2019 Journeys in the USA
 

Having celebrated New Years and savored January in balmy Puerto Vallarta, February came and we returned to Phoenix and Albuquerque. You might ask, "Why would warmth loving Nomads spend a month enduring real winter?" Well, sometimes health and business issues can intervene with even the best made plans and wishes!

Visit to Asia
As March arrived, we finalized plans for our next journey! On March 5, we flew west to LA and on across the Pacific Ocean arriving on March 7 in Hong Kong! The Nomads were on the road again!
To follow the story of our travels, you can click here and click the links to the Hong Kong and Singapore stories and Flickr Shows of these phenomenal places.

Back in the US and Visit to Iowa In mid-April, another long flight brought us back to the US where we spent about a month in Phoenix enjoying nice weather before moving on to Albuquerque. Much of our work during this time was travel planning to develop an itinerary for a meaningful journey through Iowa, the goals of which were to search for Blair's ancestors and reinvigorate relationships with Susan's family through visits and an amazing Reunion!

On May 27, we flew to Des Moines where we spent a delightful couple of days with Susan's cousin, catching up on years of news and family memories plus beginning the search for Blair's ancestors. We also enjoyed views of the Iowa State Capital and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument that was designed by one of Susan's ancestors in the late 1800s.

Our next stop was Clarinda and Shenandoah, in the southwest corner of Iowa, where Blair's father was born and lived as a child. We enjoyed the town square with the historic County Courthouse and town square, took photos of the homes where they lived, and also visited the cemeteries where many other ancestors are buried. Other valuable stops were the Clarinda Historical Museum and the Shenandoah Family History Center where we found more information about many of these people. We even found a plethora of information on a previously unknown branch of Blair's family tree which is where his grandfather's middle name came from.

To avoid the flooding along the Missouri River, we drove directly north to Spirit Lake, Iowa to visit Susan's uncle and his wife. Again we had much to talk about as we hadn't seen them for many years, and that evening were fortunate to meet his son, his wife, and their children.

The next day we took a short trip to Alton, Iowa and visited the home where Susan's uncle and his family lived when they were children (left below) . We continued on to Orange City, a typically Dutch town which carefully maintains their heritage. This is where Susan's father and his father and mother had lived, and where her father and mother had fallen in love! Lots of memories for Susan!

We then drove south to Ames, Iowa. Our stay began with a visit to another uncle and his wife. We toured their 1912 craftsman style home in old Ames near Iowa State University campus to admire the amazing work of restoration and remodeling that has been their life's work for eight years, taking wood working to new heights, actual artistry! We did some catching up on news over wine and later, met their daughter and her kids who were visiting from Chicago.

A highlight of our visit to Ames was Susan's Family Reunion for which 30+ family members and partners gathered from all over the country, including the matriarch of the family, many cousins from our generation, and some from the next younger generation. Some we had met before, and many others we were meeting for the first time or for the first time in many years. It was an intense time with lots of hugs, recollections of past times and enjoying the time together, overall a very enjoyable, memorable, historic event.

All too soon, it was time to say good-bye as everyone headed back home. For us, after a night in Des Moines to 'decompress', it was time for us to be moving on.

Return to Europe
The next morning we flew off, first to Philadelphia, and on to Amsterdam. After clearing passport control and customs we rode the airport shuttle to the nearby IBIS hotel, checked in and enjoyed dinner - quite a trip. After a day to rest a bit, we headed to Den Haag (The Hague) to begin our European Summer 2019.
You can click here to read the story of our time in The Netherlands and Germany.

Back in the US
Once back in Albuquerque, as we began thinking about our next journey, we pondered the family connections we had made in Iowa back in May and June and realized that these connections were so gratifying, heart warming, affirming, satisfying, delightful, and valuable, and fun! We also realized that there were more connections to be made and we began to plan a journey to do so.

First Stop Denver
A bit of research revealed that Amtrak has teamed up with Greyhound to enable us to travel by train to Raton, New Mexico, and continue to Denver by bus. What a nice way to travel! Once in Denver we enjoyed time with family, and visited the Denver Art Museum, learning that big changes are happening with work in progress - a major redevelopment. We made a note to return in a few years!

On to Easton, Pennsylvania A flight to Philadelphia followed by a road trip took us to Easton, PA, where we visited with more family, Susan's brother and his wife. They are empty nesters now with all four "children" on their own. So, to fill that empty space they welcomed two sheltie puppies. What a change! We celebrated a birthday before heading back to Philadelphia.

History, Art, and Family in Philly
Philadelphia is a city crammed with amazing places to explore. With guidance from more family we started with a tour of the Valley Forge National Park, including visits to Washington's Headquarters over the winter of 1776 to 1777 and the monments to this important moment in US history.

We also daytriped into downtown Philly where we spent a day visiting the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and reliving more of the history of the American Revolution at the new Museum of the American Revolution, an amazing place, filled with stories, articles, maps and displays that bring this formative period of our history to life. We were now well on our way to renewing our credentials as amateur students of this important period in our country's history.

For Fine Art, the Barnes Foundation offered us one of the foremost collections of impressionist, expressionist, and early modernist paintings in the world. Walking through the galleries, one is nearly overwhelmed by the arrays of astounding works on every wall.

A completely different experience was had in The Brandywine River Museum, in an atmospheric setting in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania! The works of N. C. Wyeth and his family and proteges offered us an appreciation of the artistic gifts that he, his family and his students have given to us. We recommend both of these museums for your visits to Philadelphia.

To Alexandria, Virginia by train After Philadelphia, we had a fun train ride to Washington Union Station, and a Metro ride to Alexandria, Virginia, our base for explorations around the DC area. A combination of Metro and bus enabled us to travel to the National Mall for visits to the National History Museum to view important moments in our history, as well as the National Gallery of Art to view many pictures and sculptures, some new to us, and many familiar ones.

As you may know, now there are two Air and Space Museums so we visited them both. It was our first visit to the newer addition out near Washington's Dulles airport, where we viewed the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, as well as views across the giant hangers with so many airplanes of all sizes on display.

Alexandria, Virginia, George Washington's home town, offered even more pieces of history along with many historic buildings and restaurants galore. We added more family connections with visits before moving on.

On to Chicago
We then headed back to Union Station for an overnight ride by train to Chicago! Here, we had lunch with a friend, dinner with cousins, and a wonderful stay with another friend in Oak Park, Illinois, home of Frank Lloyd Wright (left below) and Ernest Hemingway (right below). Finally, we returned to visit friends and family in Albuquerque and Phoenix.

While our trips to Asia and Europe were wonderful, this year's time in the US has been a truly fulfilling journey filled with family, great art, sweeping landscapes, American history, and love. We have found that our travels in these special places, so important in our nation's history have enriched our emotional bond and appreciation of this great country of ours. Ours has been an American Journey to renew our love for this country and to revive our Nomad spirits. Best of all we have more faith in America and all that it has to offer.

What's Next
Now, as autumn was facing us, the Nomads were looking ahead to upcoming winter and began making plans, which included spending the holidays in Guadalajara, Mexico. Those stories will come soon.

Reflecting on this Year
This American Journey has enabled us to realize that we are elders, hopefully respected ones! While we are extremely fortunate and blessed to be healthy in body and mind, we are finding that we must acknowledge some changes that cause us to re-imagine our Nomad Lifestyle. First we are finding that having seen and done so much, the number of must-see places on our 'Special Places List' has become fewer. Also, we have observed People Friendly Cities around the planet and now it's about time to seek places where we are able to 'perch' for a while. This will enable us to contemplate all that we have learned and to write the next generation of stories. These stories will come soon as well. We urge you to check back!

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