Time to break the silence of the blogosphere and bring you up to date on my whereabouts.
When I travel, I am pretty singleminded about it. Lucky for me, Robbie, my little travel buddy, is the perfect roadie himself. When we set out, we both know its for the duration and there is no deviation from the planned route.
When I left Peoria on May 1st, I ended up in the Denver area that evening. Robbie and I encountered some slippery snowslick roads near Santa Fe, which left an unwelcome layer of salt on my car. Humf!! I do not like the idea of road salt hurting the pristine paint of my Arizona car!
Robbie was reunited with his cousin Sadie that night at my sister's house. Squirrel chasing ensued in their backyard. Ahhh, to be once again in the land of grass and squirrels! This is both my and my dog's sentiments!
After 1 day and two nights with the fam, Robbie and I moved on north, east through Nebraska, and north again into South Dakota where we entered the land of Dances With Wolves to end the day in Pierre, SD where my brother lives.
The next morning we took a frigid walk on Farm Island before Robbie and I headed east to Sioux Falls, our final destination. This was the easiest day of all, being only 3 hours long.
Robbie and I have had some cold days and nights here in Sioux Falls, but now it is getting to be prime weather for early summer. Today the public swimming pool near my mom's house opened for the season. I watched as little lily white kids lined up around the edge dipping their toes timidly into the pool before taking the Polar Bear Plunge and jumping into the virgin, pee free water of Frank Olson Park pool.
Robbie and I have both been examined, vetted and medicated for the near term. All our shots are now current and we have our tags updated so we're legit. I have also been visiting friends and relatives and doing things with my mom like going to a nearby arboretum which is a very nice work in progress. It's been a pretty laid back time all in all. Aside from the wedding I attended where I got waaaay too drunk on straight whiskey and fell on my butt twice while dancing, it has all been pretty tame here in Sioux Falls.
My visit has included a two day trip up to Minneapolis to see my lawyer son, his wife and their new recently purchased condo. It was a treat as always. I love Minneapolis and the neighborhood that my son lives in.
Without a doubt the highlight of my trip was my birthday May 20 where I went to the documentary film, Fed Up in a theatre literally 3 blocks from my son's Uptown condo. It is a must see if you can find it playing and worth searching for when it goes to video.
Now I am readying for my return to The Valley in a week and my route will take me through NW Missouri to Kansas City to see my other son and family.
As I've noted before, there are good and bad aspects to every place I've been and everywhere I go, but even in the places I don't care to live in permanently, there are people and reasons to miss those places. Still in all, I want to get back to my life. I miss the routine I have in my little house and the freedom to manage my time in my own way.
I also want to get my head back into my weight loss game. Not that I have had any setbacks. Amazingly, I have been able to shed 9 pounds since I left home on May 1st. It has been tough on my exercise routine though. I am excited to now be able to wear a swimsuit and swim in our pool without anxiety if anyone sees me. Losing 42 pounds will do that for one's self confidence. So now the next journey will be to continue on the path to health and wellbeing. Robbie will just have to get clippered again to help with the heat and I will be looking for water aerobics classes to attend in Peoria.
More road trips are planned this summer, but most will be much closer to home now!
Until we meet again, Happy Trails To You!
