One More River To Cross

Departed:  Marion, Illinois  9:00 a.m.  Arrived:  Nashville, Tennessee  4:30 p.m.

Hey everybody,
Today we started out with no agenda except that we wanted to go to two bodies of water, one in Cairo, Illinois(surely it's pronounced ki-ro) where the Mississippi River and the Ohio Rivers converge. The other being a place right on the Ky/Tn border called "land between the lakes"... basically a piece of land between two lakes that you could drive down.

So we found Cairo, where the two rivers meet. It was kind of odd, this very small, very ghost town like area right next to these huge rivers where there seem to be several barges and an industrial area.  As we drove down the "Great River Road", a national scenic route along the river, we came upon a scenic overlook with this huge cross up on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi.  Pretty neat.

Memorial cross on hill above river

We then decided to follow this Great River Road scenic route.  It took us through rolling hills of corn, peanuts or soybeans, couldn't decide which. Anyway, it seemed to be only us and the farmers on this road. At one point for about 5 miles we were behind this convoy of farm vehicles. They were so big and we were so big, we just poked along behind until they turned off.

our view of the farm convoy

We started seeing signs of a state park, Fort Columbus, KY, and thought we would check it out.
A neat place high on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi.  Unbeknown  to us it had a little Civil War History.
It was here that General Polk attempted to barricade the Mississippi to keep the Union barges from coming south with supplies using huge chains. I hope you can tell from the picture how big they were.  They also had an original canon that they had retrieved from the bottom of the Mississippi.

chain used on river to stop Union barges

neat tree on a bluff above Mississippi River

So next was our quest to go to the Land Between the Lakes.... so after meandering along the Great River Road we finally get to the road that leads to this land and we can't cross it because they are resurfacing the bridge and would not let large vehicles across, that being us... Oh, well... we turn around,  find a little lunch and decide to head toward Music City.

So we will call today river day, as we crossed the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers.
Happy Camping,
Carla

Take a right and go south!

Departed: 9:00  Oak Grove, Missouri         Arrived:  5:00   Marion, Illinois   346 miles

The mighty Mississip!

Hey Everybody,
Here we are in Marion, Illinois at the Marion RV Campground, where it says on their brochure, "Come and enjoy southern hospitality."  What???  They are certainly very nice, but surely they don't consider themselves southern!!   Maybe, southern Illinois.

The day started off very gray and gloomy, and actually rained quite a bit while in and near St. Louis.  Bill humored me as I wanted to go see the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Of course, it is right downtown on the river.  Manuvering the 32 foot rolling box of tin wasn't exactly easy, but Bill was a champ.

Gateway to the West!

Now that we've been through some of the western terrain, I would not have wanted to be Lewis and Clark.  They are honored at the Gateway Arch by this statue that is right in the water.

Lewis and Clark statue in the water on the Mississippi.

 

So as we were ready to leave St. Louis for Marion, Illinois I punch in the address of the Marion campground into the Garmin. (I don't think I've paid homage to the Garmin, we would not have made it without it!) The Garmin is set to take us on the easiest route, although maybe not fastest. Well, to get out of the riverfront area apparently there was only one way.... You cannot tell how steep or bumpy the road is that is pictured below, but it really tested our Ford E 450 engine as we made it up historic Morgan Street. Don't know how the horses did it!

And did I mention it was quite narrow as well!

 The rest of the drive was pretty nondescript, mostly because I was asleep and can't describe it. I'll stick with it looked a lot like north Georgia!

Happy Camping,
Carla

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

Departed:  Oakley, Kansas  9:00 a.m.      Arrived:  Oak Grove, Missouri   5:00 p.m.  396 miles

Hey Everybody,
We're not in Kansas anymore! I'm thinking that's a line from Wizard of Oz, but I mostly remember it for some army type person in Avatar..maybe... Anyway, no pictures today, couldn't open the window as it was still pretty windy til we got to Kansas City, MO.  There wasn't much to see but more corn fields.

A funny last night while eating supper at the Colonial Steak House in Oakley, KS... first of all the name, I thought right humorous. Then I asked the waitress about an item on the buffet, she responded Rocky Mountain Oysters, I responded I still don't know what that is, she responded, well, when they castrate the bull.... I said, got it, never mind, won't be trying that. They actually looked like fried green tomotoes. So I'm probably the only person that didn't know what Rocky Mountain Oysters were, but now I do. An educational birthday supper for me!

As we rode through central Kansas it looked a lot like I-75, started to see trees, valleys etc. then we went into an area called Flint Hills, lots of rolling hills and mesas with grass. We also saw part of the Tall Prairie Grass Preserve where they have brought some of the land back to what it was like before the settlers used up all the top soil and had the dust bowl. Anyway, very pretty tall grass, still blowing quite hard in the breeze.  Also learned that Eisenhower and Bob Dole are from Kansas. We rode on the first 8 miles on interstate ever created in Kansas. Of course, Bill says that makes sense because Eisenhower started the interstate system. How does he know all that stuff? Maybe because he watches the history, discovery, and travel channel, while I watch HGTV, Food Network, and Dancing with the Stars!
I also learned from my billboard reading that one Kansas farmer feeds 128 people. I believe it! I've never seen so many grain elevators, silos, etc.  This is definitely an agriculture economy around here. The other so astute observation I have made on this trip is that the trucks and the trains are what keep this country going! So next time you see a truck driver, toot your horn to say thanks!

And yet one more bit of billboard knowledge I picked up today; you can get season tickets to Kansas State football for 128.00.  I'm guessing they are a basketball school! You could hardly get one game ticket to any SEC football game for that!

Not much else exciting news today as we continue our trek home!
Happy Camping,
Carla

From the mountains to the prairies.....all in one day

Departed: Glenwood Springs, Colorado   9:00 a.m. (mtn.)          Arrived:  Oakley, Kansas  5:30 p.m. (central)   405 miles

Ski runs with green grass instead of white snow, around Vail, I think

Hey Everybody,

What a ride! Who knew it would be easier to ride through the Rocky Mountains than through the plains of Colorado and Kansas?  Bill was holding on with both hands as the wind was a constant 30-35 mph with gusts to 50.  Thank goodness we didn't know that while we were traveling. As soon as we arrived to High Plains Campground in Oakley, Kansas the extremely hospitable hostess asked Bill how he handled the wind. She told us what the wind speed had been all afternoon and that it would continue through the night. She said I'll give you a space that maybe will block some wind and not have you rocking all night.  Thus far, we are rocking!
So we went from high rocky mountains to the high plains and miles and miles of corn fields, with a little bit of oats, and wheat sprinkled in.  There were also a couple of huge fields of sunflowers, too.  I tried to take a picture of the corn fields... a mistake... when I rolled down the window I about blew us off the road! So appreciate this picture of corn, as if you have never seen any! Ha!

Corn fields, can't you tell?

I was trying to take a picture to show you how windy it was as Bill's shirt is billowing. (He hasn't gained weight.)

Well, lucky me, a steak house is right next to the campground, so we will go have my birthday supper there! Hooray!
Happy Camping,
Carla

Rocky Mountain, High, Colorado...

 Departed: 9:00 Bryce Canyon, Utah   Arrived:  Glenwood Springs, Colorado  5:00 p.m.  409 miles

Here we are backed up to the Colorado River at Glenwood Springs

Hey Everybody,
Here we are in the Rocky Mountains backed right up to the Colorado River. I'm getting looks from all the hippies as they are saying, "I can't believe she's sitting outside on the computer amidst this gorgeous setting!"  They just don't know I have to keep the blogging world happy! Ha!
We had a very scenic drive up U.S. Hwy 89 through Utah to I-70.  Lots of small ranches, hay fields and alfalfa fields (finally saw a sign identifying the crop that I didn't recognize). I also saw a lot of weather beaten planks that I wanted to stop and snatch to use for "the wedding", but being the honorable citizens we are, we didn't. The area had lovely streams meandering through, so it was nice to see cows munching on something green instead of just dirt! Speaking of snatching, all along this trip there have been rocks, rocks, rocks, and more rocks that I also wanted to take for souvenirs. I just want about 3 small boulders,well maybe large rocks, to put amongst my backyard plants. At home they apparently can cost hundreds! But once again, common sense prevails, and the fact that they are heavy!
Once we got on I-70 there were huge mesas and what looked to be mini canyons. We stopped at this overlook, Salt Water Wash, that was amazing. I don't know that you can get a sense of how huge the area was.  Right on the sidewalk there were a couple of locals selling Native American jewelry and pottery, although made in China, minor detail.

Salt Water Wash

You definitely can't tell from the picture that we were very high up.  Bill and I have decided thus far that Utah wins for the best scenery. What I can't understand, Utah's state nickname is The Beehive State. Go figure!

Oh, and this part of the Colorado River is where the Inman's, Bell's, Scott's, and Wortman's rafted a few years back. And where Cochran and I both fell out of the raft before we had even gotten seated. Shh... don't tell Cochran I told. We were both just thankful that we were not the only ones!

Off to figure out what's for supper. Since lunch was at 3:00, it might just be a bowl of soup.

And Go Dawgs, beat Jackets!

Happy Camping,
Carla

Hoodoos!

From an overlook at Bryce Canyon

Hey Everybody,
The weather is picture perfect! With it being around 50 this a.m. and probably 80 this afternoon! We had a great morning taking the shuttle to all the different overlooks at Bryce Canyon.   It is different from the Grand Canyon in that it has these huge formations sticking up that are called hoodoos. I think named that because they can take on a spooky personality, particularly at night when lit by the moon. I am not a lover of heights as you may can tell by the picture below as I'm holding on for dear life.

There were people walking down to the bottom of this vantage point. Not me! You have to come back up!

We are back at Halle's palace, where she managed to do without us for a few hours. We had a little lunch and I think I'm going to have to have a little nap as all that hiking wore me out. Particularly after not having had a good night's rest as Halle brought ants to my bed. I only saw a few, but then of course felt them all night, real or imagined, they did not let sleep. I need to get some stamina to go do a little shopping at the awesome gift shop at Ruby's Inn.
Oh, and one more thing.... I swear to you that we only heard one group of people speaking English the whole time we were at the canyon lookouts, and that was the little old lady I got to take our picture. For sure, we heard Spanish, French, German, and Asian of some kind, and there were probably others I just didn't recognize the language.
Happy Camping!
Carla

Ahh.....that sweet, cool mountain air

Hey Everybody,
Surprise, Surprise, we didn't stay in Las Vegas. Too dadburn hot, and besides it only took me 12 minutes to lose my allotted 20 dollars! Really, I timed it! So we hit the road in search of higher elevations and cool air.  The scenery on the way was breathtaking, as well.

 

The drive through the Virgin Gorge in the tip of AZ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This road felt like we were in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Mesas high above us.  At places it seemed that they had dynamited through a mesa to make the road.  So as we drove further up in elevation the scenery changed a bit to ranches, grassy areas, sheep farms, cattle, and hay farms.
We even saw.... hold on to your hat.... a rain cloud!  See pic below.

Rain cloud looming in the distance!

So as we got higher it got cooler, we are currently at  7600 feet in altitude! As we followed the signs to Bryce Canyon it seemed we got further and further off the beaten trail.  We even went under this tunnel.  Luckily, my ever ready camper hubby, flipped down his visor where he has taped the height and width of our motorhome, to see if we could fit.  We cleared it with 2 feet to spare!  On to Ruby's Inn Campground, which seems to be its own city. It has its own restaurant, motel, shop, rodeo, and much more. We pull in and are set up. The air smells great, our site is shady sitting among the Ponderosa pines, the people around us have campfires going. It might be a smores night! At last, a real campground with trees! Tomorrow we will ride the shuttle in to Bryce Canyon, which promises for many kodak moments. (I don't put many pics because most wireless setups have been very slow!)
A very happy camper!
Carla

Sundown at the Oasis

 Departed: San Diego  12:00 noon   Arrived:  Las Vegas 6:00 p.m.  328 miles

Hey Everybody,
Here we are at The Oasis RV Park in Las Vegas! Besides the title being the title of a song, it is also the name of an apartment complex Elaine Maxwell and I lived in Marietta on Powers Ferry Road. We even had a lovely mural on our wall of a couple walking into the sunset!

We got the elusive vacum creating, gas vapor removing thingmajig fixed and were on the road by noon.  A pretty uneventful trip, just HOT! And I am sweating, so forget this dry heat thing! I can't get over the mountainous terrain followed by wide valleys which seem to go on forever.  I saw several different kinds of cacti that I hadn't seen so far. We also saw near Barstow, California a lot of mining of some mineral. It looked very white. I vaguely remember in my 4th grade social studies curriculum that there was mining in that area for the stuff that was used in Borax (maybe bauxite??). Help me out, Mrs. Fullington!

This is such a nice resort, we may stay here 2 days to enjoy the casinos, I mean scenery!
Happy Camping!

Halle's palace at a typical rv spot

Carla

Stuck In The Middle With You

Hey Everybody,
Not really stuck in the middle, just stuck in San Diego! Roger (our now best friend in San Diego), the Ford mechanic, put the new part in and it still would not create a vacum to suck the gas vapors out of some pipe... so he calls the Ford hotline they said replace the ball thing in the middle of the thingmajig... so Roger orders the part and says come back tomorrow..... at least Roger is honest and explains things carefully and so as Bill and Frank Sinatra, ( I think) said, "That's Life!"

So several of you have said, "Are ya'll getting along with all of this togetherness?" Yes, suprisingly so.... the one thing that I get tickled/irritated with the driver about is, where he decides to park at say Walmart, Lowe's etc..   I think we can safely say all Walmarts and such box stores have HUGE parking lots, plenty of room for this 32 foot motorhome.  So each time we pull in the driver goes all the way to the front door of the store with people pushing buggies, dragging children, maneuvering loads of lumber and looks for the closest two places he can pull into.  Yesterday, mind you it's Sunday morning, plenty of spaces available,  at Lowe's he pulls into a place with misplaced carts on not one but both sides of the place. So I usually don't comment... but this time I say, there's only 7000 parking places and you pull into the one where you are going to hit one of those giant flatbed carts... about that time, crunch.. well, I am exaggerating, but we did bump it, and I did have to get out and move it out of the way. Bill says, but I like a challenge... Ha! So I guess if that's our biggest disagreement, we are doing swimmingly well. Speaking of swimming, off I go to the pool.
Happy Camping!
Carla

Nothing But Blue Skies Do I See

Hey Everybody,
Another day in sunny California, thus the title of today's post.  As I was floating on my back in the pool today, two things crossed my mind. One was, it really does never rain in California, (boy, my mind is really stuck in the 60's and 70's with all of these random song lyrics that keep popping up) and two I sure can float easily. Is it the no humidity or the excess fat? I'm thinking the latter...

So today's big events were returning the rental car :( and doing the laundry while swimming. The laundry facility and pool are steps apart. I haven't seen anyone in the pool the whole time I've been here. It's very nice so I can't really figure.

We had another little mechanical scare today, but this time not the engine but the slide out. Once we got back from returning the rental car and were setting back up the slide out would not work. The error code said major problem.... yikes... Bill was able to override the code and got it to slide out and slide back in, but we decided to be on the safe side we would just keep it in. Rather be stuck in than out, right? Fortunately, in our floor plan, it just means that there's less floor space in the kitchen/living area. Since we have to go to the ford place tomorrow for that nuisance of an emission thingamajig part, we certainly didn't want to have the slide out stuck out which obviously would not have allowed us to drive. That would have led to a rv house call... sounds like cha ching to me...Hmm... I wonder if owning a motorhome is a little like owning a boat or swimming pool???


Happy Camping,

Can you believe this?

Carla

We're All Together Again, We're Here, We're Here

Hey Everybody,

Del Mar beach on the Pacific

I'll bet there are not many people outside of my family that know the song referenced to in the title of this post. My mom taught Kay and I this song that we always sang when we were pulling into the city limits of whatever small town we called home that year. Some of my favorite memories are in the car singing.
Anyway, we are all together again. Halle and I drove to Torrey Pines this afternoon to pick up Bill after his 4 day golfing excursion.We took the scenic route so I could look at the Pacific some more. I can't get used to the area being a "beach community". It is so neat that there are grassy areas next to the beach. Everybody and his brother was trying to find a parking place in Del Mar beach with their surf board in tow.  I have also been amazed at the number of bicycle riders there are in this hilly country.  I've passed many a bike rider  trudging up these hills so slowly that I thought their bike would come to a complete stop. I know I would have been pushing mine. Makes my calf muscles hurt to even think about it.

That's about it for today.
Happy Camping!
Carla

Balboa Park

Spanish Art Village

Hey Everybody,
Yesterday Halle and I took off to La Jolla (prounced La Hoya) which is a beachside community.(forgot the camera) Very neat place, very crowded with surfer dudes and baby strollers. I guess it is pretty warm for here on the coast, so everyone was at the beach. I noticed that the majority of the surfers still had wet suits, the water is not quite like the warm gulf waters of which I am accustomed. We strolled around, Halle barked at a few dogs much bigger than herself, and we came back the scenic route through some valley with lots of big mansions. We crossed Bing Crosby Blvd., so I'm guessing he used to spend time in the area.

Today, I left Halle behind and headed into the city to Balboa Park. A very neat huge area with many museums, the San Diego Zoo, and once again lots of baby strollers.  Apparently there is a neat dinosaur exhibit right now at the museum of natural history, as I saw a group of 4-5 year olds on a field trip.  I must say I did have the thought, "I'm sure glad I'm not in charge." I don't think a field trip went by that I didn't come home with a headache... (very stressful for those in charge, you want to come back with as many as you took).And you speak to them through clinched teeth trying to look as calm and pleasant as possible, while wanting to "jerk their arm off and beat them over the head with it". (A phrase I learned from the girl I student taught for! Ha)
Anyway, made my way through the park, found the Spanish Art Village that I was looking for. In talking to a potter there I did find out that the magnificent Spanish style buildings at Balboa park were built for a world's fair and were just facades with no foundations that were meant to be torn down after the fair. Some folks in the San Diego community got together and decided to make them into real buildings with foundations and that the buildings could be used to house museums, etc. I'd say a smart move. So of course after talking to this potter lady for a while I had to make a few purchases. Then I headed back home to find that Halle had not moved a muscle while I was gone!
Happy Camping!
Carla

One of the museums at Balboa Park

From the Driver's Seat!

Hey Everybody,
I have a car! Hooray! We picked up our rental car for me to have while Bill plays golf for the next few days. So I won't have much to share as we'll be in San Diego til Monday.  I'll be doing a little shopping, reading, and catching up on my hgtv and food network shows. Of course, Halle is here to scratch on my leg, or paw on the door to remind me that she wants to walk, eat, or otherwise irritate because her daddy is playing golf and can't play with her.
One interesting note about the climate here.  There's a coastal weather report and an inland weather report. There's a huge difference. On the coast the temp is around 75, inland only 10/15 miles is close to 90!
I'll also be working our route back, originally I had wanted to go up to Yellowstone and then work our way back. But Bill is trying to talk me in to going only far north as Bryce Canyon, and Zion Canyon area and work our way east from there. We'll see who wins. His theory is that we could do Yellowstone on the way to Alaska whenever we do that in the next few years. Or maybe he's just about tired of all this togetherness! Nah....
Happy Camping!
Carla

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Hey Everybody,
A busy day, as we took the motorhome to the Ford place again, as an engine light had still not gone off. So after hooking up to the computer and running some tests it was determined that a part having to do with emissions did indeed need to be replaced, but it is still under warranty. So that took most of the morning, then we decided to ride up the coast to Torrey Pines where Bill will be playing golf this weekend. Beautiful place on a bluff high above the Pacific.  It was then that I decided I'd rather be on the northern side of San Diego where Torrey Pines is than in Chula Vista, which is actually about 5 minutes north of Mexico. So we set out to find a different RV park, which we did find in Escondida, a suburb. Then back to Chula Vista where we are spending tonight, since we had already paid.  We had a lovely supper sitting on the dock of the bay over looking the marina. Great meal of grilled tilapia with fruit salsa, the best steamed vegetables ever, and dessert, Aloha Pie, which seemed a lot like Bill's favorite at GACC, of macademia nut ice cream with cookie crust.  All this while being serenaded by a charming Mexican one man band, who sang all of our favorites from the late 60's, early 70's... These Eyes, Does Anybody Really Know what time it is, Chicago... and many others. Music really is the international language!
Happy Camping!
Carla

From Sea to Shining Sea

Departed: 10:00 a.m. Hemet, California
Arrival:  11:30 noon  Chula Vista, California  87 miles

Hey Everybody,
Here we are! The Pacific Ocean in our sight... actually I think it's a bay, but who's counting.  We are all settled in to our site and are watching the final day of the PGA championship. I cannot believe that we really did this!
This park is not quite as luxurious as the one we were in for the past few days, but the scenery is wonderful. Nice to actually have a tree outside our window. The temperature is a very comfortable 76 degrees, with a breeze. I see now why the pool is heated!
We are now having to use our Verizon Mobile wireless, so I probably won't be posting as many pictures as it uses so much of our time, megabytes, broadband width, or something like that.
Toodles for now.
Happy Camping!
Carla

Relaxation

Hey Everybody,
Well, we are still in Hemet, California and will be here til Sunday. This is a wonderful place to relax. Today's activities were walk, sunbathe, swim, laundry, chip and putt, and watch golf.  The life of a retiree!
Have a great weekend!
Happy Camping,
Carla

Third Rock from the Sun

Departed:  7:00 a.m.  Lake Haveasue, Arizona  Arrived:  2:00  Hemet, California  Miles:  278

Hey Everybody,
So first let me answer your question, "Where in the heck is Hemet?"  It is in southern California about 100 miles from San Diego, I think.  We are here because of an awesome RV Park Resort, Royal Palm.  And it is awesome, 3 pools, paved, palm trees, bushes, and even green grass. Oh, and some shade!
Bill was the inspiration for the title today when he said on the way here, "I feel like we are on another planet."  He said that because of all the brown mountains and rocky hills that we saw today. I got amused as we drove through the desert, we would go over a little culvert and it would be named... like Aztec Ditch or Wassau' Wash.. I guess every now and then they have a little water in them.  There was also a stretch that had a sign that said "Flash Floods for the next 10 miles." Hard to imagine that they could ever get that much rain.  Another aha moment we had yesterday, as we were trying to figure out exactly what time it was, the reason that Arizona doesn't participate in daylight savings time is that they don't want any extra daylight/sunshine!

A funny this morning as we splurged and ate out breakfast at a local diner (picture Plaza with the local table of men all 70+). They were all discussing/bragging on their Facebook accounts, how many friends they had found and that one of them had 24 messages this morning with friend requests! What a hoot!

That's it for today. I'm trying to keep it brief as we actually have to pay for wireless, here. But I'm not complaining, it is so nice!
Happy Camping,
Carla

It's Dry Heat.... Your point is....

Departed: 8:00 Gallup, New Mexico     Arrived:  4:00  Lake Haveasue, Arizona   381 miles

Hey Everybody,

So we left the wonderful hills of New Mexico where the temperature this morning was a delightful 55 degrees to the desert of Arizona where right now the temperature is 109, but it only feels like 101. That's that dry desert heat for you! You really don't feel hot... NOT!  We had the thought that being near a lake in the desert, maybe there would be a few trees... another NOT! It's hard to even find a place for Halle to do her business!

The drive was really pretty, with mountains on the horizon, and  for a spell around Flagstaff we actually saw pine trees!


Two good things about this place, their Walmart is awesome, very clean, helpful people, short lines, and a huge deli section. Secondly, the cable, we have HGTV! I'll probably stay awake all night watching it. Since on this trip that's about what I do anyway, stay awake half the night, so at least I'll have something good to watch.

And a little off the subject, we were so disappointed that Karen Handel didn't quite have enough votes for the Republican nomination. They certainly worked hard.We are very proud of them.

That's all I've got for today.

Happy Camping!
Carla

Happy Trails!

oldest house in U.S. (don't know how this pic ended up here!)

Departed:  1:30 p.m.  Santa Fe, New Mexico   Arrived:  4:30 p.m. Gallup, New Mexico

Hey everybody,


We had our first automotive scare this morning in Santa Fe. We drove to the Santa Fe plaza which is the historical section of Santa Fe to do the tourist thing. As we were getting out of the motorhome, Bill noticed an engine light was on. So he gets out the trusty manual and reads that it could be one of several minor things, emission control, bad gas, gas lid not on tight enough etc.  So we enter ford place into Mr. Garmin and he directs us there about 6 miles away. Bill talks to the service man and he assures him that it does not need any attention and will go off after the car has at least 3 cold starts.  Whew... we take a big sigh of relief and reverse our path and back to play tourist.  Oh, and a cool thing that Santa Fe did, is that all of the car dealers are in spot called Auto Park.

So back to Santa Fe. We walked around the historical district (Halle, too, much to my chagrin). A lot of cute shops, but of course with dog and hubby in tow we did not venture in. The main attraction for me was the Santa Fe trail, which goes right through the center of town as a cobblestone street and then a highway. Then of course the oldest house in the u.s.a. and the oldest mission. See pics below.

Santa Fe Trail...duh

San Miguel Mission (oldest in US) being worked on.

So after a brief overview of Santa Fe and a picnic lunch in the parking lot we head further west to Gallup, New Mexico.  The scenery was more of the same, mesas, brush, etc... for a while it did seem a little more rocky and arid.  Crossed the continental divide, then elevation descended a bit. So here we are in USA RV Park, nice park, very little shade. Currently 87, which probably sounds good to most of you. This morning the temperature was 59 at Santa Fe!
That's about it for today, we already have the secretary of state website up so we can follow the election. Go Karen!
Happy Camping!
Carla

Santa Fe Part 2

Several things I meant to mention earlier...
  First of all, last night we had a discussion about whether to put up the awning or not.  Bill said, "Blue skies as far as you can see, why not?"  So we are sitting under our awning enjoying a diet coke and out of the blue hear a loud boom of .... you guessed it.. thunder... get up and go look on the other side of the motorhome and see a huge gray thunderstorm rapidly heading our way!  We dash to take down the awning as a gust of wind can very quickly dismantle it! Of course we still do not have the process down pat, so after a few well chosen words we got it down before the heavens burst open!  Lesson learned:  look at the sky on both sides of your unit before making any rash decisions!
Secondly, let me address clothes and rving.... I don't think I'll need the 30 shirts I brought and I don't think Bill will need the 25 pair of shorts/pants that he brought. Since we look at each other and say, "I don't smell do I? I think I'll wear this again."  Mind you, we are bathing!

cactus at the rv park

And on one of Halle's walks I did find a couple of different kinds of cacti.

Where the deer and the antelope play

 Departed:  8:30 a.m. Tucamacari, New Mexico    Arrived: 12:00 Santa Fe, New Mexico

Hey everybody,
 You may think today's post title might be more appropriate for our trip home across the great plains, but today the sights on I-40 caused me to think of that song.  More mesas, cedar trees, small canyons, and lots of some kind of bush, which I'm going to call a creosote bush, because that's what I remember from the 4th grade social studies book that I taught out of forever! But the most exciting sighting, and this is for you Mrs. Chavaux, Mrs. Knop, and Mrs. Lanier (the only cowgirls I know).... real cowboys wearing chaps on real horses with lassos rounding up real herds of cows!  Yippe-ki-yi-yea! Giddyap!
And shortly after that I saw an antelope just minding his own business, grazing away.

It was a short drive to Santa Fe. After turning down the first two more convenient rv parks (some of us are picky) we opted for one a little out of town up on a hill that overlooks the city. It's supposed to be really pretty at night. We're just relaxing a little this afternoon, reading, napping, blogging, etc.  We are now two hours different from home time so maybe if I take a nap, stay up late, then maybe I can sleep past 3 a.m. which is what time I woke up this morning. Looking forward to taking in the Old Town Santa Fe tomorrow. A little trivia for you: Santa Fe was a city in 1607, so it is obviously the oldest state capital, although it was not a capital at that time, since of course there was no New Mexico. That's their story and they are sticking with it!
Oh, and most importantly, we are at 7000 feet above sea level where it is a delightful 79 degrees! I feel the envy coming through the screen!:)

Happy Camping!

View from the RV Park of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Carla

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Hey Everybody,


Departed:  8:00 central time Oklahoma City      Arrived:  3:00 mtn. time  Tumicari, New Mexico
Well, today was a pretty uneventful day. However, lots of new scenery, as we just breezed through Texas. We really had planned to stay in Amarillo but made very good time so just kept trucking.

We got off I-40 awhile and drove on historic route 66.  Every small town along the way claims a Historical Route 66 museum. Needless to say, we did not take in any of them.  And the driver would not stop at a single casino so that I could pay for the trip in one fell swoop! Of course, I didn't even bother to ask to stop at one of the Indian Trading Posts! Just wait til Bill is playing golf, I'll get my shopping in one way or another!
So on we went.  The landscape slowly changed to not quite as green, but still greener than I thought it would be.  The elevation rose steadily the whole trip. We have discovered the button on Mr. Garmin that will tell you the elevation so Bill kept saying, we're still going up.. check it... we did go from about 1000 feet above sea level to 4000. Anyway, I'm getting to be the pro on the garmin, maybe not quite as good as William but I'm pretty good.
In Texas we started seeing a good many wind turbines up on top of hills. They are huge! Of course, also in Texas we saw lots of cattle. One particular spot I promise there had to be thousands!

We also started to see small mesas or so I thought. Then as we got closer to New Mexico there were many huge mesas. There is one in particular near our RV park. Halle and I may venture toward it after supper for our walk. Of course things are not as close as they seem out here under the big sky.  We got to the New Mexico state line and they had the neatest entrance over I-40... gateway to the enchanted state or something like that.
That's about it for today. Sorry, not very entertaining today. We even had to resort to guessing artists/songs on the IPod!
Happy Camping!
Carla

Okie from Muskogee

Day 3
Departed: Russellville, Arkansas  8:30 a.m.         Arrived:  Oklahoma City, OK  4:00 p.m.  286 miles

Hello friends,
I didn't think I'd have anything worthy to share today, however, we did have a little bit of an adventure. First of all we rode through a lot of foothills, I guess maybe of the Ozarks. It reminded me of one of my favorite children's novels...Summer of the Monkeys, which took place in the Ozarks.

As we were approaching the Oklahoma border I told Bill we really should stop at the welcome center and see where we should go for a Native American history lesson.  So we ask the very helpful lady if we were going to make one Native American stop where should it be. She says the  Five Civilized Tribe Museum in Muskogee. She shows us on the map, we ask how far off I-40, she says 15 miles, so we take off for Muskogee.  As we think we are getting close, we see a sign that says Muskogee 40 miles.... so we look at one another and say what the heck, we've committed... Apparently neither of us can hear as she must have said "50" not "15" miles! So we sit back and enjoy the very green, hilly scenery. Now we were not expecting trees, green hillsides, and water everywhere in Oklahoma. It is very similar to north Georgia.  There were many ranches with horses and cattle. I did even spot a longhorn steer of some kind. The picture below is very typical of the area.
So we get to Muskogee and are trusting Mr. Garmin to lead us to the museum. We follow directions, take a right through some housing projects, take another right up a steep hill with 2 or 3 s curves with Bill saying, "I don't know about this."  At the top of the hill is a Veterans' hospital with a little sign that says Five Tribes Museum to the back of the hospital.  We arrive in the parking lot of a neat very old building with only one car in the parking lot.  We are both thinking, THIS is the one place the welcome lady sent us, but we are committed, so we pay our 3 dollars (he asked us if we qualified for senior citizen discount, had to be 62!) I am humiliated... not really! As it turns out it was a very authentic, but small museum. It was very neat building built in 1875 (pic below) It was about how the five tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole) all were relocated there and how they combined to become part of the U.S. and wanted to be their own state but are not, etc. So that was our history lesson for the day, a very sad part of American History.  We then proceeded to Oklahoma City through some more pretty country. 

Did see this sign:  "Beware hitchhikers may be escaped inmates." Thought that was kind of funny.  Saw a couple of working oil wells, just in the middle of a pasture. Also thought it was interesting that their water towers are skinny tall cylinders. (don't know why this picture won't go in the right place, but it is the Five Tribe Museum.)

Arrived at Twin Fountain RV Park, thought we'd run to the grocery store before we set up... 2 hours later, after following Mr. Garmin on a goose chase for Albertsons that are now closed, we settle on Walmart.  Bill says there are 3989 Walmarts across the country, I'm sure we'll find at least half of them! 
Happy Camping!

Carla

Ready or Not!

Hey friends,
Welcome to my travel journal through the blogging world as we head out on our first cross country rv tour.  I decided to do this today on our second day of our trip as I sat and tried to think of clever or not so clever things to post on Facebook.  I realized I had so much to say that I needed an alternative way to share besides e-mail and FB. Ha! So taking a nod from niece, Katie, I thought I'd try this out.

So first a little backtracking....

Day 1:

Departure: Tville  9:30 a.m.   Arrival:  Tupelo, Mississippi  5:00 p.m.  426 miles

First of all, we were a little late leaving as Bill had to check the air in the tires one more time! He has a gadget that is attached to each wheel and tells us in the cab what the air pressure in the tires is at all times. Needless to say he's a little paranoid about having a blow out... but I say that's a good thing to be a little paranoid about!  So off we went with GPS, IPOD, Tire thingamig, and assorted other essentials for travel.

Halle sits with me in the front for most of the time til she gets bored and wanders to the back. However, today it is so Hot that the temp in the back is 90 degrees, so she and I are resigned to staying up front. 
It was a pretty uneventful trip, we went much farther than we thought we would. Ended up in a nice little campground, Barnes Crossing in Tupelo, Mississippi. Right behind a mall and every restaurant chain you can think of.  But we resisted Red Lobster and had homemade soup as we had  had a late lunch. As you travel with the Inmans, you will come to see that we always have a late lunch. At least I can sneak in the back for a 100 calorie pack of goodies. 

Day 2
Departure: Tupelo, Miss.  8:00  a.m.    Arrival:  Russellville, Arkansas  4:00 p.m.   330 miles

Yes, we left early today, but when you go to bed at 9:00, it's time to get up at 6! So we were off early with our first stop being Oxford, Miss, as I wanted to drive through the Ole Miss campus. Loved it!
Campus is gorgeous and the downtown square around the courthouse is very quaint with a french style to it.  Reminded me of parts of New Orleans with the balconies and intricate iron work etc. I  must say it felt a little like a smaller Athens.

Next, let me just say that  Mississippi is called the Cotton State for a reason!  Cotton fields as far as the eye can see.  Of course as we left Mississippi and entered Arkansas we crossed the Mississippi River. I made Bill stop at the casinos on the river because I thought surely they would have a balcony or beautiful views from the casinos to the river so I could take a picture.  Wrong! That would take up valuable wall space for the slot machines.  Needless, to say I was probably the only person today that went in the casino one door and out the other door without dropping even one quarter in a slot.  So my Mississippi River pictures are from a moving vehicle with the cab overhang, bridge supports, and side view mirrors in the way!

Had lunch in a rest stop out of our refrigerator... that is definitely the best part about rving... food accessible at all times!

Rest of the day pretty uneventful with the exception of a horrendous rain storm as we went through Little Rock as Bill held on tight with both hands as semis breezed by us!


Happy Camping!
Carla