North Carolina to California & Everything In Between in 20 Days

Its day 1 of our trip and we left Oxford, NC at approximately 1PM. Original plan was to take I-40 and hang out in Nashville, TN tonight but bad weather has caused us to detour a bit south. We took I-85 to Atlanta where we picked up I-20 towards Birmingham. We will get on 78 to Memphis. Goal is to make it as close to Little Rock as possible. We will camp out in the car and get up in the AM and head on to Oklahoma City. Not sure where Day 2 will take us. So far we've only stopped in Gaffney, SC for Gas ($1.489/g) and we just left Douglasville, GA where we ate dinner and filled up again. Total $ spent thus far - $53.63. Will post a picture of our bed and of where we end up staying tomorrow. I plan to update this each night. Enjoy!

Day 2: Well last night we slept at the the Mississippi Visitor Center on 78. Jason decided from his first night in his first night sleeping in the car that he wants to be cremated. He woke up in the middle of the night and freaked out thinking he was suffocating. Funny now - - all though at the moment he thought it was a near death experience. He even thought I had quit breathing. We drove a lot today driving from Mississipi border up to Memphis and then over towards Oklahoma City. We decided to find somewhere to sleep earlier tonight so we could be sure to have a hot shower. We are staying at Lake Thunderbird State Park in Norman, OK and it is in the middle of nowhere. This park has over 400 campsites and we are 1 of 2 campers. We did go to a local diner tonight and then picked up a deck of cards to play Rummy at the campsite. Plan is to get up in the am and visit Stockyard City (largest feeder and stocker market in the world). We also plan to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and the Bricktown Canal. After we spend the day in Ok City, we will start driving west, Amarillo, Texas maybe . . .

Day 3: Well yesterday the high was 78 and was beautiful. We played cards until the wind started picking up and decided we'd call it a night. We crawled into our luxury hotel ;-). Tonight Jason decided that he would open the sunroof, crack my window and roll his window halfway down (wanted to be sure we had plenty of air). Well we woke up very early in the morning to 24 degree temp and 30+ mph winds. With windchill it felt approximately 8 degrees and today proved to be a bitterly cold day. We took warm showers at the bathhouse and packed up the car to head into Ok City. Ranger did not charge us for camping either so we have yet to spend a dime on our nightly accommodations. We first visited Stockyard City. Yard was a little busy unloading cattle for tomorrow's auction. We then went to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. This was a very large and nice museum. We were in the museum for 4+ hours. After we left the museum we decided to go downtown to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Bricktown. The National Memorial was very touching. Trying to upload picures but I got emotional when a woman carrying flowers and birthday balloons came in and the ranger helped her fasten it to the chair placed in the person's honor. Also, the stuffed animals on the chairs of the children killed in the bombing. We left OK City this afternoon headed toward Amarillo. We did visit Red Rock Canyon State Park which is located of I-40 in western Oklahoma. Weather in Arizona & NM is questionable. Lots of this area is under Winter Weather Warnings. It is 8pm and we have driven a total of 1,620 miles. We are looking for the next rest area to stop and eat supper (lemon pepper tuna and crackers and clementine) and sleep tonight, probably will be in New Mexico. We plan to explore NM tomorrow . . .

Day 4: Last night we stayed at the visitor center on I-40 just in New Mexico. We waited for the visitor center to open at 7am and I sure am glad I did since the attendant was sooo extremely helpful. We plotted out our journey for the day and it would start in Las Vegas, NM. We went to Montezuma just outside of Las Vegas to visit the Montezuma Hot Springs. Taken directly from the internet these springs are, "A collection of hot springs bubbling out of the side of a hill, feeding a variety of rock and cement tubs. Originally used by the historic Montezuma Castle Resort, the springs are now accessible to the public. A collection of three groupings of hot springs has been diverted into rather rustic cement and rock pools and tubs along the side of the road in the small community of Montezuma." The lady at the tourist center told us to be dressed to get in since there was no where to change and ohh was she right. When we got there, we met a local lady who visits the springs daily. The largest of the 3 springs is approximately 110 degrees. We started off just with our feet in but I finally did talk Jason into changing on the side of the road and jumping in. It was great! We had just finished getting dressed as a group of locals was pulling up again. After we left Las Vegas, we headed toward Santa Fe, NM. Ladies - - This is the place to go to do some GREAT shopping. I spent at least a couple hundred thousand window shopping today. We also visited all of the local sights such as the San Miguel Mission, Loretto Chapel and The St. Francis Cathedral although it was under renovation. Since we are planning to attend the King's Feast (will update tomorrow since I am not sure exactly what it's called) at Taos Pueblo. All of the local pueblos are having a similar celebration for the changing of leadership. If only I had looked at the weather though, I might would have not ventured up here. They have 19" of fresh snow. Main roads have been fairly clear. We had to stop to use the internet to find us a campground since by following the first signs we ended up at a campground that was very dark and completely snowed in. We found Taos Monte Bello RV Resort. I can't wait to see it in the daylight. Well . . .I am going to call it tomorrow. Again we are exploring NM tomorrow and plan to make it into Arizona by tomorrow night. Let's hope they don't get any more snow here so we can get out of here tomorrow.

Day 5: Last night was the coldest thus far. It got down to 1 degree and we did have to start the car a couple of times to keep warm. A big difference between 18 and 1 degree. Jason has decided he wants to permanently sleep in the car since this is the only time I am willing to share my blanket as long as he can leave a window cracked. However, I did finally convince him to roll the window all the way up last night since it was sooo cold and I didn’t think it would be good for him to breathe in the cold air all night. This morning we got up early as the sun was rising and ohh what a beautiful view. We were surrounded by snow-covered mountains. We got ready and visited with the owner before setting off for the Rio Grande Gorge. We were told this is where the Grand Canyon Starts. The owner also told us that Michael’s was a great place to grab some breakfast and so once we left the Gorge we headed into town for some breakfast. Breakfast was wonderful and I fell in love with their Green Chile. We drove to Ranchos De Taos to see the San Francisco De Asis Church which is supposedly one of the most photographed in the US. We then went to Walmart (yes Walmarts are everywhere) to get some laundry soap and went to Spin & Sparkle to wash a couple loads of clothes before visiting the Taos Pueblo to watch their King’s Day Feast. This is a celebration where they celebrate new leadership. This place is absolutely amazing. No photography was allowed but this was definitely the place to take pictures. Taos Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. There is neither electricity nor running water. Their sole source of water is the Red Willow Creek which runs through the center of the community and is named after the Red Willows that grow along the banks. The Taos men also performed a Buffalo Deer Dance through the paths of the community. The men aged from approximately 3 years old up to elderly and some were dressed with actual Buffalo heads and some with deer costumes. I’ve always found such ceremonies very moving and visiting the Taos Pueblo was well worth the extra day spent in New Mexico. I’ve fallen in love with New Mexico these past two days. We left Taos right after the dance was over and headed for Arizona. On our way we stopped on Route 66 for dinner and at Earl’s. The food was great and the red chile was really good as well although we had the green chile on our Navaho Fry Taco. (Mandy – Your Indian taco is much better!!). The only awkward thing was that local’s kept coming to our table trying to sell us different sorts of items. Well . . . we are currently camped out at the Arizona Welcome Center and plan to visit the Petrified Forest tomorrow before hitting the Grand Canyon. I am hoping we are able to hike some of the trails but not sure since there has been soo much snow everywhere. Taos man we met at the chapel was telling us this was the most snow they have had in over 10 years.

Day 6: Well we didn't find a place to stay until late last night so I did not update our trip until this morning.. The map said there was a rest area near Kingman, AZ but it lied. I feel like I am in training for The Amazing Race which is a show I would love to do. We stayed at the Flying J. It is interesting the people you meet when you are really interacting with the locals. Also, in case you’ve ever wandered how much those showers at the Truck Stop cost - - they cost $8.50 And they will let you share the shower. We passed but I did ask. LOL!! We are heading for Vegas today and will get all dolled up before hitting the town tonight. Hey Girls!! Guess What? I am sitting at the very same Laundromat that we washed our clothes at after our rafting trip in the Grand Canyon - - - - awwww, the memories. We are also going to go to the very same Walmart to pick up some carrots before heading into Oatman (will fill you in on this in Day 7). Well yesterday our first stop was to the Petrified National Forest. It is a 28 mile drive with scenes of the Painted Desert and other very unusual landscapes. We then headed up to the Grand Canyon. Of course as most of you know, The Grand Canyon is one of my favorite places and it is one of those places you just have to see because no picture can do it justice. Actually they say it is one of the hardest landscapes to capture through art. Since the Canyon was expecting another snow storm, we decided not to stay there since the roads were not great to begin with but we did pack in some hiking along the rim. The hiking was much harder in the snow. We parked our car at Hopi point which would be our ending spot for the sunset and hiked to Powell Point, Maricopa Point, Trail Overlook and back to Hopi and then from Hopi to Mohave Point and back - - roughly 6 miles. Funny thing is it doesn’t even feel like your hiking 6 miles (even in the snow) because the landscape is so beautiful. We watched the sunset at Hopi Point (last time we watched at Yaki Point and my opinion was it was better at Yaki) and then departed for Kingman.

Day 7: Well after we finished washing clothes we headed to Oatman, AZ. This was a very unique and scenic drive along historic 66 to a ghost town. The town is exactly how you’d imagine an old west town during the gold digging days. The town is famous for the wild burros that roam the area. We even had to wait for some to move out of the road to get through the town. We decided to eat lunch here at The Gunslinger Corral. The Corral was filled with bikers and a birthday part for a group of Red Hatters (for those of you that don’t know – usually a group of senior ladies that dress in red and purple and always seem to be the life of the party). The birthday girl was the life of the entire place. When asked if she was “39 and never been kissed” she replied that “NO! She was 73 and never been missed!” The whole place rolled and even all joined in to sing her Happy Birthday together. What a great time this place was! The walls were covered in $1 bills with all sorts of writing on them (see pics). Before leaving Oatman, we watched a gunfight and fed carrots to the burros. I thought that I would once again get to The Hoover Dam to late for the tour and was pressing Jason to speed but had forgotten that time moves back another hour at the dam. We did the Power Plant Tour and of course Hoover Dam is another one of those places that is hard to capture through pictures. We arrived in Las Vegas at approximately 6 PM and took showers and got ready to hit the strip. We are staying on Fremont Street at The Vegas Club Hotel & Casino. Room was only $37 and is a nice room. Light Show on Fremont Street is very cool as well. We drove down to the strip and parked at New York, New York and walked down to Treasure Island and back. There is plenty to see and do in Vegas and one night is definitely not long enough. We are planning to head to Death Valley National Park tomorrow.

Day 8: First, my apologies for not posting this last night. I typed it but had absolutely no reception in Death Valley National Park. We are currently camped out at Texas Spring campground in Death Valley National Park which is at sea level. We are planning to get up early in the morning to go to Badwater Basin for the sunrise. We got off to a late start since we had such a late night last night in Las Vegas. When we were putting our bags in the car we noticed someone had wrote “Sex!” on our back window so we had to stop and clean it off so no one would be knocking on our car at the next truck stop. We left the hotel right at check out which is 11a.m. and walked over to Main Street Station. Jason played $5 in the $.01 slot machines and he left with $20. We ate lunch at the Main Street Station Buffet and then headed “over the hump to Pahrump”. We took 190 through Pahrump and into Death Valley National Park. We were pulled on our way to the park by the police though (see pic). They pulled us first because when we went by them they saw Jason did not have his seatbelt on. He always wears his seatbelt but we had just gotten out of the car from taking a picture. Soooo Jason got his first ticket. The cops were very nice though and the cop told Jason if it weren’t that he was training a new guy he would have let him off the hook. The cop actually talked to us for about 20 minutes about the area, good places to eat, sleep & drink. LOL!! We rode up to Dante’s View and walked some of the trails around Zabriskie Point. Since we got here so late we decided to camp here for the night and continue with Death Valley tomorrow. No idea at this point where we will end up tomorrow night. I am hoping for Sequoia National Park. As of tonight we have traveled 3,209 miles.

Day 9: At this moment, we are driving through Oakland, CA on the way to our home for the night 4 miles south of Fort Bragg, CA. We are staying at a campground on Highway 1 right on the Pacific Ocean. Weather has been beautiful today and low tonight is expected to be approx. 37 degrees. We got up this morning and went to Badwater Basin for the sunrise. After leaving there we went to the Natural Bridge and hiked the trail through the canyon to the bridge. It was all uphill through the canyon so quite a morning hike. We then took Artist’s Drive and stopped at Artist’s Palette. We then took 190 West out of the park and drove through Devil’s Cornfield and by the sand dunes, etc. Death Valley now ranks as one of my favorite places – right up there with the Grand Canyon. I also must add that it made me think of David S. since it seems like it would be a cycler’s paradise. Some interesting facts about Death Valley: 1) On Average, Death Valley is the hottest place in the world. July is usually the hottest month with an average temp of 116 degrees. 2) The 2nd highest temp in the world was recorded in Death Valley in 1913, 134 degrees. Libya beat it with 136 degrees in 1922. 3) It is the largest national park in the contiguous U.S. 4) Badwater Basin at 282 below sea level is the lowest point on the Western Hemisphere.
We then headed over to I-5 North which gave us a great look at California Agriculture. It’s a North-South interstate that runs through the center of the state. Both sides of the road were primarily farm after farm. Not sure what the plans are for tomorrow. We don’t plan on driving much since we drove so much today. Probably will stop just north of San Francisco and camp another night before visiting San Francisco. We did decide to skip Sequoia National Park and Yosemite since we weren’t up for snow and mountains. We kept seeing warnings for snow chains and thought we would pass since we got enough of the snow in Taos, NM. Also, gives me a reason to visit again in the summer possibly on the girl trip. ;-) This will give us a bit more time on the Pacific Coast Highway.