May 21 -- Amarillo, Texas

I Ithink I have already written about these crosses and our time in Amarillo, but I have not been able to find my post. Bobby and Debbie Mann told us about these crosses. Sadly, we did not pull off the Interstate to see them, because we were upon them before we saw where we were. I looked at them on the Internet and it had some very neat displays and music as it told about them. Hopefully when you come this way you won't miss them.

May 27 ----- Quartzsite, Arizona

Thursday, May 27

Here I sit in the camper trying to figure out more about this blogging. I have a few posts edited and had added a few photos. It is difficult to make the photos go where I want them to go, but I'm still trying and learning. The drive to here was scenic and I took lots of pictures, but do not have them on the computer yet. I just have to take things on step at a time and while I have a connection I will use it to the best advantage.

I suppose when you are in the dessert, or near one, a river is a real attraction. The one we saw had camping sites all along. It looked very inviting and very busy. Many of these areas appear to be winter homes for people who have now migrated north, but that river site will stay busy year round. The bright blue water was gleaming in the sunshine.

Check out time here is 12 noon. We will probably stay until about then. We are hoping the California rest areas are open. Throughout Arizona they were closed. I believe the only one open was the welcome center.

We drove through 10 miles of open range and expected to see some animals, but spotted none. There was a sign to watch for donkeys, but we didn't see any. We have been looking for the elk they say to watch for, but are yet to see even one. That may be good, because we don't want to see it in front of us or in the side of our vehicle.

When we checked into the campground last night, one of the things offered was a place to wash your rig for free. Although it was a lot of work for us, we decided to get a little of the dirt off. I sprayed and Harry bushed of one and one half hours. Even if it doesn't look like it now, the old dirt is off and new dirt has replaced it. It felt good to see the dirt roll off.

We will be leaving Arizona soon and hitting California. Praying that God goes with us and protects us on our way. We definitely know He is with us where ever we go.

May 26 -- Grand Canyon and Car and Planes

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tuesday, May 25 was our day at the Grand Canyon. We heard a ranger say it could be described in four words: ENORMOUS, VAST, SPECTACULAR, MAGNIFICENT, which could be translated to big and pretty. It is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

That morning we left the campground about 8:30. Williams is about 60 miles from the Grand Canyon so we had a little drive in front of us.

Our first stop was the “Planes of Fame Air Museum" and a little car museum. The car museum was free and had restored cars and trucks from the 1920’s; Several Model T Fords. They were rather impressive. The plane museum was bigger and better and it was not free. They had many old planes and parts of planes. There was one little plane with a smiley face head. It was neat. Most of them were larger air force planes.

The next stop was the IMax theater. This was a trip through the Grand Canyon with the Indians and the first Pioneers. The dimintions of the theater made you feel like you were going down the river with the Pioneers. After that we were prepared to tour the Grand Canyon.

We finally found the parking section Harry was looking for. It is a good thing we wore our broken in tennis shoes because we had lots of walking in front of us. We walked to the rim of the canyon. To say the first look was breath taking just doesn't seem adaquate. Words and photos cannot capture the sights we behold as we gaze at God's awesome creations.

As we walked around the rim we just gazed at one spectular scene after another. There were huge, magnificant mountains jutting up from the lowest valleys imaginable one after another. Some looked sandy, others looked rocky. There were small trees growing from the sides of these mountainous shapes.

Today we plan to drive about halfway to my cousin, Genetta's place. This will take us to Quartzsite, Arizona where we will spend the night. It looks like we have a scenic route so Harry will be wanting me to snap the camera all along the way.

The temperature at Quartzsite is suppose to be 94 degrees. That will be a change. Our temperatures have been in the 70's most of the time during the day and cool to cold at night. This will change as we creep back down to lower grounds.

Sunday, May 23 --

Sunday, May 23, 2010

What a day this has been. We left this morning by nine thinking it would be an easy day of travel. The Continental Divide was not very far. I had a special interest in this because when I was teaching fifth grade this was always in our curriculum, also in reading about the pioneers coming west it was referred to very often. We pulled off the road beside a little Indian store and took pictures of the sign. The elevation was 7,275 feet, which is the highest we have ever been with our feet on the ground. At this spot we began to notice high winds.

I called my cousin, Genetta, to tell her that we might be at her place by Wednesday night instead of Thursday as originally planned. We made a reservation at Williams Arizona to stay the next two nights, Sunday and Monday, while touring the Grand Canyon. Now all was set and back on the road we went. Everything seemed to be worked out.

When we got to the Arizona state line we were told that I-40 had been closed due to high winds which blow dust and sand so badly that there is no visibility. The winds have been blowing extremely hard all day. We are now in a bit of a dilemma, not knowing what we should do. The detour route is long, 150 miles, and it is mountainous, which makes Harry very uncomfortable pulling the camper.

We decided to drive to the Petrified Forest National Park. We had no idea how long this would take or what we would do afterwards. It was a 28 mile drive with lots of pull offs and over looks. That park was something with both the painted dessert and the Petrified Forest. First we came to the dessert part which was layers and layers of sand of different colors making mounds, mountains, valleys, cones and every shape imaginable. The
beauty of it all is indescribable. They said the colors are constantly changing due to the atmosphere and weather conditions. As we drove through, there would be one scene after another stacked with layers of blue, green, pink, yellow, gray, white, and brown.

Harry drove around ten miles and wasn’t sure whether to go back or keep going, due to the extremely vicious winds. When we got out of the truck at an overlook, it was difficult to keep our footing and stay where you were standing. I told him we hadn’t seen any petrified wood yet so we better keep going. We looked at the map and it was beyond where we were. He kept trucking along and soon we began to see the pieces of logs that had petrified. These were sometimes long logs that looked to be cut into blocks about three or four feet long. We don’t know whether they had been cut or had just broken up. Mixed with these logs would be more sand, rocks, and scrub brush and occasionally some wild flowers. There was one overlook where the wood had crystallized. All along there would be one overlook after another many showing deep valleys of colorful scenery.

I’m sure driving the truck and camper with the wind beating into the side was not an easy task, but he kept trucking along until we were finished with the tour. All the time we were moving, we were also wondering about the road situation, but doubtful it had opened because the winds had not let up any.

Upon exiting the park we went into another ranger station and talked to the ranger. He doubted that the winds would die down until night and he would advise us to wait it out. He suggested staying at a little RV park that was just outside the national park. There were no facilities, just a place to park—but it was free!

So here we are sitting beside a store (Indian operated) along with six other motor homes. Harry is outside right now. We would like to go out and walk around a little to see if we can get a better cell phone signal which is now poor to non existent. Thankfully I was able to call the campground and cancel the reservation for tonight. I made it for tomorrow and the following night instead.

It feels like it is going to get rather cold tonight, but we have our nice warm trava-sack (double sleeping bag) and we will be snug as bugs in a rug!! The neighbor said they may run their generator so they can run a heater. We hope it won’t be too loud. We are praying to get to Williams tomorrow safely and without the high winds. Harry wants to get an early start. He is concerned about the high winds another road closure. No computer, only our battery for the lights, no heat, no TV, so we will be early to bed and early to rise.

Monday, May 24, 2010

We are in Williams, Arizona where we will spend tonight and tomorrow night. This is the first time to stay two nights in the same state. Thankfully we had a safe journey today. We did not have those terrible high winds with blowing dust in our faces when we were outside.

We had a peaceful night last night in the little free park. Nobody run their generators. We went to bed early so I was awake for a long while around 3AM and would like to have just gotten up, but it was too cold and too dark. Finally I managed to get a little more sleep. We were on the road this morning at 6:30 and in Williams around 10:00. Check in time was 12, but we were able to come on in.

I have been crocheting on a round pineapple table spread off and on along the way. I suppose I must have put in five or more rows – takes a long time to do a row. Today I found a mistake on about the first row I had put in on the road. Sadly I had to start raveling back to my mistake. It took less than 30 minutes to take out what it had taken hours to put in. A whole week’s work is now rolled back on the crochet ball. I might get back to where I was by the time we get back home. Ha. It is a good pass time for me to be twiddling my fingers as I ride along. I can look at the scenery and do that too.

The first part of our drive today, we saw nothing but little clumps of sage grass, and a few cows along the way much on it. Looks like they would starve and one wonders where they get their water. The creek beds, which are few and far between, are dry. After passing that type environment, we reached where the road had been closed yesterday and the day before. There was nothing but dirt and sand at the roadsides so it was easy to realize what would happen with the winds like they were yesterday. After several miles of this across another bend, we see nothing but pine trees and this is what brings us to where we are now, about 60 miles from the Grand Canyon.

We plan to leave early in the morning, visit the IMAX Theater and maybe an aviation center and then spend the rest of the day at the Grand Canyon. I’m sure it will be an interesting day.

Harry and I are sitting here yawning and so sleepy ---- it is not even 9 PM yet. I guess our mind and body is telling us it is 11:44 PM, because our hearts are in WV.

This makes two days that I have written to post, but right now I have no signal to get on the Internet. I was able to use it this morning. Maybe there are too many people using it at night.

New Mexico ---- May 22

Six days on the road and they all just seem to run together. Passing through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and now New Mexico. We spent two nights in Tennessee and one night in each of the other states. Things have gone really well so far. We have driven a little over 1800 miles, usually around 300 miles per day. We are staying tonight in an Indian Reservation campground. The fellow running it was very nice and the facilities were the nicest we have seen. In the morning we plan to go to Sky City enchanted mesa, a cultural center showing ancient ruins of an Indian village. After doing this we will plan to move on toward the Grand Canyon area. On the way we will see the Painted Dessert. We will probably spend two nights in Williams, Arizona near the Grand Canyon.

It is amazing to see the different types of landscapes and vegetation in the world. God was a mighty designer. In New Mexico one minute you are looking at completely flat scrubby land and the next beautiful mountains with rocks sticking out the sides. The things we have seen as we came through the states all possess a beauty of their own. Nothing outdoes our lovely lush green grass in towering trees. We are blessed and so are they.

Oklahoma

May 20, 2010

Once again I cannot get on line to do my blog. In order to keep up I will do it and when I have Wifi, I will get my blogs posted. Harry and I are settled for the night. The weather is now beautiful with a clear sky. We are being hosted by Round-up RV Park, which is beside a catfish restaurant which seems to be running it. Needless to say the aroma of food to our noses carried our bodies inside for dinner. We enjoyed the meal very much and the campground is very nice with concrete pads for each RV.

We drove close to 350 miles today. Part of this travel time was through heavy rain, but God blessed us with traveling mercies and we had a safe enjoyable trip. We moved from Arkansas into Oklahoma. I must say Oklahoma is a much more beautiful state than Arkansas. We have mountains all around and it looks somewhat like VA and WV, which makes us feel closer to home even though we are further away from home.

May 19 - Time with relatives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

We have had three productive days of traveling. Since I have already reported on Monday, I will move on to Tuesday. We left Bean Pot campground behind on Tuesday around 9 AM arriving at the nephews place in Murfreesboro, Tennessee around 1 PM. Ron and Barb welcomed us with open arms and made us feel so welcome to share their beautiful home. We told them we had our bed in the camper, but that was not what they had in mind. We dined with them at an old fashioned quaint little town with country cooking. This morning we had a nice breakfast with them, their daughter, Kelly, and her husband, Dave. It was nice to spend some time with relatives on this trip.

We were back on the road at 10:45 AM and drove until 6:30 PM fighting some very heavy, bottleneck traffic in Memphis. Thankfully we made it through that situation and now we are at a little dinky campground behind a Day’s Inn motel in Brinkley, Arkansas. As far as we could see the campgrounds were few and far between. That is okay because we are safe and snug in the camper and ready to hit the bed for the night.

May 21

We are in Amarillo, Texas after driving around 300 miles today. We're doing fine, but somewhat tired. I am very disappointed that there is hardly any signal strength here. I can't use the computer unless I bring it outside. I have done some blogs on Word which I need to paste and post, but I need a better signal to do that. I also have some pictures to add. Hopefully I will have that at the next stop. That has been my thinking since the first stop when it worked really well, but there was not much to say.

Driving though and spending last night in Oklahoma was a pleasure. It is a beautiful state. The windmill farms were impressive. Weather started out a little cool. When we arrived here it was very windy and hot. Now it is windy and a little cool, but very pleasant. We will be back again with more to say soon I hope.

First Day on the Road

May 17, 2010

Finally my first traveling blog is about to happen. If anyone is checking I do apologize that it may be saved in word until I remember what my sign in password is or figure out how to get a new one. Hopefully I will have Internet and be able to copy and paste to update soon.

We are three days behind our planned leaving date, due to problems with the refrigerator in the camper. After trying at a couple of places to get it fixed with no success, we were told that it had completely died. We had to have a new one if we were to take the camper. Finally the new refrigerator was ready on the same Friday we had planned to leave. We picked it up, but were nowhere near ready to leave. The next two days were spent doing all the things that still needed to be done before we left and carrying everything but the kitchen sink to the camper. It was endless.

Our friend, Merilyn, came Sunday which was a day earlier than planned due to the critical illness of her sister. They are waiting for the end to come, knowing it isn’t far off. She is thankful to have our house to be staying in at this time and we are very thankful to have her there to look after things. (And to tell us what we thought we forgot is not there) Do keep Merilyn and her family in your prayers as they are going through a very trying time.

We had a successful first day of traveling and are set up in our camper at Bean Pot campground in Crossville, Tennessee. We have had several different panic moments thinking we had forgotten something very important. First of all we bought a new small TV for the camper. Upon arriving, we wanted to see the news. We set up the TV and found that we didn’t have the remote. TVs just aren’t like they used to be – they are very dependent on the remote. Finally we found what was supposed to be controls at the bottom of the screen. They were just tiny symbols on the front which you were to touch. That proved very difficult, but finally we had our cable TV going. I made a call home to see if the control was in the bedroom where the TV had been. Merilyn (house and cat sitter) did not find it so that gave us renewed hope. Harry opened the cabinet above the sofa and there it was.

Next, I couldn’t find a very important little notebook that I use to save my passwords, websites, and other instructions. I panic again and call home again. Merilyn goes upstairs and checks beside the computer and all around for the book. It isn’t there so again I realize if it is not there it is here. BINGO a bell rings in my head and I remember exactly where I put it.

Next, it was a Google map that we couldn’t find. It was not as important as the other two things, but I finally found it. Now if I can just either remember my Google (blog) password or find it in my important little book we will be all set.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Murfreesboro to our nephew’s house and park in his driveway and visit with them a while. We will be back on the road Wednesday.

I reset the password and here we go pasting our blog. This time I wrote it down in my important little book. I hope I will be able to figure out how to add pictures to this blog. I have so much to learn. Keep us in your prayers. Louise