Time to head south

Hitching up the trailer in 20 degree weather isn’t fun, but it confirmed that it was time to head south for the winter. We left on October 10th and need to be in the Florida Keys by November 2nd. For most people, 3 weeks to get to Florida wouldn’t be a problem. For us, it means several long driving days with too short of stops in between. It also means some hard choices on where to stop. There are way too many great places between Colorado and Florida and not enough time. Yes, we have a very rough life. We were asked often by friends in Boulder if we were going to keep travelling. The answer is yes. If too little time is our biggest problem, we obviously need more time on the road.

This was the cat’s first time making a long move with us. She isn’t a big fan of the truck yet. I jokingly said I hoped she would stop yowling by the time we got to Kansas. Then it became Missouri and it wasn’t a joke anymore. The first day was the worst, she was afraid and then just mad. When we stopped, she was very happy to get back in her trailer. She regards the trailer as her home and calmed down right away. The second day she did much better. She still didn’t like it, but she wasn’t scared anymore. Still a little pissed though. 650 miles and she meowed through the first 550. By the end of the second day, she seemed resigned to it. Once we were stopped, she enjoyed the new views from the trailer. She wants the window shades opened every morning so she can chatter at the birds and squirrels. I think she will be ok with the truck with a few more days of travel.
We are camped in Weston Bend State Park, just outside Kansas City, MO. The weather is a little colder than we would like, but we are still able to get out for walks and birding. The Missouri river runs next to the park and there are many migrating birds coming through. They too are heading south for the winter. The trees are just starting to turn here and the maples are beautiful. Dan is still working a lot right now, but he is taking tomorrow off and we are going to the National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, MO. This is the jumping off place for the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe Trails. We have travelled parts of each of these so it will be fun to learn more about them. Fort Leavenworth is just across the river from us, so we are hoping to fit in a tour before we leave. Our plan is to stay here 6 nights and then do another two days of driving to get somewhere in Tennessee.