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After three and a half years of living in Hawaii, our last day there began slowly but accelerated as time for departure to the airport drew nearer. The phone was turned off at 3 p.m., so for the hour before then, we surfed the Internet for motels that allowed pets to stay. Although we wanted to take Missy on the plane with us, she turned out to be too big to cram under the seat. So we wound up buying another pet carrier and sending her through in the baggage compartment. The airline tried to mess up that process by booking us on a plane that didn't allow pets underneath, but the ticket agent was able to put us on a flight leaving an hour later that would accommodate. One of our bags was 10 pounds overweight, so we had to remove items from it. The items turned out to be two eight-pound dumbbells.

By 5:45 a.m. on Saturday morning, we had landed in Los Angeles. Debbie was able to find our vehicle, which had been delivered to the airport parking lot the day before. By 6:30, we were leaving Los Angeles on our way to our first stop: Williams, Arizona, the self-styled gateway to the Grand Canyon. (Actually, our first stop was at a Wal-Mart in LA, where Debbie bought a litter box with a cover and some litter. It would be later in the evening before Whiskers decided to use it, due to the strangeness of the new litter.)

Costs $20 to take a car into the Grand Canyon National Park for a week, but it's worth it, even if you can only stay a couple of hours like we did. On the way through Arizona and into Gallup, New Mexico, we saw lots of Navajo Indian flea-market-style shops, and stopped at a couple for pictures, necklaces, and blankets.

Deciding to take a northerly route to Ohio, we drove Route 25 to Pueblo, Colorado, for our third night, and the first of many nights at a Motel 6. They not only leave the light on, but they accept pets with no question. Actually, they accept one pet per room, but I didn't know that when I told the lady that we had a dog and a cat. She frowned and didn't throw us out, though. For the rest of the trip, Whiskers was an illegal alien stowaway.

About now it got really cold. Soon it added rain to the mix. Didn't really think it would be this way, and we didn't pack for it. Animals are getting used to the traveling, though. Whiskers only takes about 60 miles or so to settle down and quit meowing. On the other hand, Missy loves traveling. This was also the beginning of arranging luggage so that one of us could sleep while the other drove.

Today was our first day of all-out rain, but we made good time through Nebraska, across Iowa, and into central Illinois.

We had a good visit with most everybody at home, but because of the rain and cold, and the fact that I had a job to start as soon as I could get reorganized, we left Ohio. Our first day's travel took us almost to Nashville and back into the welcoming double beds of Motel 6.

Crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and made it clean through to Greenville, Texas, close to 600 miles altogether today in 14 hours. This day's driving was marked by leftover rains of a pooped-out tropical depression that came aground near Texas and Louisiana.

Made it to Van Horn, Texas, a hundred miles or so from El Paso. It's been hot, but not so humid, and besides, we're in the vehicle.

At around 12:15 p.m. Arizona time—about six hours after we started out from Van Horn—we drove into Sierra Vista. Scenery has been high desert since El Paso, providing the inspiration for the current colors of the Web site. We're just in time for the Mexican monsoon season, which means lots of afternoon rains, for the most part. But after four days and almost 2,600 miles, our trip back to Arizona is over. Altogether, we put almost 6,000 miles on our new car. And it probably won't be the last.