On the Road Without Jack Kerouac

We followed a cold front across the country, from Moab to Burlington, Vermont. Everywhere we have been has been nice and cool. Ahead of us, and behind us, has been a certain amount of turmoil. In Nebraska, we saw buildings, trees and billboards torn apart by a tornado. In Iowa we saw evidence of too much rain and we've seen news stories since of flooding across the central part of the state.



Nancy took care of business in Lincoln with the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service. Fergus has gotten U.S. government approval to go to France. We crossed into Canada and got a few hours of practice reading things in French. Deja vu, n'est pas? Fergus was unimpressed with the effort it took to get him back and forth across the international border, in what I guess you could call a trial run.



Gas prices are at an all time high. We are paying about the same amount to gas up as I used to pay for a month's rent on a one bedroom apartment. Consequently, you might think the roads would be empty of cars. You would be wrong.



Today is a rest day, the first day in five days we haven't been on the road. We're holed up in my neice Anna's house doing laundry and making last minute preparations for the flight. In short, all is well. No automobile breakdowns, no surprises, no catastrophes, knock on wood. It appears our airline is still in business, which probably means we'll be flying out on schedule.