Introduction
Here we go…First of all, let me say that I have never attempted to do a travelogue. The only time I tried to do a diary, I burned out quickly. I was in 7th grade and the daily documentation lasted about a month and contained such scintillating information as summaries of UT basketball games, a little bit of school stuff, what I did on a snow day, and not much else.
As I write this, I’m thinking of Joan Smith, Kim’s mom, who has been a voracious diarist most of her life and had encouraged Kim and I to record our thoughts as we travel. The closest we have come is to take zillions of pictures, but that’s not quite the same thing. It’s fitting that we create this travelogue in honor of Jim and Joan, who have allowed us to travel to wonderful and exotic places over the years via their Wyndham Resorts Membership. They have generously bestowed to us points over the years for us to stay in the beautiful condos of the Wyndham system for spring and summers for most of the 11 years Kim and I have been married.
This 9000-mile jaunt to the American West is no exception—we will mostly stay in Wyndham properties with the occasional overnight hotel to break up a particularly long stretch of driving. What we usually do is use the condo as a base and explore as many things as we can see in that area, be it geological, historical, hysterical, or just plain weird. We realized a couple of years ago that we are “foodies”, and even though we will try to have several meals in the condo to cut costs, we also like to find interesting local restaurants—nothing hoidy-toidy—preferably local mom and pop places or places that may have appeared on the Food Network….(and don’t forget our constant references—tripadvisor.com and roadsideamerica.com!)
We have planned ahead some of the things that we would like to see, but we always leave wiggle room for improvisation.
Our trusty steed is my 2016 Subaru Forester with EyeSight (twin cameras in the ceiling that track the vehicle in front and automatically adjusts distance—it will stop automatically if I let it, but that’s a little too freaky.)
Why do this? It’s a chance to communicate to family and friends what we’re up to and where we are; it may inspire some of you who may like to visit some of our locations; it’s a chance to share with us an interesting tidbit of information that maybe you have discovered along our route, and it give us a chance to share our fun and foibles (hopefully not too many foibles) on this educational, but potentially grueling excursion.
One final note: Our original trip was to take us through Texas via Dallas and Houston on the way home, but because of the torrential rains in that area, we decided to steer (hah!) clear of Texas. Ironically, most of the Western states are hot as blazes, (what WAS I thinking when I started to plan all of this?!?! You all know how much I enjoy the heat!) and there are many states experiencing forest fires. We’ll see…
By the way, the oldest posts will be at the bottom–the most recent ones will be on top. Kim’s text will be in italics and mine will be standard text.
Tim and Kim
