Race to Bloomington - Finis

While we were still in Taos I was on our mapping software trying to find a short way to Bloomington. There isn't one! The major obstacle was a planned visit with my in-laws in San Angelo, TX. We could have taken IH 70 from Colorado all the way to Indiana, but then Pat told me I would be the one to explain to her Mother why we would not be coming. I then swallowed hard, and plotted a route to Bloomington from San Angelo.

We got to San Angelo, had our visit and managed to find a cage that would barely house our new Macaw. We had been getting updates on this majestic bird from Melissa. She informed us that the bird seemed to be in good health, and was very friendly and very loud. Having two smaller parrots we thought we understood the definition of loud; we would learn what loud was in a few more days.

Our trip was going to be 1,200 mile there and 1,200 back. My boss had let me take an extra week off, but it was going to be a long week. I had planned for 3 - 400 mile days for both legs of the trip. Driving 400 miles in a car is long, but you can make it in about 6.5 hours. The same trip towing a trailer adds another 2.5 to 3 hours to each day.

We arrived in Bloomington with a long sigh. Bloomington is a beautiful town in central Indiana, but it only has one RV park. The park understands what the word monopoly means, and charged us accordingly.

After we learned of our new child Pat & I started thinking of a name. A B&G Macaw is a big bird, about 3' from beak to tail, and has about a 4' wingspan, and their colors are very dynamic. These birds are very social birds, and want to be around their family quite a lot. Pat & I had been on an Irish name theme for awhile and I wanted something different, but not too much. I came up with the name - Angus McLeod of the Clan McLeod. I thought it would fit a bird of his stature, and Pat agreed.

The first time we met Angus was an experience for the two of us. Omygod was he a giant bird, and Omygod will you look at the size of his beak, and Omygod is he loud. This bird can take a block of white pine and reduce it to slivers in short order. Pat & I realized that we were at the start of a learning curve that we both hoped would not be too long. We also realized that the new cage, while large, would not house Angus comfortably. The trip home was going to be longer than we had thought.

Our first day on the road went better than we had expected. There was only one loud outburst of complaint from Angus - one was really enough. That first night was a treat. We stayed in an RV park in Memphis, Arkansas that was on the banks of the Mississippi. It was between the levee and really on the banks. The weather was cool, and that let us take the time to sit outside and watch the barges go up and down the river. What a pleasant surprise.

The rest of the trip home was long but uneventful. We did come to the realization that, because of Angus' size, our next long trip was going to require a lot of planning. We will have to either board Angus, not very high on the list, or make some changes to our beloved Airstream. There was one other choice that we know we must consider. We may have to give up our cherished silver galleon, and move to an SOB. Oh, sob, sob I can't talk about that choice. It wracks my heart to just even put these words to print. Leave my dearest treasure, never!

Vacation Statistics:
Time Span July 1 - August 1
Miles Traveled 5,000
States Visited New Mexico, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana
Trip Highlights Rafting the Rio Grande, Llama Hike, Adopting Angus McCleod
Trip Lowpoints San Antonio, NM
Cost of Fuel High 2.65 Low 2.18
Cost of Lodging High 54.00 Low 18.00
Average Cost per Day 135.00

Vacation Rating (Scale of 1-10) 7.9 Too much travel in too few days, heat, too few wi-fi connections, one too many ---