On October 5, 2021 Norman and Fran Bagby were driving home from visiting their daughter Robyn in Vancouver, British Columbia. When they were just south of Seattle, Washington they were rear-ended by an 18-wheeler which hit them so hard it knocked them into the car in front of them. Fran was driving, and suffered 3 brain bleeds and severe headaches. She spent two days in the hospital. Norman hurt his back. They were told that their car wouldn't be fixed (if it could be fixed) until mid-December due to the difficulty in getting parts. After a few days, Norman and Fran started home in a rented car. They didn't get very far due to needing frequent stops because of discomfort. Their son Andy flew out to Sacramento and helped them drive home in a leisurely manner so they were not stressed and could heal.
Parts for their car came in much sooner than expected. Their car was repaired and needed to be picked up, so Andy and I flew out to Seattle early Saturday morning on the day before Reformation Day (or, if you prefer, All Hallows' Eve) to bring their car home. And so we began our cross country trek…
Click on any date to see details with pictures:
- October 30, 2021 – Seattle, WA to Kelso, WA. Checking out the car, a brief trip to downtown Seattle, and some views of Mount Rainier.
- October 31, 2021 – Kelso, WA to Grant's Pass, OR. A great church service and a visit to the King Estate winery.
- November 1, 2021 – Grant's Pass, OR to Calistoga, CA. Today we had a great journey to the Redwoods with much to see along the way, including Pacific views. We drove the Avenue of the Giants and spent much time among the amazing Giant Redwoods.
- November 2, 2021 – Calistoga, CA to Napa, CA. Coffee, food, wine, wine, wine, food, wine, and craft beer. Altogether a really nice day. Hiccough.
- November 3, 2021 – Napa, CA to Mariposa, CA. Wine, an excellent Italian lunch (with more Napa Valley wine), a cruise down to Lodi, the Michael David winery, another cruise into Mariposa for supper and lodging. Much driving, but the wine helped! Hiccough.
- November 4, 2021 – Mariposa, CA to Tulare, CA. We took many pictures today! When you click on the link, it may be slow to load because of all the pictures we included, but we hope you'll think it was worth the wait. We spent most of the day in Yosemite National Park. We saw the Merced River (at several different places), took the Tuolumne Grove hike, saw the Bridalveil waterfall, El Capitan (the vertical rock face that insane people climb), the Tunnel View, some recent burned areas, and Mariposa Grove.
- November 5, 2021 – Tulare, CA to Kingman, AZ. Our journey today involved many changes of altitude! We went over the southern end of the Sierra Nevada mountains into the Mojave Desert. Then through the Searles Valley to get to Death Valley. We tooled around Death Valley for a bit then back over the mountains to the east, then supper in Las Vegas, and on to Kingman, AZ for the night.
- November 6, 2021 – Kingman, AZ to Gallup, NM. Our plan to see the cave dwellings didn't pan out. The site we wanted to visit was closed. Instead we toured the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. Both were awesome! Again today we have many photographs, so please be patient while they load. We hope you'll find them worth the wait!
- November 7, 2021 – Gallup, NM to Santa Rosa, NM. Our journey today had a great start. We listened to our home church's worship service live while driving into Albuquerque. We hoped to see some cliff dwellings and petroglyphs (ancient drawings). We were not disappointed! Most of our pictures from today come from Bandelier National Monument just west of Santa Fe. Once again we have a large number of pictures, so please be patient while they load.
- November 8, 2021 – Santa Rosa, NM to Terrell, TX. Our trip today was a descent down the plateaus from Santa Rosa, NM to Terrell, TX where we're spending the night. Along the way we've descended 5,500 feet in elevation. The drive was pleasant but long today because we wanted to cover more territory. However, we did make a few stops. Enjoy!
- November 9, 2021 – Terrell, TX to Ocean Springs, MS. A long day of driving, so not many pictures today. We saw the Journey Coffee House outside Tyler Texas, did some shopping for building supplies, and had dinner at the Abita Brew Pub in Abita Springs, LA.
And so our cross country trek comes to a close. Thanks for following along. We hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures. If you have the opportunity, see these places in person. Pictures can't do any of them justice. It has been wonderful seeing so many beautiful parts of God's creation. It's also given us a new appreciation for this great country, and for the freedoms we have to enjoy it.
Thanks for sharing the trip with us!