How do you keep the music playing? How do you make it last? How do you keep the song from fading… too fast? How do you lose yourself to someone? And never lose your way….How do you not run out of new things to say? —Michel Legrand; Alan and Marilyn Bergman And so we returned to…

Sunday:  SANTA MONICA – LAX – PHOENIX – HOME Most days of the trip started with committee reports. The Blog Report:  Usually we read the comments on the blog aloud as we were driving.  On Sunday, as on other days we read your words…so important to us.  We all felt loved and no one more…

I talked with Patty early this morning in the hallway of our hotel.  She was on her way down to get coffee in the lobby.  We are unsure what happened on this trip.  I feel that deep down, somewhere in her subconscious, she had a feel for the magic we’d encounter.  It was her concept, her…

Trudi and Jane got up super early to head to the canyon for sunrise.  They set alarms for  4:45 am so they could hit the south rim by daybreak.  They got beautiful pictures and returned to the hotel. And then things went awry.   Hereafter this moment shall be called “The Infraction.”  Jane and Trudi…

Thursday.   HOLBROOK, AZ – CAMERON – GRAND CANYON VISTAS – TUSAYAN, AZ   Don’t Forget Winona?  Um. Well, it’s not so much that we FORGOT Winona today but that we just couldn’t find Winona.  No seriously.  Here is the thing.  We saw the sign.  We got off to take an awesome group picture of…

Wednesday. GALLUP, NM – PAINTED DESERT – PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK – HOLBROOK, AZ Here is a sentence you’d never expect to say during your time on earth.  “How is the wifi in your wigwam?”  And yet here we are.  Wigwam #15 at the iconic Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.  The wifi is kind of…

Tuesday.  AMARILLO, TX – CADILLAC RANCH – TECUMCARI, NM – ALBUQUERQUE, NM – ADRIAN, TX – TIJERAS, NM – GALLUP, NM We start every day in Sparky with song:  “On the road again, we just can’t wait to get on the road again.  The life we love is making music with our friends, and we…

Monday.  CHELSEA, OK – CLAREMONT, OK  – CATOOSA, OK – TULSA, OK – AMARILLO, TX In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart. — Anne Frank We only cried a few times in Chelsea today.  We went to breakfast at the Main Street Diner.  Mismatched Mugs and Pies with lofty…

Sunday. ST LOUIS – MERAMEC CAVERNS (STANTON MO) – FANNING, MO -WAYNESVILLE, MO – KANSAS – CHELSEA, OK 9:00am Wake up.  Breakfast in the lobby of the amazing Hyatt Regency at the Arch in St. Louis is just as good as everything else there….and we finally got to meet Keith the concierge who had done so…

All you need is love All you need is love All you need is love, love Love is all you need Saturday.  CHICAGO – JOLIET -PONTIAC – ST LOUIS.   8:00am wake up in Chicago.  Showered and ship shape we headed over to Lou Mitchell’s restaurant for what had been touted to be a REAL…

We made it to Tampa International Airport with time to spare…a well coordinated effort starting with timely pick ups by Patti and Jane and Patty in Patti’s car…first Jean, then Julie and finally Trudi.  We were tightly wedged into one car with all of our items as we pulled in to the final pick up…

  So kiss me and smile for me Tell me that you’ll wait for me Hold me like you’ll never let me go ‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane… Well, you spend weeks and weeks planning a trip…eagerly anticipating being away, experiencing NEW things, making friends, stepping out of your normal…and then what happens?…