We set out from Rexburg on July 24, 2007 much later in the day than we had wanted. It was hard to get everything done I wanted to do because I knew I was leaving for at least 4 months. Nevertheless, we finished packing the car and got away from the house about 7:00 pm or so with Dennis driving, me in the passenger seat and Dennis' mom tucked into the back seat amid hanging clothes, other paraphernalia, and boxes of music for Florida.Things were going very smoothly as we made the turn West at Pocatello to head for Boise where we had arranged to spend the night. About a half hour outside of Pocatello, as the sun was setting at twilight, I was reading something on my lap when Dennis called my attention to some deer off to the right of the road. I looked up and saw straight ahead an adult deer in the middle of our lane, not off to the right side where Dennis was looking, but straight ahead. I didn't have time to do anything but scream something like "Dennis lookout!" if it was even that intelligent.
By the time Dennis saw the deer in the road we were already at impact. The poor deer was hit in the hindquarters by the car's left front fender and headlight which whipped his head around and into the driver's side door denting it in and popping the door open. We learned later that the deer was thrown then completely off the road into the center median strip, but we were much more concerned at that point with the damage that had been done to the car. Dennis let the car slow as we took an exit off the freeway that was immediately available and we came to a stop with the engine smoking as we turned right off of the top of the offramp to American Falls.By this time it was about 8:30 pm. There was nothing to do but call AAA and see if they could come get our car and tow it to an auto body shop for repairs and to see if we could make it back to Pocatello ourselves for the night. Shortly thereafter, a couple pulled up in front of us who stopped to see if we were alright and if there was anything they could do. I was already on the phone to AAA and the woman of the couple did a great job of asking questions and making suggestions to try to help me think straight and make decisions while I was on the phone because, as you might imagine, I was a bit unnerved by the accident.
It turns out that this couple were members of the LDS church, in fact he was the Elder's quorum president of their ward, and they offered to let us stay at their house that was only about a quarter-mile from where we were stopped. On top of that, their brother owned a collision repair shop in Pocatello, where we ultimately had the AAA tow truck deliver the car. They were wonderful to take us as complete strangers into their home, to feed us, and soothe our worries; it was quite a remarkable thing to discover there are truly Christian people still out there attending to the wounds of the Samaritan on the side of the road.
The next morning this wonderful woman fed us and took us back into Pocatello to see to the car, contact the insurance company, and rent a car so we could continue on our trip to Oregon for Dennis' Warr Family Reunion. While we were taking care of the car at the repair shop, Dennis received a phone call from our neighbor who had agreed to care for our cat while we were away. She was crying and said she had some bad news. Our kitty had been killed in the street the day after we had left. It was a big double whammy after hitting the deer and crunching our car. Once we had taken care of the insurance claim details for the car, found a rental car, and transferred our suitcases into the rental car, things actually calmed down a bit thereafter. Insurance paid for the repairs on the car, but no one can replace Sammy, our cat.
We drove past Boise that day and on into Oregon stopping for the night in Bend and then to Coos Bay where we stayed for the days of the reunion. The Reunion was lots of fun as usual with a horseshoe tournament and good food and a raffle to which everyone brings something to contribute, the proceeds of which go to defray the costs of organizing and funding the reunion. The Warr's really know how to throw a party that appeals to all ages and all types of people.
After the reunion, we had originally planned to travel on down the Oregon coast into Northern and Central California to visit with some friends and family. However, the accident forced us to reconfigure our plans. Instead of driving down the coast, we had to head back to Pocatello to return the rental car and pick up our newly repaired vehicle. So, we decided to travel South from there through Utah, dropping Dennis' mom off at his niece's home, who was taking care of her for the rest of our trip, down to St. George to stay a couple of days with some friends, and then West again to Southern California where we would be visiting with my daughter, Katie. I spent a lot of time while in St. George and Palm Springs on the phone trying to nail down a place to live in Tallahassee for myself and my new roommate that I'd met via email through FSU. It's a hard thing to do by long distance in a place you've never been before. My cell phone bill for that month was $290 because of it!
We spent a week in the Palm Springs area relaxing and enjoying Katie's company and getting to know her boyfriend, David, who is an Executive Chef at a very posh Pasadena restaurant. The
four of us rode on the gondola to the top of the highest mountain in the area. It was much cooler up there than the 102-5 degree heat down in the valley. As we were driving to Palm Springs in Katie's car (because mine was still packed to the gills), Dennis and I sat in the back seat and I was able to exact some revenge on Katie in role reversal when I said to her, "Are we in Palm Springs yet?" She laughed so hard at that I thought she might split. Then she got me back when we stopped for ice cream at a Dairy Queen. She and David went in to get the cones and when she returned, she said back to me, "Here you go, kids!" and Dennis said to David, "Thanks, Dad!" It was most amusing and we had a lot of fun laughing about it for the next couple of days. We also went to a very fancy restaurant and had a blast talking about how good the food was. What a fun time it was!One of the places we visited while in SoCal was
our old house in Pasadena. It's had a fresh coat of paint and a new fence over the driveway. You can see that the front windows have been replaced as well, so it's looking well cared for, but it will always be the house where my children grew up. While there, we were also able to reconnect with some old friends from my Southern California performing days and get caught up on all the news of those lovely people whom I miss alot. We also saw some of Dennis' family that he hadn't seen for several years and to go to one of the new LDS temples there where we discovered that I had left my recommend at home in Rexburg!We left Palm Springs on August 9th bound for points East, stopping really only to see the Mesa, Arizona temple and the inside of a couple of Motel 6 rooms, before making it to Dennis' brother's house in Houston, Texas. A couple of musings about impressions of what we saw as we traveled through Texas: I would never want to live in El Paso, I didn't know there was an area called the "Hill Country" in Southeastern Texas that is so beautiful with rolling hills and forests of oak and walnut trees, I wasn't aware that the Texas air was sooo humid, and least impressive of all is that I couldn't believe that people could be so filthy. I was picking up and cleaning up for the rest of humanity, it seemed, all along the way. I would like to think that people in general have enough pride in themselves and care about others who might come behind them that they would leave a place better than they found it. That was a disappointment for me, but then, that's just me; just ask my kids!
We stayed in Houston with Dennis' older brother, Steve, for a couple of days, playing games, watching movies, eating good food, and cheering him in his pole vaulting (he has a pit in his backyard that is visible in the background of the picture). Steve is #2 in the World for polevaulting for his age group. It's pretty impressive
that he can still get up over that 10-foot+ bar at 65 years old. Quite a feat that! Dennis also got to ride on Steve's lawn mower tractor and had fun(?) mowing the lawn in 95 degree heat and 98% humidity. I was happy to stay inside in the air conditioning and read my Music History text preparing for the exams I would have to take my first week at FSU. We had a good visit with Steve and I enjoyed getting to know him a little better. It was unfortunate that his wife, Kathy, was in New England while we were there, but her plans had been made long before we know when were would be coming through Houston.After leaving Houston, we made the journey to New Orleans. I had never been there before and I wanted to see what everyone says is so exciting about the place. We also wanted to see for ourselves the remnants of the Hurricane Katrina damage. We were told by the front desk attendant at the hotel where we stayed that they had had 5-6 feet of water on the inside of the ground floor of the hotel and that they were making repairs and renovations, but that it was a slow process. He told us that the people made homeless by Katrina, whom they had allowed to come in and stay for free on the upper floors, had done more damage to the rooms than anything Katrina had done. Like I said, I was disappointed in the actions of people along the way. I don't understand why anyone would be so disrespectful to a place that was offering them help for free. The room that Dennis and I stayed in was one of the better ones and we saw the holes in the wall and the broken window and stickers on the headboards as evidence of what the attendant had said. Not good!
The night that we were there, Dennis and I went to the French Quarter and walked around just to see what all the hype is about that place. The food and architecture was wonderful, but beyond that I wasn't too impressed. It's mostly bars with LOUD music, XXX nightclubs, and souvenir shops. There was only one club that had a band that was playing some good, standard, tasteful, and tuneful Blues that we couldn't go into because there was too much tobacco smoke and alcohol. What a shame! So we stood outside the door for as long as our legs would let us, then moved on. After about 2 hours of mostly checking out the souvenir shops, I was done. I had seen all I wanted to see of the French Quarter. I still don't really see what all the hype about fabulous New Orleans is about, but then I'm not into indulging myself in all the "pleasures of the flesh" anyway, so this is not surprising. We left the next morning determined to reach Tallahassee by day's end.
From New Orleans, we headed East through Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia into Florida. We took a side trip to the Gulf Coast and saw first hand the many seaside homes and businesses that had been damaged and even destroyed by Katrina. This was so sad. These were beautiful big homes that were boarded up and every other one, it seemed, was for sale. I'll bet you could buy a fixer-upper there for a good bargain price, even if that "bargain" price is probably still in the millions just for the land. We stopped just for a few minutes to walk in the fine, white sand, pick up a few seashells, and to put our feet in the Gulf water. I was amazed at how warm it was! It was as warm as bath water! I'm told that it was so warm because the area had been experiencing unusually warm weather for the past couple of weeks, but I've never felt ocean water that warm in my life. What an experience!
We finally made it to Tallahassee on August 15th. The apartment we had settled on was called the Castle Apartments and seeing as my last name is CASTLE-Warr, it seemed like it was meant to be, especially since it was the only 2bd/2ba apartment that was available for the price range and area of town that we were looking for before Sept. 1 and that because someone had had to cancel their lease! Boy, am I glad that we weren't homeless for two weeks. Thank you, God! That was a fitting end to quite a saga and I'm very grateful that we made it to our destination without further mishap after the deer episode. We had a great time on our trip and made lots of memories to last a life time. I'm looking forward to making more memories with my brother Ron and his wife, Debbie, who only live about 3 hours from Tallahassee in Columbus, Georgia. What fun there is yet in store!
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