On the road again

North End

It’s spring and it’s time to get back to Winnipeg and its icy weather.

Truth to tell, southern Florida experienced a cold spell in February that ‘cold-stunned’ or killed most of the iguana population. Although warm weather returned, we pack our bags, deposit our female yellow Lab into the back seat of our white SUV and hit the road again.

My son and I will travel west, along Florida’s panhandle before we turn north towards Canada. We plan to escape the unsettled stormy weather on the east coast and to stop every three hours to exercise Andi and stretch our legs. We estimate it will take four-and-a-half days to reach home.

Still in Florida, we spend the first night in Gainesville at a dog-friendly hotel. In the morning, over a generous breakfast in the hotel dining room, we trade stories with other travellers. One group is from Montreal – the only Canadians we encounter during our trip.

The next night is spent in Mississippi. The weather is sunny and warm as bypass Mobile, Ala., on the way to Memphis, Tenn.

Surprise! My son proposes that we stop in Memphis at Graceland, where Elvis Presley lived. Since his demise, the property has become a tourist mecca. We stop to explore the many shops in the area. The cost of touring Graceland is formidable, so we buy a keepsake souvenir and walk around, inspecting the grounds. Like the many other visitors, we view the mansion from afar. However, the pristine white airplane in which Elvis and his band travelled is on display and we find it very impressive. After a delicious barbecue lunch on a restaurant patio, we continue our journey to Arkansas.

We finally reach Missouri and it takes us a whole day to traverse the state. That’s when we get our first tornado alert on the phone. The message even predicts the time. At 9 o’clock that evening, winds pick up and a milky rain, filled with debris, drums wildly against the hotel windows. Safe inside, I am fascinated. However, after 30 minutes the tornado moves on. By next morning, the only signs are two folding chairs floating in the pool below.

On the fourth day we pass by Omaha, Neb., and then Sioux City, Iowa. Overnight we get another tornado alert, but by then we are safe inside our motel. Next morning, we see bent saplings and broken branches along the highway as we travel to South Dakota. That’s where the faces of four American presidents are carved on Mount Rushmore – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. How amazing is that? However, going to see it would add two more days of travel, so we decide against viewing this wonder, as we are only a half-day from home. If we push on to Fargo, N.D., tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep, we can roll into Winnipeg by noon.

We drive on, our eyes glued to the car windows. As we observe the passing scene, we try to imagine what life is like for the people who live and work in the small towns and rural areas we pass. The northern states, like the Dakotas, seem prosperous, with many fields filled with grazing cattle and some looking ready for spring seeding. We had noticed that, in some of the southern states, life had seemed to be more of a struggle. Especially in rural areas, where the properties seem weather-worn and neglected.

One thing we learned from our travels is that people are basically the same. Although some may look different, speak differently, and even believe in vastly different ideas, they all want to be happy and content.

As for me, I discovered there’s no place like Winnipeg. It’s good to be home at last.