Day 13 and 14

Day 13 - New Mexico,Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas - woke up around 8 am with the wind rocking the trailer, buttoned everything up and drove five hours to the RV Park where we were to stay the night. Got on PJs ate a delicious meal Jennifer cooked for us, pigs in a blanket, homemade Mac and cheese (not the box stuff) and baked beans, yummy. Drifted into a fitful sleep and then decided around 6pm that I had sufficiently been refreshed and asked the family if they wanted to just go ahead and drive the rest of the way home tonight. They all agreed, home for the New Year! So back into the vehicle and another 6 hours later saw us finishing another riveting audio book (the Clockwork Angel) and pulling into the gates of Ft. Leavenworth at 11:59pm December 31st, 2010.

Day 14- 12:00am, January 1st, 2011 we had just driven on Post into a blur of flashing police car lights, cones, and MPs directing us with flashlights into a sobriety checkpoint. We were waved into a narrow set of cones that had to be moved aside right before I could run over them, not a good start to a sobriety check point I would Imagine. I could hear our two German Shepherds barking like crazy as the MPs brought up a working dog to sniff the vehicle. "You folks going or just coming back?" He asked. "Just now coming back from 3368 miles worth of road trip." I said. "Wow, could I see your registration and insurance please?" we handed him the registration but couldn't find the insurance at all. It's USAA and current but we couldn't find it. The dogs were going crazy and the working dog was barking back, I hoped the MP realized it was because of our puppies, not because he found something suspicious. The MP said "I see the dogs are getting to know each other. You don't have to worry though, unless you have a bomb." at that second my heart missed a beat, Jennifer was rearranging papers in the glove box, and between the seats looking for the Insurance and I saw one small piece of paper partially covering the metal shape of a grenade in the cubby beneath the radio. It was the grenade we had purchased at the Army surplus store at the start of our trip. It was hollowed out, but still had a pin in it, and looked extremely real. Jennifer reached for the piece of paper covering it right as the MP said "Y'all have had a long trip. Go home, get some rest, and just make sure you have the insurance available next time." "Yes sir, Happy New Year!" We pulled away with the bomb sniffing dog still barking (not at my grenade I know, at my dogs, but still Im sure the inspection would have been far more thorough had he seen it unexpectedly exposed.) We pulled into the house, met a grateful Kitty who had been impatiently awaiting our return, and I made a New Year's Resolution to not leave my Army Surplus purchases in the cab of my truck anymore. Happy NewYear! What a fun end to a great road trip!