The 68 Frolic

 I'll finish my summary of our trip (part 1 is here )and then come back to cover some highlights, of which there were many. BTW, overall the trip was great. One of the things that impressed me about the trip was how much open space we saw, out west.  The above pictures are just poor sampling.  In Iowa, I began noticing a silo, hill, or some other feature on the horizon. I'd watch the odometer on the car and note how far away the object was from where I first saw it. I clocked four, five, or more miles. In western Nebraska, South Dakota, and on into the Southwest I stopped keeping track. The views to the horizons were measured in multiples of tens, maybe in some cases a hundred miles. I was very impressed with the vastness of creation. Our granddaughter and her husband, live near Provo Utah. Theirs is one of the fastest growing areas in the USA. As we traveled south in Utah that changed drastically. Southern Utah is mainly spread-out rural dwellings and small towns. I read that

 Kathy and I had not seen much of the USA west of the Mississippi.  When we started redoing Frolic our plan was to travel west, see the sites and celebrate our 50th Anniversary, August 12. we just got back yesterday. It was an epic journey. The little trailer performed above expectations. I'll take time over the next several posts to debrief and share some highlights. Here is an overview: Our trip involved a mix of staying in the camper, staying with friends and family, and a few nights in hotels. Frolic tagged along for the whole trip though. We left August 12, our 50th Anniversary. Our tow vehicle is a 2015 Ford Explorer. Judging from the way the Explorer downshifted, I'd say that the steepest uphill grade we encountered on the whole trip was about an hour-and-a-half into the trip, the climb out of the New River Gorge on I 64 West. As it did for the whole trip, the Explorer handled Frolic well. We spent the first two nights in a campground in Corinth Kentucky. I'll tell y