Visiting Gold Star Families

Have you ever seen these stickers on rear windows of cars and wonder what they mean?  They are service flags to honor sons or daughters who are in the military. A flag with a Blue Star (or maybe two or even three stars) designate son(s) or daughter(s) deployed.  Gold Star flags designate the family lost their son or daughter in the line of duty.

Our son served in the Marine Corps from 2006 to 2010. He deployed to Ramadi Iraq in 2007 and Helmand Province Afghanistan in 2009. Unfortunately, the 2009 deployment was very costly. Several of our planned stops were to visit families of some of the Marines who gave the ultimate sacrifice during these deployments.  Thanks to Deb Taylor, the Sharp family, Ferrell's, Richard's and Schimmel's for your hospitality and the wonderful visits we had with each of you.  What amazing families who have given so much.  We visited grave sites, were welcomed into their homes, learned more about their families and heard stories of their Marine's...their sons who gave all they could give. Here are their sons who sacrificed all.

LCpl Charles S. Sharp	2-Jul-09
Cpl Nicholas G. Xiarhos	23-Jul-09
LCpl Jeremy S. Lasher	23-Jul-09
Pfc Donald "Wayne" Vincent	25-Jul-09
LCpl Gregory A. Posey	30-Jul-09
LCpl Jonathan F. Stroud	30-Jul-09
LCpl Dennis J. Burrow	7-Aug-09
LCpl Javier Olvera	8-Aug-09
LCpl Patrick W. Schimmel	9-Aug-09
LCpl Bruce E. Ferrell	10-Aug-09
LCpl Leopold F. Damas	17-Aug-09
LCpl David R. Hall	31-Aug-09
LCpl Jordan L. Chrobot	26-Sep-09
Cpl Xhacob Latorre	8-Dec-09

We're off for 2014

This will be an interesting trip.  We had to dig the Roadtrek out of the snow just to get it out of the garage so it'll be nice the head south to some warm weather.

We have a few goals for this trip. The idea of this trip started when our friend "Pogo" invited us to a "smoke'n by the bayou" pre Marti gras party in Gautier (pronounced go-shay), Mississippi. That lined up with a convention I had to work in San Antonio, TX so we said let's do it!

When I was looking at the route, I realized many Gold Star families who we know were along our route so we added them to our list of stops.  As a bonus, I was able to get a pre release copy of a movie that has footage for the Marine Corps battalion (2nd battalion, 8th Marines) in which our sons served.  The Hornets Nest will be released mid May, 2014.

The third goal is to visit family in Texas.  It has been too many years since Carolyn saw her cousins.

Finally, since we are this far, why not go big and keep going to the Grand Canyon.  I was there several years ago.  It was the end of January and there was a weird combination of weather conditions that included a snow storm and fog.  When we got to the edge of the canyon, we couldn't see a thing.  I mean zip...nadda.

This is the map that we've come up with.  Who knows what "Mystery Spots" we will discover along the way.

 

It's Saturday May, 18 and we are off for our first trip of the year.  We are heading the Branson, Missouri for the 40th Anniversary Roadtrek Rally.  We will go part way today and stop at Hinton RV Park in Sikeston, MO and meet up with a few other Roadtrek owners who are on their way to Branson.  Six Roadtreks formed out new little community.

 

Following some introductions, the Hinton campground shuttle took us to Lambert's Cafe - home of the "throwed" rolls.  Servings are large and the waiters bring "extras" (fried okra, home fried potatoes, soup, etc) so bring your big appetite.  Besides the Sikeston location, there are cafes near Springfield, MO and Foley, AL.  If you want a good meal and a little entertainment, it's worth a stop if you are near a Lambert's.

Stu seems to be pretty pleased with group he will be dining with.

This guy was good!  His best throws were underhand.  Look at the size of the roll he is holding.

The décor is interesting.

Look like a satisfied group.

Following dinner, we returned to the campground to swap stories and get to know each other.  Along the way, someone suggested this group should be known as "The Sikeston Six".

Tomorrow morning we will head toward Branson.

Day 20 - Home Sweet Home

The final couple days were a slow roll from Iowa to Ohio with a stop in Indiana to see some customers.  We made a quick stop to find some nice ears of corn to take to a meeting in Houston but the last miles were uneventful, so I'll just speed to a short recap.

So what's the recap.  Here is our route.

States visited    9
Days out           20
Miles traveled  4,122
Gallons of gas  275.9
Miles / gallon   15.0 (best = 16.8 mpg on level interstate, worse = 11.6 on Beartooth Hwy)
Total $ on gas   $1037.45
Avg $ / gal        $3.77
Cost / mile        $0.25

The bugs have been washed off the Roadtrek and she (or is it a he?) is ready for the next trip.  We don't have another trip planned for this fall, but maybe we will do a quick color tour in the next weekend or two.  It's ready to go, so who knows what we might do.  We do have a trip planned for Branson, MO, but that's not until next spring.

Happy 'treking!

DAY 18 - VISITING AN OLD FRIEND

Today, we were going to visit a childhood friend.  Ron lived across the road when we were kids. Ron, my brother, and I were "the three musketeers". We shared PB&J sandwiches in tree houses and got into all sorts of mischief, but that was many years ago so let's just think positive thoughts here.

Ron moved to Texas, then to western Iowa.  He has a beautiful log home that overlooks the rolling area around Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Ron and Viola also have a Winnebago motor home that makes our Roadtrek look pitifully tiny. 

These really are beautiful motor homes. Extend the slides and there is so much room.  Maybe some day we will want something larger, but for now our wants and needs are to be on the move and see the country.  Our Roadtrek can be parked in any parking space and can go two or three times as far on a gallon of gas.

After a great lunch and a nice visit, it was time to move on. Thanks Ron and Viola for the great visit.  We thoroughly enjoyed the fresh onions, cucumbers and tomatoes from your garden on our homeward trek!

Our next stop was a Corp of Engineers campround near Ankeny, Iowa.

We decided to stay on two lane highway to Ankeny so we drove Hwy 44 through the Iowa country-side.  We were rewarded with a few great views like this one.  Certainly, it is much different than the mountains we were driving in just a couple days ago but rolling corn and soybean fields have beauty too.

 If you are ever passing through Iowa and need a great place to camp for the night, I would suggest one of the Corps of Engineers campgrounds just north of I-80.  The campgrounds and facilities are very nice, and if you have a Passport America card, the cost is the same as national park campgounds.





Day 17 - A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TETONS

Today, is moving day. We will head north on the Teton Park Road which is the closest road to the Teton Mountain Range - about five miles closer than Hwy 191 that we traveled on yesterday as we drove south, then we will begin our cross country trek eastbound.

Grand Teton NP entree point early in the morning.

Teton Glacier is in the valley above the rear of the Roadtrek.

The Cathedral Group at the north end of the Teton Range.

This was our turning point to head eastbound and toward home.  It was a bittersweet moment but the trip wasn't over yet.  We were 1,600 miles from home and still had a few enjoyable things to see.


This doe watched us cruise by.

Pronghorns are everywhere.

How about this for a home site?



Not a lot of traffic but nice views.

Pony Express Station – Gothenburg, Nebraska

This was a nice break.  A volunteer was there to answer questions.  This was station #64 of 165 on the 2,000 mile route from St. Louis, Missouri to Sacramento, California.  Riders changed horses every 10 - 15 miles and rode around 75 miles before a fresh rider took over.  Riders made $100 per month, which was pretty high pay in the 1860's. In total there were 183 young men who were riders for the Pony Express during this period of just over 18 months.

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument is a museum of and monument near Kearney, Nebraska.  It is a monument and museum to show the Platte River Valley's role in the westward expansion.  It was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to get to Grand Island for the evening so we didn't stop. Maybe next time...

Once we started east from Grand Teton NP, we kept a pretty steady pace eastbound and ended up at the KOA Campground in Grand Island, Nebraska. A big 750 mile day.

Day 15 - HEADING TO TETON NP

It was time to say goodbye to Yellowstone.  We had seen so much, but it's obvious that a few days here is only enough to scratch the surface of things to do and see.  This is the kind of place that deserves more than one visit, so I suspect we will be back at some time. 

But...we had one more thing to check off our list.  As we were leaving Grant Campground, we saw a big bull elk in the trees.  Elk were in rut so they were bugling and pretty active chasing the cows.  This big guy had a few cows around but he was busy rubbing the velvet off his antlers. It was really special to get to watch him beat the tar out of this tree.





Bull Elk from J Diepenbruck on Vimeo.


We headed on south and soon entered Grand Teton National Park.  Grand Teton and Yellowstone are attached...drive out of one and into the other.  Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The naming of the mountains is attributed to early 19th-century French speaking trappers—"les trois tetons" (the three teats) was later anglicized and shortened to Tetons. 




There are a number of points of interest along the highway as we head south toward Jackson, WY. This is Cunningham Cabin with a sod roof. It's dry now but is full green in the spring and during times of higher rainfall. John Cunningham homesteaded this land and built the cabin in the 1880's. He was a successful cattle rancher until drought ruined pasture and he abandoned the ranch. 

Carolyn was taking a walk near the Cunningham Cabin but decided to cut her walk short when I reminded her to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes!

The view from Visitor Center was special.

A late lunch.  The bison burger was tasty.



It was time to find a campground and set up for the night.  We decided on Gros Verde Campgound which is one of the national park campgrounds.  Like Mammoth Campgound in Yellowstone, our site was level and had a fire ring, but there is no electrical, water, nor sewer hookup.  That's OK since our Roadtrek is self contained. 

We decided to take a late afternoon drive to Jackson, WY which [after the mountains] is the biggest attraction around the national park. 

Jackson Hole is the valley around Jackson, WY and is known as one of the premier skiing areas in the Rockies.  The ski slopes are straight ahead when driving into town on the main highway.  Our plans included a stop at Great Harvest Bread Company for a loaf of "home-made" bread, but there was a festival going on and the traffic was NUTS, so we just took a quick drive through town and headed back to our campground.

On our way back to our campsite, the side of the road was full of cars and people had their cameras going.  That could only mean some sort of critter was close by.  This moose wasn't as big as the two monsters we saw on our Big Horn drive but moose aren't something we see every day so we will take our share of pictures too.

A cow and twins were on the other side of the trees.

Soon, the family decided to head off for the night...

and the bull took one last pose for the cameras.

The day started with watching a big elk in the trees and ended with a family of moose.  In between, there were some spectacular views of the Tetons mixed with some fun stops and a homestead cabin with sod roof.  Give us a checkmark for another successful day.