LouVay reports on winter tour and classmate visits!

L-R - Marilyn (Vandestreek) Burton, LouVay (Ruemler) White, and Evonne Ames (Marilyn's daughter). 

Rhea (Delabarre) Mills and LouVay (Ruemler) White

LouVay and husband, Jim, took a winter trip and visited with classmates in warmer places.

She reports:  "January, 2016 was the fifth anniversary of receiving the diagnosis of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.  It was also the fourth anniversary of receiving my sister’s stem cells!  It was also the month we took a fun road trip!

"We set off on January 9th with few plans, except to find some warmer weather, and no real time schedule, except to be home at least by the end of January. We found warmer weather almost immediately since the morning we left it was well below zero!  We made it to Tempe, Arizona,  in time for the Desert Lunch Diane had arranged and also visited friends from Valley City who winter in the area. It seemed that at least one-fourth of the retired population of VC must “snow-bird” within a 30-mile radius of Mesa!

"We enjoyed the Grand Canyon and Superstition mountains and then visited friends in Tucson. Off to San Diego, taking in the traditional tourist sights including Balboa Park and its many museums, the zoo, trolley ride around the city, etc. Our hotel was just across from the Park so we didn’t move the car for two days – a nice break and a chance to do some walking. My favorite at the zoo: the busy, noisy, beautifully-colored flamingos! Then to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas.   We were downtown the night all the fuss was happening with the shooting outside the Bellaggio Hotel. Lots of police cruisers and activity.

"It was a nice change of pace to visit Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon after all the traffic of the cities, and I suspect much more peaceful now than with summertime visitors. We didn’t escape snow and icy roads entirely – at least three inches of snow on the ground when we got up in Beaver, Utah, but it didn’t deter us from making our lunch date in Ogden with Marilyn and her family. On the way to Salt Lake City, we encountered 10 cars in the ditch but, of course, with a seasoned ND driver at the wheel, we were only concerned with the cars around us messing up! After our lunch with Marilyn, Evonne, and Jason, we turned our sights east and home. A few more icy roads in Wyoming and a few more nights at motels took us to lunch with Rhea and Earl. Then we headed north for the final trek, arriving the afternoon of January 27th with an additional 5,607 miles on the odometer. We both agreed our favorite part of the trip was visiting friends, some of whom we hadn’t seen for quite a while, and Zion/Bryce. Since this trip went so well, who knows – January of 2017 may just see us heading south and east!" - Submitted by LouVay (Ruemler) White

Thanks, LouVay, for your excellent photos and highly interesting report! -  LG