Last Days to Home

October 12th to 14th, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia!

After leaving Crestone and the mountains of Colorado, we had a few options to consider

on the route home.  One of our main inclinations was to avoid I-70 and all the construction.  I knew Joyce rarely saw her sister so I suggested going through southern Missouri on our way home and seeing her one more time.  Luckily for us, Sharon and Richard were going to be at their lakehouse on Stockton Lake so we landed there on Saturday evening the 12^th. 

We got in just in time for dinner with the family and enjoyed more time catching up.  Our last time being here was full of the wedding and a much more packed schedule so this was a nice relaxing visit.  The lake can be seen from the expansive deck set on a hill and backing up to woods.  It was a beautiful night full of starry skies and owls hooting nearby.  After such a long drive through the Oklahoma prairie we were ready for a good night’s sleep which we definitely had that night. 

On our minds was which way to go from here…..through Kentucky or Tennessee.    We decided on a night at the Lake Barclay Resort State Park near Land Between the Lakes in western Kentucky. We ended up in a really great room looking out on the lake from a balcony.  It was a pretty lodge with hotel rooms setup all along lakeshore, a little retro but still very nice with wood beams in a cathedral ceiling and very comfortable bed.  It was so quiet and definitely off season with very few guests.  

Anxious to get home, we didn't want to spend a lot of time at land Between the Lakes but we thought we would make a quick visit to the park's elk and bison reserve. Unfortunately, we again ran up against the government shutdown as it turned out the reserve was nationally run and therefore closed. We did see one lone bison from the highway and, as a consolation, Joyce was able to get some shots near the lake of  White Pelicans that were stopping on their migration route.

From here to Nashville, it was only a drive of two hours.  We did get to catch some music there, even though we were coming through at midday. At Tootsies,   one of several scruffy bars in a row, in the tourist section of Nashville, that make their way by hosting  musicians hoping for their shot at fame, we had some great pulled pork sandwiches while listening to two or three different acts competing from different parts of the bar. 

We decided to head a little further down the road rather than stay the night in Nashville. Our plan was for about 6 hours of driving to Kingsport,  stay overnight there and  on Tuesday do another 5+ hours to home in Inwood WV. 

These last couple days traffic was increasingly more hectic.  I realized we were out of the less populated part of the country and into the busier, more populated East Coast and Mid-Atlantic states.  I will certainly miss easy drives with little to no vehicles along our path.  

We finally arrived at our last airbnb place late that night around 9pm.  We would have been better off just driving the last 5 hours to home.  We had been pretty lucky with our airbnb places this whole trip but our last night was a different story. The young couple was nice enough and we had plenty of privacy in a basement apartment but the bed must have been 30 years old.  It sagged in the middle when two people got into it so one of us would end up clutching the side.  It was ridiculous how soft and lumpy it was.  Joyce opted for the floor with the sleeping pads and sleeping bag.  I, on the other hand, stayed in the soft bed and got the sore neck and back the next morning.  Oh, we were soooo ready for home.  

The next day, Tuesday the 14^th, we made it home to Walt and the dogs around 5pm and it was quite the reunion for us all.  Walt’s big smile was a welcome sight and the furry flurry around us completed our joyful reunion. Big hugs and dogs leaping about, yapping and speeding around the house.  Joyce and I were ecstatic to be home and back with our little family.  HOME SWEET HOME!!