Dear Folks, The other evening for some reason the song "America the Beautiful" kept going through my head. I know the words to it but this time I really paid attention to them. The waving fields of grain, the purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plains. All of a sudden I realized that I had experienced America the Beautiful back in 1951 when we drove from Youngstown, NY, all the way to Spokane, Washington. There were no thruways/freeways back then and we generally took the two-lane state and county roads. We drove through western NY to PA to OH to IN to IL to MO to KS to CO to UT to ID to WA, 3,407 miles. But what we saw and experienced along the way could never be duplicated now what with the high speed thruways. Therefore I thought it was about time that I described that experience. I used the notations I had jotted down in my trip journal and with the use of the snapshots that we took all the way, I believe I can piece together the story. I've just finished the first "chapter" suitable for email that I'll send to the list. I can't promise that the next chapter will be written by tomorrow evening but at least you'll know what the message continues to be about. I'll identify the chapters as From Sea to Shining Sea, Pt. 1, etc. In the meantime refresh your memory as to all of the verses of "America the Beautiful" at http://www.smart-central.com/USA/America.htm . They're quite stirring. luvya vee