Being a looper means so many different things to everyone who does it. Definitely “adventure” would be on most loopers list. Dave woke up one morning and wanted to do something that pushed him “out of his comfort zone”. For me, it was just another one of life’s curves that comes with being married to Dave. When he asked me “what do you think about doing the loop, I said “sure”, knowing I would never refuse any of Dave’s dreams. So it became my dream, too. A little by way of osmosis. A little because that is how it has always been. We started out in Minneapolis. I was working at Recipes Unlimited writing cookbooks and newsletters. Dave was just hired Al Johnson Construction out of Minneapolis but would be relocated to New Roads, LA. April 11, 1983. Dave asked me to marry him and he came to Minneapolis for our wedding on June 11, 1983. We had a uhaul with 30 boxes, pulled by my little white chevette. For our honeymoon, we returned the uhaul to New Orleans. We stayed in a cute little place where we had to shimmy through a narrow brick walkway with our suitcases in front and behind us because it was too narrow to carry them at our side. But this walkway opened into a beautiful courtyard with azaleas and a myriad of other flowers blooming. We always knew we would be moving from job to job but life is not exactly how we pictured it.

Those first few years of moving from Minneapolis to Louisiana to Jackson Hole Wyoming and back to Lettsworth LA were easier moves because it was just the two of us. While starting the Great American Loop was technically not a traditional “move”, it had many of the same feelings. Thinking of not seeing the kids and grandkids for 8 months brought out the strongest emotions. Dave said he thought the kids were proud of us. I hadn’t really thought of that. I did know that when we had engine problems, all Coulter, Andria and Ashley all called often and their calls kept us laughing and in that way, entertained and encouraged.

While this book is about our trip, I wanted to include lots of photos of the kids and grandkids because their calls and photos were a big part of our lives even when we were far away.

We always eat well. Sourdough bread from our little microwave convection oven, tortellini with fresh mozzarella and vine-rippened tomatoes.