Thanksgiving trip

Well, as usual, I headed back to Missouri for my annual Thanksgiving week trip. This is the latest I commit to going back to the frigid Midwest in the year; After that, they can come see me where it is warm in the winter! Quite unusually, I actually drove back this time. It's a hard 2 day drive, but my SIRIUS radio and Caryl along for the trip make it somewhat easier.



We stopped as we left Arizona to take a couple of pictures of our diverse landscape plus a sign that makes me chuckle whenever I see it. A "Dry Lake Yacht Club" ??? Sounds like a good excuse for the local boys to go drinking to me - "honey, I'm headed to the yacht club to meet the guys....". We also stopped by to see the world's largest cross. Caryl had heard of this but had no idea it was right off I-40!! Really quite an impressive spectacle, with the cross being circled by a bronze depiction of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.




Anyway, it was a great week with unusually good weather back there. Highs in the 50s made for some late fall weather that was nice to be in, and made all the travel quite easy. As usual, it was great to see all the extended family I rarely get to see, and it was extra special this year, as my relatives Eric & Jennifer hosted the gathering at their new home just outside of Jefferson City. Congrats to you both for a beautiful home and a great dinner!












We struck out early Friday morning, as Caryl wanted to stop at some places in Springfield, MO, and do some Black Friday shopping!




As we headed back home, one of the impressive things was actually the Texas rest area and visitors center. It has a great description of the area and it's history, as well as explaining all the turbine windmills in the area. And, of course, being Texas, they had their state colors adorning the side of the building at night, reminiscent of the state flag. The downside of the trip back was having to listen to MU lose to those damn KU Jayhawks in our annual football showdown. Even though we barely lost in the end, it seems like a stake in the heart to lose to KU ever !!! All in all, though, a good trip, and we got to sample several fun restaurants along the way. My favorite was Ned's on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, a fun sports bar with a biker friendly attitude and some great food that included New Mexico's famous hatch chiles - aye carumba !!!!!!!


Then, as we crossed the AZ border on the way home, we just had to stop at the Chief Yellowhorse Trading Post- an Arizona classic rest stop! After that, it was hammer down time - rollin' home to get back to the warm AZ sunshine and say hi to the pets.