Survived!

I brought my good luck with me.

In the old days, no matter when I drove or which direction, the wind was always a headwind.
When I drove to Colorado to climb mountains, the wind would always shift such that 80% of the time I had a strong headwind. The other 20% of the time was a strong side wind which once picked my Honda CRX up off the ground and scared the be-geez outa me! I had such an adrenaline rush from the scare I had to pull over and get my pulse under control.

This trip had the wind at my back nearly all the way. The wind shifted so that it was blowing the opposite direction for the return drive. Probably gave me 3mpg better both ways!

There were thunderstorms - severe ones. You had to be there to believe it. Multiple thunderstorms danced on both sides of the highway. We never slowed down. We just happened to magically thread-the-needle through them. We only got enough rain to clean the bug guts off the windshield.

I took my son with me. We spent Friday night about a mile south of I-70 on a desolate farm road. No one drove by all night.
The next morning, we stopped at old Fort Hayes where I bought five lotto tickets to win a replica Sharps .45-70 buffalo gun. I figure with my luck, I just might win! (What do you do with a Sharps, anyways? You can't buy cartridges, and I think buffalo hunting isn't legal anymore, but I have my own reload press and maybe I can hunt "varmints"!)

The family was so busy with logistics of my parent's 50th wedding celebration that they didn't even have time or energy to act-up on me. So it was a quick get-in-get-out and nobody got hurt.

I heard that Wichita became real fat after I left. Not true. They're the same as 16 years ago. Not as healthy as Denver, but not bad.

The humidity was HORRIBLE! Even though it wasn't hot, we sweated like pigs. I think half of the trickle was condensation, not actual sweat, but the effect was the same - we were constantly sticky. Yuck! So glad to be home now! Sweat actually evaporates!

On the return, we skirted some more storms, and the clouds kept us from getting cooked by the sun. And there was no sun glare. It really was ideal driving.

We stopped on the same farm road coming back, but we were about 20 miles further east. There was a strong south wind. A powerful storm lit up the sky with lightening. My son was scared of tornadoes and getting struck by lightening, but I just rolled over and told him that if we do, wake me and tell me if we're dead. I slept like a baby.

I didn't enjoy much of it, but it wasn't a bad experience at all.

One of my uncles had been an alcoholic. He quit drinking just one year before he died. After decades of alcoholism, quiting probably killed him - but it was worth it. During his last year, he got in touch with his children, healed old wounds, and died in peace. His ex-wife remarried a fantastic guy. I got to meet him. They're in their 70's and happier than ever. I love that! She tried to tell me not to give up, but all I could say was, "Nope - I'm done in that department. I put my energies into other pursuits that are more rewarding and far more reliable."