at a rest stop just inside Kentucky, outside Cincinnati. It was kind of ghetto. As soon as we parked and got out of the car, a young woman came over to talk to Meg and Maya. She herself was quite talkative. In the end, the bottom line of her approaching us was to tell her story about how she and her mom had a blow-out after hitting a pothole in Cincinnati and spent all their money on the replacement tire. They only had three dollars left for gas to get them to their destination four hours away. Now, I realized as soon as she started telling her story that her sole interest in striking up a conversation with me (and the dogs) was to ask for money. She started to ask m...

When I agreed to go to Texas to help my Aunt Melinda through her back surgery, I really intended to fly. But as plans progressed and I began thinking about leaving my pups with Kef for two weeks, not knowing if she would have to go out of town at the last minute, I decided to drive it. Although it's three long days of driving, I weighed the benefits of having the girls with me, having my vehicle with me, etc. And so, I decided driving was the right way to go. This is the first time I've driven the route to Buffalo. (We came the southern route on our way up the first time.) I-90 tracks right alongside the Mohawk River and Erie Canal for about the first 100 miles from Albany to Utica. The river was engorged from the recent rains. What a beautiful sight! (No pictures, though, because... driving.) One of the great things about driving through this area is that every town is old, so there are always interesting old buildings and spires reaching up from the hills. You don't g...

cross-posted on my Quest blog On Monday, my parents, pups, and I set out on a new adventure. After the closing on my house, we hit the road for a series of days driving from Texas to upstate New York. Our nights' stays would be at places I found on  Airbnb  in Little Rock, near Louisville, and near Erie. When I told people I was moving to New York, most were immediately concerned that winter would be unbearable. Keeping in mind that millions of people live further north than Texas, I was sure I'd survive somehow. One individual, however, responded with, "New York is so beautiful. The green there is the greenest green." I've been pondering green ever since. As we drove through East Texas, I noticed how muted the greens were. Some mostly yellow from the summer heat... some sage from the dust... some a muted evergreen when there were stands of trees. In Arkansas, the green got cleaner. There was less dust, less yellow. Moving through Tennessee and into Kentucky...