We're Home!

We made it home safely. Thank you Jesus! And, thanks for following the blog. I started blogging after I tried unsuccessfully to keep a written diary. Even bought a nice journal from Barnes and Noble. I managed to write in it about 2 days. This works for me. We enjoyed the trip but not as much as the Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mtn. trip. The scenery was just not as awesome. We did meet lots of nice people from all over the country and that is always fun. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Happy Trails to you.

Carolyn

Louisiana Bayou Country

We spent last night just outside Baton Rouge. The most exciting thing we did was visit Bass Pro Shop. It was different. The two-level store was decorated to resemble a true Louisiana Bayou complete with moss-laden cypress trees, home to stuffed turkeys and bears; a realistic Cajun swamp shack surrounded by water filled with catfish and bass; real wood ducks floating along, and a huge snapping turtle. We ate dinner at the restaurant accessible from inside the store. The huge fish tanks inside the restaurant had some very unusual species, including a zebra stripped moray eel. This was a close as we got to the real bayous.

Just crossed over into Mississippi. Should be home by Wednesday night.

See you soon.

Galveston, Oh, Galveston

I heard you might have had some storms last night. I hope all is well. Night before last, we went to bed under a tornado watch. We stayed awake through the worst of it; we got about 1/2 " of rain and some hail, though not large enough to damage the truck or trailer. Some folks about 50 miles from us got baseball-size hail. We were very fortunate. It seems that the weather has been a big factor on this trip.

Since San Antonio was celebrating Fiesta, the Hispanic equivalent to Mardi Gras, we decided to bypass it and head south to Galveston for a little R&R. And, boy did we need the R&R after our driving experience in Houston. Thinking we would avoid downtown Houston, we took the Sam Houston toll road around in order to connect with I-45 South to Galveston. They collected $4.50 toll and we drove on. Then, about 10 miles down, they collected another $4.50. Another 5 miles and, you guessed it, another $4.50. All this without any warnings. Rip off!! And, the traffic was still terrible. Once on the island, we still had to drive 15 or more miles to our RV park. We were exhausted. Thankfully, the RV park is nice; we can see the Gulf from our front window.

Today we strolled "The Strand", in the historic section of Galveston. I found it particularly interesting having read the book, Isaac's Storm, about the devastating hurricane that hit here in 1900. I could imagine how high the water was in downtown when I looked up at the buildings. I've included a couple of pics. Having said that, not much is mentioned here about that hurricane. It's Ike that every mentions. We're staying on the end of the island that caught the worst of it. Almost every house, condominium complex, restaurant here is either new or heavily renovated. And there are hundreds, maybe thousands of residences here.

The water here is not blue and clear like that on the Gulf coast of Florida and Alabama. It's very muddy. Could be because of the recent storm that developed over the Gulf and hit Mississippi. One can drive onto the beach and park here on this end of the island. That's nice.

One more thing, the hill country of Texas that we left yesterday is on my list of places to visit again, perhaps in the fall of the year. We like the small town of Beurne (pronounced Burney). It reminded me of some of the small English towns that have a quiet river flowing through them with ducks and even swans gently gliding by. I could live here. But then, I say that about a lot of places. Just not southwest Texas!

We're going to mosey toward home tomorrow. Maybe be there by the weekend.

Later.

Texas Hill Country

Finally, after 454 miles of driving yesterday we made it out of the desert into the Texas Hill Country. Unless you have an affinity for endless vistas of nothingness punctuated by the occasional cow, avoid southwest Texas. We drove from El Paso to the town of Junction stopping for gas in places where we felt we might have to shoot our way out and back to the interstate. This morning we drove into the hill country town of Fredericksburg, a lovely town that was settled by German immigrants and has been named one of Texas' prettiest towns.

We spent two or more hours in the WWII Museum of the Pacific, one of the best military museums we have ever visited. We'll visit Admiral Nimitz' boyhood home this afternoon. We're staying in a very nice RV park just off Main Street. We may stay here a couple more days and visit Austin and San Antonio.

We heard about some tornadoes in the Texas panhandle last night but we were much farther south, thank God.

I've posted a few pics from our stroll this morning.

Later.

Saguaro National Park

Hi, everyone!

We took a 1/2 mile stroll this morning among the giant Saguaro cacti that grow exclusively in the Sonoran Desert just outside Tucson. I say giant because they can grow to 60' and weight up to 4800 lbs. They can live up to 200 years. While impressive, they are not the only cactus found there. The prickly pear and the Utah cactus, among others, also grow there. They are flowering now and are beautiful.

We're staying in El Paso, TX tonight just across the Rio Grande from Juarez, Mexico (probably the murder capital of the Western Hemisphere). But, we feel safe here among fellow travelers. We passed through Las Crusas, NM on the way. It sits at the base of a huge mountain range (see pic). The wind pushed our Airstream around a bit and promises to do so again tomorrow. I guess we'll spend a few days in Texas. I would really like to see the Texas bluebonnets that should be blooming.

Enjoy the pictures.

Weather alters plans....Heading South

Ugh! Plans have changed due to a nasty weather event that was heading into Utah and had plans to follow us east. We decided to head south toward Tucson and the Saguaro Nat'l Park. I took a few photos as we drove today. The mountains north of Flagstaff are beautiful; there is still snow on the mountains and along the roadsides. We saw aspen groves and though bare of leaves, the bark is so pretty.

We saw our first Saguaro cacti. Some are blooming and just gorgeous. I'll have some photos to show tomorrow. We're staying the night in Tucson. If you were blindfolded and plopped down here you might think you were in Orlando. The temp is in the high 80s and balmy winds cause the tall, tall palms to sway as if they were in Orlando or Miami.

Native Americans and Hispanics rule here as in most of the Southwest that we have seen. Turn on a tv and you have to flip through 2 Hispanic stations for every 1 non-Hispanic. The Tea Party movement is BIG out here. They've had numerous rallies throughout AZ and NM.

Enough for now. Until tomorrow.

America the Beautiful!

Hi, everyone!
We made it! We had our first peek into the beautiful abyss. It is everything I dreamed it would be. It's impossible to describe how beautiful it is and how small it makes one feel. A few stats: It's about 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide. It averages 1 mile deep. The Colorado River has been slicing through the rock here for millions of years. There is a rim trail that can be easily traversed by even the oldest folks, trust me.

Many people go hiking, at least a ways down into the canyon.I saw a sign that said 250 people a year are rescued from the canyon. Most suffer heat exhaustion and dehydration. We met a 50-something couple emerging from Bright Angel trail this morning. They each carried 35-40 lb. packs on their backs. They had been "down there" hiking for 6 days. I commented on how fresh they looked considering their adventure and the gentleman said, "just don't stand down wind of us."

Some of you may remember when BC student Manson Owens died while hiking here. His story, along with many others who died here, is recounted in a popular book sold in the gift shops here.

We drove about 17 miles yesterday evening to witness the sunset from Moran Point. I've posted a couple of pics, but somehow mine aren't as dramatic as those you see on postcards. We spent this morning touring the historic buildings here. Most were built around 1901-1910. The El Tovar Hotel, built of pine logs stands sentinel on the rim of the canyon. On the walls inside, mounted moose and deer stare down at you. I'm sure Teddy Roosevelt slept here.

Another coincidence.....at a previous campsite, Turquoise Trail, outside of ABQ, we talked with a couple from Vermont. They said that they, too, were heading to Grand Canyon. Guess who is two campsites down from us? They are really nice. She left out this morning on an overnight mule trip down into the canyon. He's not so adventurous.

Enough for now. Thanks for following.

Finally, Arizona!

Another day of driving; another day closer to the Grand Canyon. We're in Williams, about 60 miles from our destination. I was able to get us a campsite in the Nat'l Park for Sun. and Mon. nights. Meanwhile, we enjoyed a stroll down Route 66 in the middle of downtown Williams.

It is a small world. We stopped at a McDonalds this morning somewhere in the NM desert and as we were about to drive away, a man flagged us down. He saw that we were WBCCI (Wally Byam Caravan Club International) members from our unit number on the Airstream. He said he is a also a member but wasn't in his RV today. He was familiar with the Airstream park in North Georgia where we have visited twice. Last October when we were there, Joe helped a gentleman with a refrigerator problem in his RV. Guess who? Unbelievable!

We weren't able to work out Joe's surgery in ABQ. We're going to call his Savannah doc Monday and schedule the surgery there. Which means, that we probably won't be staying a month out here. We'll head home if they can schedule the surgery soon.

Honestly, for a tree lover like me, the drive out here from Little Rock to Flagstaff has been less than fun. Hats off to you, brother Johnny. I couldn't do this route more than about once a year. Finally, we are in an area where trees are plentiful and it's really pretty. I've included a photo of the mountain range next to Flagstaff.

Hopefully, I'll have some nice photos to send next time.

Take care.

Santa Fe

We drove the Turquoise Trail (Rt. 14) up to Santa Fe today. It was another beautiful day. We stopped to take a photo of the cacti growing everywhere along the roadside. Some are blooming already. The soil here looks so parched; it's all cracked.

Santa Fe is really nice and clean. The old section of town is really neat. Almost all the buildings here are adobe style, even the grocery stores and some car dealerships. We enjoyed the central plaza where everyone seems to gather around noon. Everyone seemed relaxed though not on siesta.

We're still waiting for a date for Joe's surgical procedure; hopefully by tomorrow we'll know something. If they can take him late next week, we'll go on the Grand Canyon and come back here for the surgery.

Well, it's supper time and we're grilling out tonight. Tomorrow we're going to take the Sandia Peak tram (the world's longest). I think we'll go about dusk so we can see Albuquerque come alive with lights.

Later.

Albuquerque

Sorry, I have no pictures today. Frankly, there hasn't been anything worth photographing. There is nothing, nothing, nothing between Amarillo and Albuquerque except rocks.... one hit our windshield. We had it repaired yesterday afternoon.

We also found out that a biopsy that Joe had on a skin lesion came back positive (there are some cancer cells there). We're trying now to arrange to have it removed here in Albuquerque, so we don't have to turn around and head home. It's just a matter of his doc talking to a local doc and scheduling a time (hopefully, sooner than later).

We'll drive up to Santa Fe and may Taos today. The weather is beautiful and 60 degrees at the base of the Sandia Mtns. We had a genuine Mexican meal yesterday. Now we can finally say we are done with Mexican!

We're staying in a park called Turquoise Trail. Sounds pretty doesn't it? NOT! There are hardly any trees, and very few shrubs. And the Sandia mountains, using my mother's description, look "as if they were pushed up over night." We're looking forward to prettier scenery late today and tomorrow as we go up higher in elevation. Maybe I'll post some pics later.

Til then.

Amarillo by morning...well, 3:30 p.m.

The wind, blowing up to 42 mph, helped us breeze into Amarillo this afternoon. It's our first time driving in such wind. It pushed us around a little but was tolerable. The Texas panhandle is what I expected...very few trees, scrubby grassland, washed out gullies, lots of grazing cattle, and the ubiquitous Stetsons. Oh, and really friendly people. They say "ya'll" here, too, just as they did in Oklahoma.

Let me tell you about the Big Texan restaurant where we had dinner this evening. Billboards along I-40 tease you with, "Free 72 oz. steak." We knew is was a gimmick, but it drew is in, anyway. Here's the deal: Eat a 72 oz. piece of beef, three butterfly shrimp, a garden salad, a baked potato, and a roll in 1 hour (you must stay seated) and the meal is free. We were told that 1 in 7 who attempt it actually complete the meal as prescribed. One fellow was 330 lbs. before he added 72 more oz.!

The restaurant itself was very Texas. Longhorn cattle horns and cowhides adorn the walls. It has a Long Branch saloon feeling. The restaurant actually will send a limo to pick you up. The limos have longhorn hood ornaments. Cool... Tacky.

A storm is gathering; we're hunkering down in the basement. Oh, we don't have a basement.

The pics include one of Oklahoma city. It's still an important rail center. Note the railroad right in the city.

Stay tuned.

Oklahoma! Where the wind comes beatin' down the plain

Hi, everyone!
It is windy here this Tues. morning. We're just leaving Lake Thunderbird State Park just southeast of Okla. City. We caught the sunrise over the lake. Awesome! Joe fixed eggs and bacon outside...temp about 63 degrees. With sweatshirts on, it was nice.

Can't say much for Oklahoma, except I-40 is in terrible shape. The rest areas are not kept up either. I guess the state is feeling the budget pinch like most other states. This is definitely "Injun" country. Every other business here makes reference to the Native Americans.

Everywhere we go, if we mention we're from near Savannah, people say they either have been there or want to go. They all think it's beautiful.

We're heading toward Amarillo this morning. Should be there by about 1:00 CT.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
Carolyn

Guyton to Little Rock

Whew! Finally, we rest. It's been two hard days of driving (over 800 mi.). We're in a beautiful campground on the Arkansas River called Maumelle Park. It's maintained by the Corps of Engineers. We had to pay a lot more for this spot ($11.00) than we did last night (Wal-mart didn't charge us!)
I sure didn't know Northern AL was so hilly. And, the highway roadsides are dotted with beautiful dogwoods and redbuds. We skirted Memphis but still managed a Memphis BBQ lunch. Delicious!
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Elvis' birthplace in Tupelo, MS. I've attached a photo or two. The museum itself was closed (Sun.) but we got to see his boyhood home and the Pentacostal church he attended. It was nice.
We're going into Oklahoma tomorrow, hopefully dodging tornadoes. I always said I would love to see a tornado; I may get my wish.
Keep us in your prayers.