Headed Home
Trip Start
May 03, 2009
1
12
Trip End
May 18, 2009
Where I stayed
Alton, Illinois
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, May 18, 2009 -- On The Way Home
Hi Again!
We're in Alton, IL, on the last leg of our journey. Alton is just across the Mississippi from St. Louis and is my Mom's home town, also where Dad met her in 1943 and married her in 1945. We had a very gratifying afternoon today, taking our video camcorder to various family-related locations to see how they've changed over the years and also to a couple historic sites, such as the place where Abraham Lincoln debated Stephen A. Douglas on the issue of slavery. Alton has built a fine commemorative plaza with life-size statues of each man at the spot where the debate took place before a crowd of six thousand in October, 1858.
While this trip has been relatively problem-free, we had a little scare on a hot, dry, lonely strip of road outside Gallup, New Mexico last week. The one light you don't want to see turn on, did: Check Engine, which could mean anything. The car ran smoothly, but we didn't want to take any chances. We discovered we were low on oil, so we put in two quarts. That didn't help. As we were checking things at a gas station, a total stranger walked over to us and directed us to a place where we could find help. To make a longer story short, we ended up at a GM dealer, which was able to hook up the car to their computer system. They found nothing serious, but theorized that our wild changes in altitude (from high mountains to the desert valley) may have set off something. At any rate, the light went out, hasn't come back on and we're still rolling. I might also add that the GM service center in Gallup was aptly named: Amigo Motors. Those guys sure were the "amigos" we needed to put us at ease!
We have met amigos everywhere we've gone on this trip. Not only has it been great to meet and talk with people like them, doing so can restore your faith in humanity. It's also wonderful to think about what we've seen in the past two weeks: everything from towns big and small, diners that have been serving up great food and great conversation for 50 or more years, to the beach at Santa Monica, mind-boggling natural wonders at places like Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon National Parks, places where humans lived 12,000 years ago and a magical place called Santa Fe. This has been one fantastic and unforgettable trip. It also makes you think about another somewhere down the line. We'll be back home soon!
The Roadsters,
Dave And Paul Schwan
"I can see the road is bending...I wonder what's around the bend."
--Charles Kuralt
