The wife, youngest son and her godson came home early in Friday, in preparation for our last run to College Town. Amazingly, we were on the road by 17:50.

The wife and I twice gravitated into the bedroom after everything was packed. You know, that nagging feeling that you've forgotten something? But nothing came to mind. 'Course we were only two miles down the interstate when I realized I forgot my hat, which I had remembered at least three times while we were still in the house. Not a big deal, except it was overcast and trying to rain, and the forecast called for that rain to change to snow.

A hat would be handy. But not worth the fifteen minutes a return trip would cost.

We made this trip in two vehicles. Hauling eldest son to college filled the SUV to the brim, including a cartop carrier, so we knew we'd need even more space for the return trip. Add to the mix the presence of both of the young teens, and hence all three heelers, and we would definitely need the second car (youngest son's Subaru). Godson with me, heeler mom and maskless heeler, following youngest son driving his car with his mother and the masked heeler.

Prior to this, the longest drive he had made was to and from town, a net maximum of maybe 13 miles.

Wife's godson tried to read while we had daylight, kind enough to bring his cd-player along so we could listen to music (his... mainly internet-swiped stuff, like Final Fantasy soundtrack (the game, not the movie), Japanese anime, etc. All tolerable, good stuff.)

As we sped across Separation Flats, he looked out the window and suddenly exclamed "Look at that! That is sooo cool!"

Yes, the mists were pouring over the Ferrises again. Nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks that's incredible. Even after 20-some years of watching it.

After passing through Muddy Gap and heading northeast, I pointed out the Sweetwater Rocks. And that those are some of the oldest exposed rocks (~4 billion years) on the planet. And that they are little changed. In other words, other than the trees, that is what the surface of this planet looked like four billion years ago.

"Why no trees?" was the response.

Seriously.

I shake my head at the sorry state of science education in modern high schools.

We no longer have to worry about this Star Spangled Banner. It has been replaced with a new one, same size. Since the new one will likely face the same abuse and fate as its predecessor, I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I have often expounded upon the intelligence of heelers, but some simple concepts seem hard for them to grasp. When I pulled up alongside the front vehicle when we had a passing lane, the heeler sisters were each absolutely astonished to see their fellow pack members outside the window. And when we were again single file, they failed to understand the red car in front was the same one that had been alongside. Instead kept looking out the side window whenever we mentioned the others' names.

When we stopped at reststops, they were again astonished to find our fellow pack members in the same place. (And the sisters immediately went into dominance displays, as if we had been separated for years, and it was time to reestablish the old pecking order).

And yes, we stopped by to see George Lathrop again.

Youngest son drove the two hours to Central City, and then his mother took over. Asked him how he enjoyed a long drive.

"My butt's sore!" was the surprised response. And he was rubbing circulation into it several times as we wandered the convenience store. Suspect he, at least, will be more sympathetic to his mother's complaints after some of her long drives, now.

Encountered our first construction zone on the interstate east of Central City.

Encountered our first Bozo on the interstate east of Central City.

Traffic was being squeezed down into two lanes, and naturally we ended up behind a U-haul pulling an SUV. Not a problem if he would have maintained speed, but the bozo never saw the speed jump back up to 65mph, so we drove miles and miles at the cross-over speed of 45mph.

As soon as construction ended and we were on four lanes again? He sped up to full interstate speed.

Bozo.

It rained the entire trip. Absolutely no complaints, since we need the moisture. But when we neared the Black Hills, I suggested we divert east to Nebraska and then turn north, avoiding the high elevations where the rain was supposed to turn to snow. Wife vetoed that idea, not wanting to explore new routes at midnight.

She was right, as usual. No snow, just rain all the way.

But they had 10-12" on the ground by sunrise.

So, what did we forget? Somewhere along the drive, the wife realized we forgot the bike carrier. Not necessarily a bad thing, since it is an antique carrier of steel pipe that needs to be bolted onto the front grill. Blocks vision, headlights, and probably weighs much more than modern grills are designed to support. But difficult to haul a bike home without one. Considered putting eldest son on it and tying a rope to one car.

Godson suddenly realized he forgot his pjs (sweatpants). Which made me realize I did, too. A quick check with wife confirmed she forgot her nightgown, as well. Not really good, since the first night had the four of us in the same two-bed motel room. But now we know why we were both drawn into the bedroom twice before leaving.

Godson solved the modesty problems by taking a shower (a noisy, thumping shower) when we got in to Rapid town (01:00). And we reversed the process in the morning.

'Course, the wife and I had a quizical chuckle in the morning when I found the bar of soap soaking in the shower stall.

Still unopened in the manufacturer's wrapper.