June 19, 2011 - Arrived in Washington after an epic motor journey from Williamsburg via Nashville and took a room in Everett, about 90 minutes' drive from tomorrow's start point.
As our route took us within visitng distance of the family burial ground in Elmira, Missouri, NE of Kansas City, on Friday, we stopped and I laid flowers on my parents' and, appropriately, maternal grandparents' graves in the well-kept, very small-town, cemetery. We finished that day in Sioux City, Iowa, at 10:00 PM after two long detours occasioned by the closure of I-29 by Missouri River floodwaters (the most water since 1917 and sufficient to cover Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri with six inches of water).
The rest of the trip was long and scenic but uneventful.
Old friend and support-driver-to-be Bob Vanderspek and I caught up on old times, solved several of America's political and economic problems and listened to two books on CD while appreciating the impressively enginered I-90 from Rapid City, SD, to Seattle, WA.
Capping the adventure was a brief visit Saturday afternoon to the Little Bighorn battlefield, between Garryowen and Crow Agency, in SE Montana.
Looking forward to dinner in the cafe across the street, a good, long, night's sleep (been getting up at 0530), and getting back in the saddle before noon tomorrow. Watch this space for the next 19-20 days!
I can remember my last visit to Elmira, approx. 20-years ago, in the middle of July. I remember going out to an old barn in dad's Eco-line Ford van, and getting stuck in the mud of the barn's field. Your brother had to walk back into town and ask around for help, until he finally a found a young man with a big-rig tractor, who soon yanked us out of our tight spot. The Austin adventures are always abundant.
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