It's day #4 and we're taking a break with USMC friends, Broge and Nancy Miner. Broge and I worked together at WES-47 and VMAQ-4 and he was the deputy at MOBCOM. Yesterday we drove 540+ miles and made really good time. I decided since I was getting such lousy gas mileage we might as well drive faster. Going 65 mph as opposed to 45 - 55 mph makes a big difference! We made it through southern Indiana, Illinois, St. Louis, and Missouri and are now with Broge and Nancy who leave near the Kansas City airport. However, the "Check Engine" light came on about 50 miles from KC! Today I took the car (with the trailer) to a mechanic to get the light checked. He told me I would have to unhook the trailer before he could work on it. That is something I didn't want to do based on my experience last Friday and Saturday! I was looking for another place to take the car and noticed the "Check Engine" light went off! Good news! So instead of finding another mechanic I found a Starbucks, bought cappuccinos for Leslie and me, and we are enjoying our morning caffeine fix! If the light comes on I'll deal with it then!

Broge and Nancy have a beautiful house and deer visit them in the evening.

Yesterday, when we started the weather was cloudy and the temperature in the low 40's. By the time we were in Illinois and eastern Missouri, the sun came out and the temperature was in the upper 50's - really nice weather. Western Missouri was foggy and cooler. Today it's just cold, cloudy, and a drizzle. Guess the weather is preparing us for the Seattle "sunshine"!

On another note we did sell our condo. If you want real estate investment advice two individuals you probably shouldn't ask are John and Leslie - unless you want advice on how to buy high and sell low! We had the closing last Friday, March 12 along with the car repair! The closing was scheduled for 3:00pm but kept having to be rescheduled. It seems that the lender does business at the last minute, i.e. thinks about lending money to the buyer about 4 hours before the closing and then comes up with several issues that could prevent the closing. The final issue was the person carrying all of the paperwork went to the wrong office (which was a considerable distance away) and we did not do closing until 5:30pm. Then we went to a dinner party people at AKW were having for us so everything was at the last minute! However, the condo closed, it has a new owner, we are leaving with fond memories and mixed emotions (it's a bittersweet time), and returning to Seattle.

Hopefully the weather will remain cooperative. Our plan tomorrow is to drive north into Iowa and then across Nebraska and Wyoming. After checking Google maps I think we'll make it somewhere into Nebraska tomorrow. We seem to start around 8am and stop around 5:30pm which seems like a good thing, especially if you're retired. In the meantime we're enjoying the hospitality of Broge and Nancy eating Kansas City steaks and ribs!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Enjoy a Guinness or Baileys!

John and Leslie