Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, October 1948 Duke was discharged, he was a happy fellow. The Army issued him a voucher for rail-transport from New Jersey to his home-state, California, but he had his discharge money and decided we should get a used car and drive West. He became the proud owner of a 1930�s Cadillac Touring Car, impressive, with running-board and back seating area as big as some living-rooms. I didn�t know anything about cars or actually what he spent on it, it was all new. I knew that Uncle Fritz, back in Frankfurt, always had big, impressive automobiles, so I took this for routine. So off we went, cruising around in that monster car, made it to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where the car gave up the ghost. The bitter lesson: used car dealers setting up business adjacent to an Army base full of eager, na�ve brand-new civilians are predators. We had checked into a small hotel, trying to think what to do next. The people in the hotel were so nice, they fell in love with Joann, gave her balloons, and that evening the owner gave us two movie tickets and baby-sat Joann, so we could have at least a little relief from our worries. Next day, Duke went to the garage, the mechanic said the Caddy was definitely a basket case, but he had an old, 1934 Chevy, slated for the wrecking-yard, but operable, that he�d give us, it needed a quart of oil every hundred miles, but otherwise was running good. Duke took the deal, and we were off, going West. It was possible to get used oil by the gallons for maybe a quarter, sometimes it was free, so every hundred miles we pulled over and Duke put some oil in "Old Betsy". Motels and fast food joints were not available then, we stayed in "cabins", usually less than a dollar a night, they were not particularly nice, but gave us a chance to sleep, clean up, wash the diapers. Picked up bread and lunch-meat or cheese in grocery stores. Joann ate whatever we had, she was nine months old and a good eater. The memorable part of the trip got us to St. Louis and onto Route 66. One night, in the Ozarks, we had a cabin with a wood-stove. The proprietors invited us to have dinner with them, they made sure the stove was well stocked , wanted us to stay a couple more days, because they were going squirrel hunting and we should experience how good the stew would be, but we were in somewhat of a hurry to go and face Duke�s parents, so we declined. I remember a motel in New Mexico which had a roadside attraction: cages full of rattlesnakes, I didn�t sleep very well that night. That old Chevy kept chugging along, in retrospect I believe it was the ideal car for the trip, I didn�t know enough about Duke�s regular driving habits, this vehicle couldn�t be pushed too hard, we had to stop every hundred miles, had a chance to walk around, do diaper changes, look at the ever-changing scenery, I realized that this was a BIG country. People were friendly, we always had our evening meal in a diner, each was different, menus were more regional. Route 66 was a major highway, but it meandered, most of the time one lane each way, through little towns and villages. Scenery got more spectacular, the Desert of New Mexico and Arizona and then the winding mountain road to Flagstaff, awesome! Entered California late at night, at Needles and, money running short, decided to go on to Calimesa, where Duke�s parents lived. We hit a desert sand-storm, high wind pushing at the car, sand getting between one�s teeth, into one�s eyes, I put a clean cloth over Joann�s face to protect her a little. Duke kept apologizing, telling me California wasn�t always like this. I cherish the memory of that road-trip, it was a vacation before "real" life started, almost like eating dessert first, and it can�t ever be repeated the way it was then. Arrived at Duke�s parent�s place after midnight - and another story began.

Mike, surprise, I am confused. Water bodies heat and cool more slowly than a land mass. It is a matter of absorbing and re-radiating solar energy. In early winter, if there is no snow the ground radiates heat and becomes cold and freezes. If there is a blanket of snow, the ground does not cool quickly and frost is delayed. A water surface--is a pond large enough to be considered in this--cools more slowly, or stays relatively warmer longer than the land. That is why the Great Lakes prevent the northeast from having a climate similar to Siberia. Are you saying that when the surface water cools enough then ice forms; surface water changes state. By the time I have 5 inches of ice on my pond, then the top surface of the ice is the original ice that formed, subsequent ice forming under it? If I have 5" of ice, then water that was 25" deep should be around 20" deep? Seems logical but seems not quite right considering the two different states of the water. Snow cover is a two-sided insulator perhaps? It keeps cold in the pond and by reflecting solar energy prevents warming? If cold is kept in and relative warmth kept out, isn't this better than no snow? Why does ice freeze deeper and harder with no snow then, as with the ice truckers? The very cold air now affecting water temperature under the ice? There no longer being a temperature differential between land and water creating a more uniform subsurface temperature horizon? Not even to consider how deep ice can form in a body of water compared to the land. Some law of physics absent somewhere in our discussion, no doubt in my assumptions. While a bit esoteric and scientific, it is on topic for a change. 27 and counting--go for 26 Mike

roselovr, thanks for the offer. Your house is gorgeous! We did finally make it to ATL. My checked bag didn't make it, but we got in last night and were so excited, I didn't open up the laptop all night. Each time our flight was delayed I let out a little "yay" because delayed is better than canceled and lots of flights came up canceled. The grounds crew did a fantastic job of clearing away the snow, but the airlines were having trouble getting pilots and crews to fly all the flights. We were in the air at 6:15 and my mom was feeding us before 9. Our kids were real troopers and handled it like a big adventure. I just feel terrible, though, for all the soldiers I saw stuck in the airport. They get such very little leave and had to waste so much of it stuck in an airport. There were many not getting out of there til Monday. I'd like to think that if I wasn't traveling with kids, I'd have given up my seat for a soldier to get home. Thanks for all the warm thoughts, everyone. It really helped a lot.

Thanks for the heads-up, Joann fla, I don't watch the IR Truckers. I watched a little, once and it was too nail-biting for me. Guess I'll be switching between Sister Wives and Housewives of OC. I seems that the programs I like to watch are often shown back to back, so my remote gets a work out.