Friday, June 6, 2014

California, He We Come!

Well, I will be 51 before I am done writing this entry, so I am determined to catch up our life story before more celebrating.  Life at the Wilhelms sure has had lots to celebrate over the past few months.

Now on to our story...

Day 1:  May 20
We headed out of Greenville toward California as soon as everything was packed, bills were paid and the GPS's programmed and synchronized.  We stopped frequently, as the truck had no cruise control and frequent leg stretching is necessary.  Stopping point for the first night on the road: Hannibal, MO home of Mark Twain and Col. Sherman T Potter from my favorite shows, M*A*S*H*.



Day 2: May 21
McDonald's was a lucky stop for us.  Mary's phone had decided to stop working and needed to be restored.  That was no simple task.  Mary had to get her computer from the car and spend 45 minutes with a verizon person to get her phone working again. Thanks Mickey D's for having great wifi!

Our destination on this day was Wichita, KS, Matthew's summer city.  It was great to see him. We walked around Old Town and had pizza at Old Chicago and ice cream at Coldstone Creamery.
              

Matthew needed to stop at wal-mart so we tagged along.  After saving for a long time, he finally bought himself a new TV.  It is quite nice and makes him happy.  His old one is an old honking big one! We are happy for him.  We took him our inflatable queen size air mattrass for him to use this summer, so we also got him a new sleeping bag to lay on top of it. On the way to see his summer house, he took us by the Musical Theatre Wichita, where he works as a carpenter.  He likes it very much. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodnight.  It was a wonderful time together.

Day 3: May 22
Started with a delicious made to order free breakfast at our hotel.  The rest of the day we spent driving and driving and driving. We drove through several storms that seemed to be around us, yet only driving for a short time in the rain. Saw some awesome lightning too. We all the driving, Mary didn't want help driving her car, not because she was afraid of my driving, but because she wanted the bragging rites to say she drove the whole way.  I told her I would support her endeavor!  We stopped in Albuquerque to sleep.


Day 4: May 23
Grand Canyon Day. We couldn't drive so close and not see this wonder of the world.  I had seen it back in 1972 with my fmaily and grandparents, and was more than happy to see it with my honey and sweet sunshine. Although there wasn't much around, some of the rock formations God created were spectacular.

We parked the moving truck in Williams, AZ so we could driving up to the Canyon together. It was just as wonderful as when I saw it before. A little more commercialized, but you can't change the Grand Canyon. Again, there was rain all around, but we managed to see it and get on the road before it could wash us out.  LOL.  Saw some Elk along the road back to Williams, so of course I had to have some pictures.  Our smart phones have been a great camera for us too.  We had dinner back in town at Pancho MCGillacuttys Cantina.  An Irishman in a poncho and sombrero.  Interesting.  Still it was good food and we had a good time.

Our night didn't end there, we had another couple hour drive to Kingman, AZ.  Our hotel was older, but acceptable.  The next morning I noticed that they took great pride in labeling gues rooms with names of rodeo riders. That's something I hadn't seen before.
 

Day 5: May 24
Mary was looking forward to this day for the whole trip.  It was the day she would arrive home.  After driving in the desert all morning, driving in LA was a big change. We arrived in time for a late lunch after meeting Brandon at the new apartment, welcoming Mary home. It is a nice place with a few pools and all new appliances. It is right across the highway from LAX. So quick and easy pick up and drop off.  All of us worked hard getting  her belongings up to the apartment and it virtually filled it up to almost no walking space. Lunch was at a local mexican place with authentic food.  We made it across the country from Grand Rapids, MI to Los Angeles, CA.

Look for the next addition....Fun in Los Angeles. Coming soon!

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