For the last two and a half weeks my husband Ed and I have been on vacation. We have driven approximately 4,000 miles across parts of the USA and back. We started our trip by going to Ogden, Utah to visit my aunt. Then onto Logan, Utah to visit with a nephew. There is still a lot of snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Utah mountains. The mountains are so beautiful with the snow covering the peaks. From there we traveled east. Going through Wyoming, we ran into a tremendous rainstorm with hail. From the sound of the hail hitting our car, I just knew we would have some damage, but luckily there was none. We saw a lot of antelopes grazing out on the prairie. Ed wanted to try and make Sidney, Nebraska before dark. I didn't know his motive until we got there. There is a sporting goods store called Cabela's. It's similar to Bass Pro Shop. He just had to stop and see what they had to offer. So, we made it and he got to do some shopping. I was really taken with Nebraska. I have never been there, but the country with its lush planted fields and beautiful farms were great sight to see. When we tried to cross the Missouri River at Lincoln, Nebraska, we had to turn around and try to find a way over to Iowa and make our way to Branson, Missouri. All of the bridges were covered with water and impassable. We eventually had to drive south to Topeka, Kansas where the Missouri River turns east. Never saw the river in Kansas. Stayed in Branson for a couple of nights and saw a show, I was a little disappointed, as I envisioned Branson being a little like Las Vegas with all the of theaters being next to each other as you drive down the main street. They are very scattered, so you can't really walk to anything. There are many commercial shops selling memorabilia. The traffic was like commuter traffic in the Bay Area during rush hour. Then we traveled on to Mountain Home, Arkansas. While traveling on a state highway to Mountain Home, we saw several cattle. What I have never seen before were two cows lying in a pond, with just their heads above the water. I wanted to stop and take a picture, no one would believe me, and I needed proof. But, there was no shoulder to pull over on and stop. In the Arkansas Ozarks, they did not cut through the hills; the road goes around, up and over. So, the driving was slow as the roads are very curvy. The countryside is very beautiful with all of the lush green trees. We stayed there for four days, as my side of the family was having a family reunion. I have one aunt left out of eight children, but she wasn't well enough to make the trip. But 10 of the first cousins were there. A total of 62 cousins, children and grandchildren attended. On one of the days we went to Lake Norfolk, close to Mountain Home and had our lunch. The campground my cousins usually use was under water, so we had to move higher up to another campground. The lake had risen so high, that we could barely see the tops of trees that were covered with water. Leaving there, Ed decided he wanted to go through the town where his grandfather was born. So, here we are again on an up, down and very windy road. When we got to Deer, Arkansas, there was not much to see. One school and a small store with one gas pump, which looked like it was about to fall down. They did not except checks or any kind of plastic. Luckily we always travel with a little cash. Because cash is the only type of payment they would accept. Afterwards we continued on toward Oklahoma to visit Ed's family. We stayed there six days to visit his two sisters, one brother and two sister-in-laws. We got to see a beautiful fireworks display at one of the Indian casinos from the home of a sister-in-law who lives in Arapaho, Oklahoma. Since they are not in the city limits and they are governed by their tribe, they could have the fireworks display. The cities all around had canceled their fireworks' display until Labor Day, hoping to have some rain by then. The country is so dry; lawns have turned brown and are dying. You can feel the grass crunch under your feet as you walk across the lawn. Gardens are not producing, even though they do get watered. Fires were burning and the sky was very smoggy looking. Cattle have very little grazing grass. It was very hot and humid. The situation is very sad. One good thing about Oklahoma, their employment rate is only 3 percent. Help Wanted signs are everywhere with ads in the paper showing Help Wanted. The jobs are mostly for work in the oil fields. So the jobs are out there in Oklahoma. We left Oklahoma behind and continued back to California. All across Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and even Arizona, still the same. Dry, dry and drier. If you saw the news about the dust storm heading toward Phoenix, Arizona, we thought we were going to get caught in it. But luckily for us we made it to Flagstaff for the night before it crossed the highway we were on. The news the next day, said the dust cloud was 3,000 feet high and 60 miles wide. I have never seen anything like it in my life. We decided to travel on Hwy 99 in California, since it is the closest highway to Farmington. Never again. We will travel Interstate 5. Hwy 99 goes through every town in its path. Slow downs. Traffic coming on and the semi trucks passing slower vehicles. Those last four hours traveling home where the longest of our trip. We used a GPS, Ed called it Mabel, even though we knew the way home. I wanted to see where she would take us. She would have to recalculate the route as we wouldn't listen to her while we were driving home. We knew where we were and where we were going. We made it home safe and sound. It is always thrilling to plan a trip and get going. But, it's so wonderful to get back to home sweet home.

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I would still like to hear from you. Have you taken a trip? Have you had out of town visitors? Let me know of family birthdays, anniversaries and new arrivals to your family. Whatever you want to add to the Farmington News is welcome. Please contact me if you have items for the Farmington News column. E-Mail me at farmingtonnews@gmail.com or phone 896-6697.