Its Not The Destination...

 ...It's The Journey." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Early April, I left stateside to finally meet my 2nd grandson. I sort of met him while he was still baking back in 2019. Fast forward to 2025, Because of the pandemic and time I had not met him sooner until now. My son Tevin and I decided we'd make it a plan last year to do a road trip to South Dakota from Texas. He notified me late last year we could do it by April. So, I made the journey leaving early April just before Easter break to Texas where our drive would take us through several states to finally meet him.

Flight overlooking Guam.

 

Dinny made by my son and his partner. Yum!

 

By April 3rd I made the 16 hour flight from Guam, through Japan, then Denver and into San Antonio. BTW, it was snowing in Denver!! As soon as I got out of the airplane, I felt the cold temps of Colorado from the jet way. Once inside the airport, I made my way to my next gate and final leg! It was just amazing to see, we even had to wait a bit as they de-iced the plane before take off!! 

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel!

Once in Texas, we spent the weekend going shopping and eating at some great places like Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel, and JapanPot! Yummy! My son and his partner even made dinner for me! Awww!  By Tuesday morning, Tevin and I started the road trip. We would take about 18 hours from San Antonio, TX to Rapid City, South Dakota with a rest stop overnight at a hotel halfway through.

Popular restaurant in San Antonio.

You cook your food at your table, wow!

So much good food at Jpot!

 We drove the first 10 hours our first day and stayed in Dumas, Texas halfway through. Tevin and I spent our drive talking about memories of the past, life, and current goals for him and Monica. Gosh so much has changed for him and I was proud of the man he has become. We even listened to music he grew up from the CD's I would play for us on the roads of Guam. Ahhh those good songs of the 90s! Most of the places we passed through, were flat land and rural areas with farms and small towns. It was quite the adventure and I enjoyed every moment of it. The drive didn't even feel that long either!

It was warm and sunny in southern Texas, but as we continued north, it started to become a bit more cloudy and overcast. During the drive I saw a lot of cows, and farmlands as well. Even some tumble weeds rolling along in front of us. When we arrived in Dumas, Texas, we made our way to the hotel, Spark by Hilton and got dinner at The Burger. We showered, relaxed and rested before driving the last 8 hours into South Dakota.

Scholtzskys for lunch.

Lots of windmills along the route.

Check out this vtg car on a pole! LOL

Dinner from The Burger!

A pic of our hotel, Spark in the morning.

Cows grazing early in the morning.

By morning we left Dumas early and headed out to complete our last leg of 8 hours. It was a lot more of the same but with a bit more rolling hills. We went through Colorado for a very small bit, and then Oklahoma and mostly Nebraska.

In this pic, the long straight roads and a bit of a chill in the air.

Chadron, Nebraska

We got dinner at Culver's a chicken burger joint. Rested and the next day my grandson would arrive. It was bitter sweet to finally meet him and for him to see his Dad. He is quite a character and smart too! He looks a lot like his Dad for sure! And for a bit, we enjoyed having him in our hotel room to play with his toys.

We had a full schedule of events to come. My grandson, was to have his "Naming" Ceremony by that Saturday. So since it was only Thursday, we decided to take him to the movies. We watched "Minecraft" at the local AMC theaters. It was a good film and he definitely enjoyed himself along with Tev and myself. By Friday, we planned to take him to the Reptile Garden.

Whew, to be continued...

Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls