September 15, 2016 — Starting Home

Our first day on the road home entailed retracing our steps back to Cheyenne, where we stayed again in the quarters on F. E. Warren AFB.

They put us in a different unit this time, which was to be expected, but it was also a very nice unit, and a wonderful bargain for the price we paid.

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At this point in the writing of this travelogue, I am doing the writing five months after the trip, and the motivation to complete the writing is declining significantly. So please pardon me if I cut the remainder of this travelogue a bit short, so I can get on to other blog articles I’ve been wanting to write.

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September 16 – Cheyenne to Salina

The next night after leaving Cheyenne and F.E. Warren AFB, we made it all the way to Salina, Kansas.

As we got to Denver, we took one of the ring roads around the northeast of the city, a road called E-470. “E”? Never heard of that designation for a road before. Turned out it was a  toll road.  However, there were no toll booths – there were cameras. Whenever you drove through a toll plaza, they would snap a photo of your license plate, then mail you a bill. We went through three of these plazas, and they were still mailing us bills in January. Yes, we paid them, but hey, it’s run by a government agency, which isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The trip to Salina took something over 7 hours, so we were ready for a stop by the time we got there.

I was told that the name of this town is not sa-LEEN-a, but rather sa-LINE-a, like it rhymes with saliva. Okay, if they say so.

We found a decent hotel in Salina at a decent price – and by a decent price, I mean well under $100. I think it was $68 for the night, but then they added a bunch of taxes and fees on top of that which put the final cost well over $80. Still a decent price for a hotel room these days.

We found a barbecue restaurant in Salina that turned out to be one of the best meals we had on the entire trip. The place was the Hickory Hut. When we walked in the door, we saw the entire ordering counter surrounded by certificates where they had won “Best Barbecue In Salina” year after year after year. Very encouraging.

And indeed, it was excellent barbecue. If Salina wasn’t so far away, we might consider going back to that place.

September 17 – Salina to Tulsa

From Salina, it was a relatively short drive – less than 4 hours – to Tulsa, where we arrived just after noon. Since it was Sunday, we got to spend the rest of that day, plus all the next two days with our daughter and her family. At least this time when we visited, they were home!

September 20 – Tulsa to HOME!

We left on Tuesday morning and drove the 600 miles back home, arriving about sundown that day.

It was a VERY long trip, but a good one. We were blessed with good health throughout the trip, and the Armada we drove on the trip – while not the most fuel-efficient vehicle we could have used, was marvelously comfortable and smooth-riding.

We were glad we went on this trip, but once we got home, we were glad to be there again.

Maybe next year we can plan a different trip.