Category: Travel

iola is two years old, and she now has a fancy backpack and new books.

  

We stopped to see KC, briefly.

  

We spent the night in Bonner Springs, Kansas.  Don’t misspell that one.  Campgrounds seem to have lots of room for tents while the RV’s are crammed in together like sardines.  We have plenty of privacy.  We also have to use the campground’s version of a restroom, which can go either way.  This bathroom made me want to barf.  Gross enough I didn’t even want to stay long enough to take pictures, so you’ve been spared.

The air mattress has been replaced and we’re sleeping like babies, especially the baby.

 

-Ryan

So, we’re driving to Guadalajara, Mexico, in a 1998 Toyota Camry with 238,000 miles on it, and growing.  His name is Carl and he has aged well with the help of some screws.

Why are we driving to Mexico?  We’ll discuss that later.  For now, let’s enjoy the journey.

We’re determined to avoid interstate and four-lane highways if at all possible.  We’re not in a hurry.  I drive 55 mph even when we do get stuck on a road with a 70 mph speed limit.  Yep, I’m that annoying guy now.

Missouri allows fireworks, Iowa does not.  Missouri doesn’t waste any space to exploit this.

 

The amount of cool things one can see on old highways compared to when traveling on interstates is drastic.  Yes, that’s a herd of camels, grazing as if they were cows.

  

We spent the night at a campground south of Maysville, Missouri.  Our air mattress deflated and it was cold.  We will figure this camping thing out by the time we get to Mexico.  The tag on the tent remains from a night we spent on the island of Culebra, east of Puerto Rico, in 2005.

-Ryan

We attended the Garland family reunion.  My grandma iola, daughter iola’s namesake, was born Helen Iola Garland.  She lived her entire life in Tingley, Iowa, population: not many.  The family potluck food never fails to satisfy, and guarantees car windows will need rolled down later.

  

I’ve spent hours and hours playing with cousins here throughout my childhood.  It’s a lot less lively now.

 

  

 

Grandma Iola lived in this house almost her entire life.  I’ve lived in approximately 20 houses in one-third the amount of time she lived.  Pondering which lifestyle is better is interesting, but a determination proves to be impossible.

We said our goodbyes and headed south toward Mexico.

We stopped in Mt. Ayr, Iowa, where my other grandparents are buried.  Guess where I got my name from.

-Ryan