Hi Yo Silver Away....
             We'll Be Home in Three Days

     It wasn't so much that I felt like the Lone Ranger riding west into the sunset with his faithful sidekick Tonto but rather I was on a mission to deliver something highly important that my family had waited eighteen months for. It was important to them and to us to return and rejoin.
     After three great days in Texas we again took to the road.  This time is was different....we were actually "going" home.  According to Google Maps it is 1209 miles or 19hours 4 minutes from Carrollton to South Jordan.  That's two days for most but we stretch it into three....pretty much equal segments.  There is really little to note as the miles pass by, the radio plays, and occasionally we have something of interest to say to each other.  We are getting a little more excited as we get closer.

     Thinking I was being helpful to Stephanie, who is the one person who wanted to make sure she kept track of us, I gave her a link on Glympse.  That's an App on the phone that allows people to see where you are when you give them a link to track your cell phone.  I thought I was giving her "peace" of mind.....instead she took a "piece" of mine.  For three days of countless texts and phone calls with myriad of questions;  "It's not moving...why?  I don't think it's working...send me a new link,  It looks like you are drunk and driving in circles.....are you?   You are stopped near a McDonalds....why?  I don't think it's working...send me a new link?  Why aren't you driving?  When are you going to be here?  Are you really in Provo?  What time will you be here?"  And that's just the short version.   At least we knew that someone was keeping track of us.

     Our first stop on the road home was Tucanmari, NM.  Why did we stop there?  It was about a third of the way home.  There's probably some things to see there but that wasn't the plan.  We did stop on our way out of town and take a picture of a Route 66 sign.  The highway was made popular in the early days of automobiles as the  Southern route to travel while going across the country.  Leaving that little oasis in the desert we headed west and then northwest.  I had spent enough time in Arizona with work that I knew, even though Google said I should go through Shiprock, NM and Farmington, NM that there was a more scenic route to our eventual destination of Cortez, CO.  So, taking the road less traveled we headed north to Sante Fe, through Pagosa Springs, and into Durango, CO where I had done a lot of work earlier in my life with Rolf Kuepper....he had a patch over one eye so we called him the "pirate".  

     Durango brought an unexpected event, however, as the only real road out of town was blocked do to an "incident".  So for an hour and a half we strolled the streets ate dinner and finally tried to make our escape to Cortez, CO once again.  With the road finally being opened again we drove past a real estate office which had been cordoned off with yellow police tape.  We were left only to speculate that someone had taken offense to a realtor.     We finally arrived in Cortez where we waited for the SLCC women's basketball team to check in.  They must have been coming or going to a tournament.

    

     We left the next morning and soon to our great joy....we entered Utah for the first time in 18 months.  It was a whole different feeling....we were home....but not yet "home".  The closer we got the intensity grew.  Lunch in Moab....more texts!   Arriving in Provo...more texts!   Driving down Bangerter Highway things started to look the same...but different.  There was so much road construction it was a whole different experience than I remembered.  We were home as we drove through the neighborhood...and then......THE CELEBRATION BEGAN!!!

    

     As we turned onto Iron Gate Road we could see this lone figure standing in the middle of the road in front of our house....jumping up and down....surprise!!.  It was of course Stephanie and soon she had the family running to meet us as we pulled in front of the driveway.  Hugging the grandchildren and children was an experience we had long waited for.  Soon we noticed all the work they had gone to in preparation of our arrival.  Signs, banners, and chalk art were all over the place.  We had returned to a "Hero's Welcome"

    

     

The biggest change of all was Jerzylynn.  Marilyn had a opportunity to hold her briefly, as a newborn, before we departed for the mission field.  Leaving the grandchildren had been the most difficult part of being away....but not being able to bond with her was especially difficult.  She was now 18 months old, walking, smiling, and being a "handful".  It will take some time for her but she will soon learn to love "grandma" like all the other's. 

I will let one final picture sum up my feelings about being home.