We are home.  Did you miss me?  I want to thank each and every one of you who were generous enough to stop by my blog and leave comments even though I was unable to respond and/or reciprocate since I didn’t have reliable internet connection – or any – for more than half of the time we were gone.  Thank You.

Now it’s back to reality – and back to the scorching heat that Pennsylvania likes to have this time of year.  We didn’t want to leave Washington State, especially seeing how horrid the weather has been here while we were there.  At least we didn’t have to worry about the yard needing to be mowed, since it didn’t get enough rain to have it grow out of control – the weeds are a different story, however.  Why is it that weeds grow crazy in spite of not getting watered?

When we pulled into the driveway the yard has been overtaken by weeds.  It looks like no one has lived here for years, not just a couple of weeks.  Hopefully the rain that descended upon our heads as we unloaded our vehicles in the dark last night won’t stick around so we can fire up the tractor and mower and tackle the unkempt look into submission.  Wish us luck.

We had an awesome time visiting family in Washington – and thank you to all who sent my dad warm thoughts and prayers, his brain surgery went very well, and the stubborn old coot was walking around and trying to do too much after he got home from the hospital.  Like my hubby said, if he didn’t know better, you’d never  know my dad had brain surgery from the way he was behaving.  He did overdo it and have to get some extra rest while we were there, but was back at it the next day.  He’s where I get my huge stubborn streak from.  Love you, Dad.

One thing I discovered is that the Navigation System I have in my Hyundai is worthless (more on that tomorrow).  The hubby had to buy a new GPS while we were in Washington, since his GPS that was over a year old kept lying to him and telling him he was on a named street that wasn’t the name of the street.  And telling him to take a right when he needed to take a left – but correcting itself and recalculating the correct route.

The new GPS worked wonders, in fact we shaved off some time during our road trip home by taking funky roads that my Navigation System didn’t like – it kept wanting me to turn around and go back, or showed me on no road at all:

The only thing I didn’t like about following the hubby was that he is referred to as the Absent Minded Professor for a reason – which meant that sometimes he wouldn’t be paying attention and almost miss a turn, making me drive like a crazy woman to keep up, or he’d be distracted by Little Dude in the back seat and slow to below the speed limit, making me either hit my brakes or tailgate him endlessly.  I might need to get my own GPS for any future road trips.  Too bad the navigation system sucks since it is so convenient to have built right into the radio.

One of the shortcut routes took us through a little town in the Cheyenne Reservation in Montana called “Lame Deer”.  Since I love all things deer, both Princess Nagger and I were cracking up when we saw the name of the town coming up – so naturally I had to try to get a picture of the little town sign:

That was as good as it got, so I blew it up for you (the picture, not the town, silly):

A little blurry, but you get the picture.  Literally.  In this small one-blink town they have a college.  But not just any college, they have Chief Dull Knife College:

I know what you’re thinking – you can’t see that one, either.  Here you go:

Kinda makes you wonder what you learn at that college.  I tried to get a shot of the chief head sign at the entrance of the tiny college, but we the hubby was speeding off in the distance and I didn’t want to lose him.  You know, with his shortcut-taking GPS and all.

Since it’s almost midnight Monday night and I want to make sure this goes live at the normal time, I’m calling it a wrap for this week – I still have a bazillion pictures to download and sort through (6000+ miles on the road gave me the opportunity to become quite adept at capturing some great photos through the windshield.  I’ll be sharing those later.)

Meanwhile, feel free to link up and hop around to all the other awesome randomizers – they’re always so entertaining. Talk To Me Tuesday friends, you’re welcome to link up, too – that way I’ll be sure not to forget to stop by and scope you out. You know what I mean.

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Keeping the random alive in Keely’s stead – feel free to snag a badge and play along – one for my wino friends:

Stacy

And one for my non-wino friends:

Stacy

 

Once again I’m hopping aboard this fun friendly train – if you’re traveling on the train, be sure to leave your link so I can follow you back!

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I’m also linking up with two stellar ladies, Shawn and Impulsive, the lovely hosts of Talk To Us Tuesday. There are no rules so link away.

Seriously Shawn
 

More Tuesday hops – if you’re stopping by here from there, please do me a favor and follow via LinkyFollowers – since I was robbed of my GFC followers when the cads at Goggle decided to boycott non-Blogger blogs.


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31 Comments

  1. Glad you made it home safe despite the GPS issues. Because I am basically a weirdo, I just Googled Chief Dull Knife College, and it is SO interesting. It’s a junior college (you can only get an Associates Degree) on a Cheyenne reservation. In addition to the usual college courses, they offer Cheyenne Studies (beadwork and oral traditions!) and Native American Studies. Cool.
    Gretchen would like you to read ..RTT: Summer Tunes, Weiners and Chicken StockMy Profile

  2. Glad you are home safe and sound. I love my gps thingy I do not like the one that came with the car… at. all. I don’t mind the recalculating thing she does. She can’t help it if I know the back roads! I just trampy that way!
    Nadine would like you to read ..Rethinkin’ Being Zen…My Profile

  3. We have a Garmin GPS, but we use our Navigon app on our iPhones more, just because it’s more convenient and a wee bit easier to use. Of course, the screen on both mobile devices is a lot smaller compared to your built in GPS unit which is definitely nice. Maybe our next car will have one, I dunno.

    Well, we’re all glad you’re home again and to learn the marvelous news of your dad. It’s hard to keep the old timers down, especially those who are use to being on the go all the time and it sounds like your dad falls into that category. Good for him!

    Have a terrific Tuesday my friend!

  4. Welcome back dear friend! Love the name of the college…..I had to look it up and learned a little about Chief Dull Knife (there was a Chief Dull Knife!)

  5. great post! ha! I grew up in Oregon and we would joke about some of the names there like Boring Oregon, or Drain, or Aumsville … do you think when they were trying to name it someone kept saying “um I dunno what to call it?” But you got to love the sign that says “Entering Boring,” good lord who thinks to call your town that? Glad to hear your dad is ok, and so great that you could be there with him. We just got back home to the heat back East and at least it has come down a little bit in NYC. Man I dream about that rainy weather in the Pacific NW!
    Cynthia would like you to read ..Inspiration Board: AdirondacksMy Profile

  6. Welcome back! Glad to hear your dad is doing well post-surgery! Good news!! 🙂
    My yard is much the same…the grass is brown and dead, but the weeds require mowing. Crapola!!!
    Love the road signs…it’s one of my favourite things about road trips, spying funny road signs! 🙂

  7. Wow, you can take pictures while driving! Multitalented! My husband’s GPS is on his phone, and he listens to it through his earpiece, just so I don’t argue with it. Because I totally do that!
    Tina would like you to read ..Is It Random Already?My Profile

  8. We are still getting used to the fact that we have navigation on our phones. We are much better with a paper map–I can give pretty good directions for Nick to follow.
    Good to see you all survived and had fun.
    VandyJ would like you to read ..I’m Thinking RandomMy Profile

  9. The problem with a GPS is you have to pay an annual fee and plug it into your computer on an annual basis to get updates for it, which is why I used Google Maps on my Android for navigation – it updates automatically and I rarely get lost (I can’t say “never” because I’m, well, ME). I’m glad you had a good time, that your father is doing well, and that you’re all home safe and sound!
    Jan’s Sushi Bar would like you to read ..The Recliner SagaMy Profile

  10. Good to hear you had such a nice time on your trip!
    Chief dull knight college, hahaha! Some road signs are just too funny. So glad you took photo’s to share these with us.
    daisy would like you to read ..Good mood = giveaway!!My Profile

  11. Oh my gosh, knife college? What the? LOL!

    I’m so glad to hear your dad is doing well! I can’t believe he was up and at ’em right after he gets home from having brain surgery!

    I love that you and PN took a picture of the town sign….Lame Deer….wonder what the history is behind that one!
    Pooba would like you to read ..No Matter What . . .My Profile

  12. Welcome back to the east coast weary traveler! Glad you had such an incredible copilot. So happy for your dad (and your family)!!

  13. Welcome home and I’m glad your Dad is doing so well.

    Did I miss the reason you took two cars? Sounds heavenly honestly since my DH’s driving drives me batty!

    Thanks for linking up!

  14. YAY you’re home and YAY for your dad too! I’m glad the surgery went well. I had no idea you took two cars on your trip. That’s impressive!

    I don’t use my car’s GPS anymore. I find that the navigation on my phone is the best. The phone app maps are updated more often than the mounted ones.

    My husband does the same with the GPS and driving. Is it a guy thing?
    Run DMT would like you to read ..Random Tuesday Thoughts about Swimming Stupid, Overcoming Fears and Track TuesdayMy Profile

  15. welcome back to reality, heheh, i hope enjoy my vacations like you,
    i like vacation when holiday with my family, we happy and still happy together

    1. I believe it’s the original from 2009 (my Santa Fe is a 2009). From what I understand, it’s $300 to update the navigation with a CD from Hyundai – though there is a $100 rebate when you return the old CD – so $200 when it’s all said and done. Which is more than buying a GPS with Lifetime Maps. 🙂 Too bad Hyundai doesn’t offer free or at least discounted updates to the navigation to keep the maps current.
      Stacy (the Random Cool Chick) would like you to read ..eBay Gift Guide makes Holiday Shopping Easier!My Profile

  16. Great article. Yeah it’s hard coming home from a wonderful, carefree, get-away-from-the-world vacation, and then come home to hard, hard work.

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