This time we made it! Yes, we finally got to visit the south west! And yes, we really enjoyed it. This, combined with our travel experience from last year’s trip, gave us the confidence to… linger a bit on the way back. After visiting friends and family between LA and San Diego, we took a couple of days off by ourselves in Huntington Beach to just soak up a bit more SoCal vibe and savor some quiet time on the coast before turning around and starting the return trek across the country. It would start to snow at home in less than a month.
In addition to visiting a few more friends on our way east, we were so glad to be able to visit Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks during the government shutdown. We’d expected to spend 4 days at JTNP. Instead, we lingered and stayed for 6 days – no need to hurry home, not just yet. We’d planned to spend 4 days at DVNP. Again, we lingered and spent 2 more. Why not? It’s snowing back home and we’re hanging around these beautiful National Parks, the weather’s perfect, and we’re still in California! Are we really in that much of a hurry to get back? Hmm… maybe not yet.
After Los Lunas, though, we had to take a serious look at the calendar. Ok, we’ve pretty much used up our lingering time. Now we’re in for some repositioning – long driving days where we stay (with no lingering) at rest areas or Walmarts – to get ourselves lined up for a final northward dash. With time for one more stop on the way, we decided to go see my mom in Melbourne, FL for a few days. We had a nice visit that encompassed an assortment of her favorite things – peanut butter sandwiches, fresh coffee, chocolate ice cream, jigsaw puzzles, a little shopping, and a few walks on the boardwalk by the beach and in the park where we stay.
Finally, with one eye on the calendar and another on the weather forecast along the East Coast, we realized we had one more day we could linger before we needed to leave Florida. The county park in Melbourne (where our campground is) holds free outdoor concerts periodically throughout the year. As we drove through the park, we came upon a recently erected outdoor stage upon which there was a large, white grand piano, and a band in the middle of a sound check. Hey, that sounds familiar. Yeah, that’s an Elton John tune. It sounds just like Elton John. Even looks like Elton John. Aha! The concert that was about to start a 5-minute walk from our campsite was Greggie and the Jets – a nationally known Elton John tribute band. We’d fallen into a perfect lingering activity – with food trucks!
Then, it was really time to get home. Using our latest route variation, in 3 days we could take care of our water and sanitation systems at the awesome campground we discovered in Pennsylvania last year before getting into freezing weather and making our penultimate stop in Connecticut. We could meet up with Mark and Linda, the ultimate hosts, and their rotating cast of fun guests for another fabulous Thanksgiving dinner.
Our longtime friends Barbra and John (who introduced us to Mark and Linda) and our newer friends Marc and Lori and Joshua (who were introduced to us by Mark and Linda a few Thanksgivings ago) again joined the feast. We met Nancy, an original (over 50 years!) member of Linda’s book club; Mindy, one of Linda’s college roommates; and (briefly) Mindy’s friend Harold. Marc-with-a-C, a chef and restaurateur, enthusiastically pronounced the turkey grilled by Mark-with-a-K to be perfect, and it certainly looked so. You’d think that on our last full day on the road we’d remember to take a few photos. Nope – too busy with games, amazing food, great conversation, and just being with our old and new friends.
The forecast for the drive home was for cold with little or no chance of precipitation. We were taken by surprise by a near whiteout as we crossed the state line into Vermont, but we drove on through. Fortunately it did not last long, although it began snowing lightly again as we got home – another pleasantly bittersweet, late fall return. So glad we lingered!
For anyone who’s interested, more Melbourne pix…
