Nebraska

Taking the back roads from North Platte to Sioux City was a surprise.  Much more scenic then we expected.  Cold, rainy and very windy today.  We are at the Americinn on the Southside of they city. Nice room and nice hotel.  We can see Culver's from our window.  May have to have some later. Should be no problem getting home tomorrow.  Can't wait to see my kids, grandkids and animal babies.

Thursday CO to NE

Weather is getting cooler as we head toward home.  Rained a little tonight in North Platte.  We made good time today and are staying at a really nice LaQuinta hotel.  We drove into downtown and ate at Merricks diner.  The food was really good and very cheap! Our favorite.  We are still trying to figure which way we should take to get home.  Annette is in the hospital and we would like to get home asap to check on her.

moving on down the road

Another clear day with nice cooler temps.  Did not have to run the air today.  Pretty road from Santa Fe to Colorado Springs.  We stopped and had lunch today, so will probably eat fast food tonight.  My right ear is bothering me from the ups and downs in altitude.  We  are in a nice room at the comfort inn.  Has an indoor pool and hot tub.  Got here about 3, but didn't want to get caught up in Denver rush hour traffic. 

Driving Day to NM

We drove today from Williams AZ to just south of Santa Fe, NM.  Not a cloud in the sky and very nice weather.  We did run into quite a bit of road construction so it took us longer to get here then we planned.  With the time change we didn't stop until almost 5 pm.   Glad we have good internet here, so we can plan where we are going next.  Here a few pictures from the car:

Grand Canyon

Dad and I had a really nice day today.  We went on the historic Grand Canyon Rail to the South Rim and then took a bus tour that included our lunch and 3 different stops to take pictures.  We were in the observation car and it did get quite warm with the sun beating in on us.  On the train we got continental breakfast on the way up and cheese and crackers on the way back.  They also gave us champagne on the way back.  The Canyon is so incredible to see and hard to describe or have the pictures show how beautiful it is.  Was a long day, but well worth it.

Sunday

We left Camp Verde this morning and stopped at Montezumas Castle to see the cliff dwelling in the rocks.  Then we made our way to Sedona to see the famous "red rocks".  It is cold here, we even say snow today on the way to Williams AZ.  We are at 7,000 feet and I am feeling the altitude.  I hope I can aclimate overnight.  We are going to take the Grand Canyon train tomorrow up to the grand canyon and take a bus tour of the south rim.  We will have lunch up there and take the train back again.  We will stay here tomorrow night too.  Our hotel is tucked into the forest and is very nice.  We got a deal if we stayed 2 nights.  I am taking it easy and drinking lots of water. 

Sonora Desert Museum

Got up this morning and it was still a little cool, so really good day to hike around the desert museum.  I was last here when Peter was 7.  It has really changed and grown.  We walked around for about 3 hours and it was really a nice place.  Timed it perfect that we left just as it was starting to get hot.  Drove north for 3 hours and arrived in Camp Verde, AZ.  It is in a valley with mountains all around, so is very pretty.  We had subway for supper and enjoyed the view from the room.  Is a little cool outside now.  Our Garmin "jill" died today and I am trying to fix it.  Was sorry and worried to hear about the scare at home today.  I am glad it all worked out ok. 

Day 7

Winds died down this am so Dad and I left El Paso (stinky town) and drove through the bottom of NM to Tucson AZ.  We were surprized to get stopped by the border patrol in NM.  Every car and truck had to pass through an inspection area where they had dogs and scary guys with guns.  We were happy to get just waved through.  Was a pretty drive today with a lot of big boulders and mountain views.  Cooler today only 59.  We are staying at a beautiful Hyatt by the airport.  We got an executive suite with a huge TV and curved couch.  Really nice.  I could live here.  Austin is still prettiest town so far. 

Carlsbad Cavern

We left Pecos this morning and drove on to Carlsbad Carerns National Park.  Was only $6.  each to get into the big room of the cavern and walk the inside path.  It  was 750 feet below ground.  The path was paved and had a handrail the whole way.  It is dark on the path so I had to be careful.  I think it took about 2 hours to walk around the entire big room.  It is huge and they told us it was about 14 football fields from one end to the other.  Was well worth the trip to see.  After we drove through some hilly areas and highest point was about 5250 ft up.  Battled increadable winds all day.  Once we got to the El Paso area we had very limited visiability due to the high winds throwing dust around.  You can get a derma abrasion just standing outside.  We are in a very nice hotel in Anthony TX for the night.  Pool is closed due to the high winds.  Our room is very nice and we can walk to BK or Wendys.  Here are a few pictures of the cavern:

wednesday Leave Austin to Pecos TX

Sorry to leave Austin, but time to move on.  Was a pretty drive for most of the day.  Hilly with buttes and wind mills.  Then we got about 40 miles from Pecos and it turned very flat, and barren.  Much more of a desert view.  Most of the hotels in Pecos looked very run down and bleak.  We finally picked the Quality Inn.  Price was higher then we wanted to pay, but  it is clean has an ok bed.  Room came with micro and fridge so is nice for leftovers.  Pool is cute, but of course closed.  This whole town is closed.  No landscaping and really ugly.  Dad tried to call 3 different resturants and no one answered the phones.  Looks like a really hit hard by the recession town.  We found a chinese resturant and got food to go.  They were nice and had only been open 6 weeks.  On to Carlsbad caverns tomorrow.  Tried to take pics of the windmills, but we were too far away..

Tuesday in Austin

Dad and I just drove around today to get a feel for Austin.  It is very pretty here and we like it a lot.  Met Kat and Aja for lunch at Chuys, a tex mex resturant.  Food was really good and we have enough left over for our supper too.  Austin is hillier and greener then I thought it would be.  Aja said she has had a lot of job possibilities.  Weather today was perfect.  Sun is intense here.  Kat said both she and Aja had to start taking Vitamin A for sun allergy symptoms.  She said it cleared it right up.  They both look wonderful and happy.  We keep seeing wild flowers all over and in the median of the highway.  I don't know what they are, but are pretty. Bright orange.

Monday

After a hair raising drive today we arrived in Austin.  Heavy traffic the whole way and 35 filled with trucks.  In the cities they have crazy futuristic looking highway bridges and cross overs.  Scary looking, like if you were on the top lane you could fall off.  Our hotel is extremely nice.  We are in a suite and have a huge tv.  Austin is very pretty.  Very green with a lot of trees.  We drove around for a while and found a park downtown by the river.  The water was very clear.  More exploring tomorrow. 

day 2 sunday

Made up miles today and got to Pauls Valley, OK.  Should be easy to Austin tomorrow.  Was gray very windy and cold this am, but is really nice now.  Very pretty landscape driving down.  Saw a lot of baby cows. (future hamburger) Toll road almost all way through KS was $10.75.  I will try to post my moviing photos now.

day 1 saturday

Well we are all settled in to our nice little hotel in Cameron, MO.  Was raining and gray all day.  I felt sick in the car.  Either the motion or withdrawal from my pain pills.  Eating small amounts though anyway.  We ate the truck stop for dinner and the whole place stunk of cigarette smoke.  I ate the Senior special of pulled beef, mashed potatoes and gravy and a bowl of soup.  Came with a side of the grossest looking peas and carrotts.  Tasted like canned.  icky.  Dad got a huge double cheeseburger and couldn't even eat it all.  We have a microwave and fridge in our room, so Dad can eat leftovers later.  On to Oklahoma tomorrow.  Hope I feel better.  good night all, I love you

Well it looks like we can really leave in the morning.  Tooth stuff is much better and not needing the heavy pain pills anymore.  Watch my farms for me, I may not be able to keep up with my little netbook. 

start

well here it is.  I'm trying to learn how to do this and start using my blog before Hal and I go on our "roadtrip". I hope this turns out to be easy and I can keep connected with my family while we are gone.  Here is the car we are taking!