The plan...

The plan was: not be crazy about getting home. The tow dolly has a 6 day rental; we planned to be home well before that... driving 500 mile days, it's at least 3 full days. After the first day, with a night in a motel, we changed the plan. First off, I do not like motels - I like my own bed, chairs, and potty. You get spoiled traveling by boat or RV: you always have your stuff with you and you don't have to pack and unpack everyday. And if you have a furry family member, you don't have to pay extra or hunt around to find a place that will take you. And after her first night in a motel, little Izzy agrees with us - maybe she could see things at floor level that she was less than enthralled about?

We left Chanute in a thunderstorm... and it went downhill from there. We decided to push on and do 1,000 miles to get home. The first 500 miles was through some gawd-awful thunderstorms: hail and rain so heavy we were occasionally slowed to 20 mph. As we drove out of the massive area of thunderstorms, Mother Nature gave us a strong headwind. Driving up, Joan got 22 mpg with a relatively empty truck. Heading back, towing a car, our mileage dropped to around 18 mpg. Bucking the headwind, it dropped to 15 mpg. On the bright side, Joan commented about how much better the truck rode with the bed full and a towed load.

We took turns driving, and covered the 1,000+ miles in 17 hours... along the way, I tried to educate Joan on the advantages of a really BIG truck (as in: semi-tractor, something with a sleeper cab that would allow us some sleeping room, a fridge, microwave, and potty. I don't think I convinced her... she loves Big Red.

It's been a long time since I've done "1,000 in 1"... that's a motorcycle term, and we only did that once, and it was MANY years ago. Joan, of course, is much tougher than I am, since she drove over 1,500 miles in 25 hours to get to Sioux City 10 days ago to be by my side. So much for the "2/2/2 Rule."

It was 1:00 am when we rolled onto our island, and then had to drop the car off the tow dolly to get it in the driveway. We were especially quiet, trying to not disturb the neighbors.

Time is growing short before we will need to head out again. This morning, we unloaded the truck and car... not easy to find a place to put things in this little house, but the CEO (Chief Efficiency Organizer) will make it work until we are ready to load things into the 5th wheel in a couple days. I gotta tell ya, I am damn tired of moving, loading, unloading, and moving.

The past month has been a wild ride of highs and lows, and we are preparing for the next chapter.