We headed south ahead of the weather

 

 

We didn’t head south soon enough though.  The weather caught us.

 

2024 Fall Trip Map

 

We stopped in Amarillo in a hotel tonight to take a break from the wind and the cold.  It’s good to have options.

 

We need to drop one more increment of latitude.

 

 

We’re on the move again

 

 

Heading southward.  It seems like time.

 

We didn’t spend any time in the high country during the peak of fall colors.  We’re leaving the fall colors of Becky and Brian’s neighborhood behind.

 

 

 

 

Christie submitted her colors from Leavenworth on the eastern slope of the Cascades.

 

Our spot for the night at John Martin Reservoir State Park.  Our van is that little dot in the middle by the pond.

 

We’ve cleaned up our act

 

 

 

Becky got everything trimmed and hemmed.  No more blue tape!

 

The hat

 

 

Turns out there is a photo of Dad and the hat.

 

 

Thank you, brother Tom.

 

Turns out brother Bill had the hat too (sort of).  I’d make this photo from about 1954 plus or minus.

 

 

Along the way

 

 

Lake Minatare State Recreation Area in Nebraska.  It has a lighthouse.

 

 

It doesn’t need a lighthouse. It’s not a very big lake, and it’s in Nebraska!  But during the dark days of the depression, it was constructed as a beacon of hope.  Built entirely of native stone by the Veterans Conservation Corps, it was completed in 1939 and is now known as the Plains Lighthouse.  It doesn’t really have a light at the top.  It serves as an observation tower and attraction.

 

This hat!

 

 

I just remembered; Dad had a hat like this.

 

A wide-brimmed hat.  He wore it fishing at Lake Wohlford.  I can’t find any pictures of him with it on though.

 

Something’s happening here

 

 

In September I sent out the morning view of the tree in Becky’s back yard.

 

Something was happening at the top.

 

Update.  The tree in October.

 

Yup, something’s happening here.