we might go mammoth caves..?

We might go to the mammoth caves .It will be around 58 degrees and I am not very happy
because it was mostly rainy and cold. EVEN IN THE DESERT! Texes was the only one in the 100s.

Memphis last night, West Virginia today

We're making our way home now and it no longer feels like vacation.  Rich and I went to Beale Street last night and we'll probably drop by Graceland today.  Rich feels a strong need to pass through Lexington, KY so that's on the agenda.
On another note, I see Cecilia posted pics of Cadillac Ranch outside of Amarillo, TX. Fun place. Fortunately people had left spray paint cans around that we could use and leave our marks.  We are part of history.

Long haul from Albuquerque to Texas

Ugh. May I never have to drive that far in one trip again. Smelly, cattle feedlots. Dust storms. Sand tornadoes passed right behind our car; kids loved that. It seemed like there was no end. 5 movies, a couple games, kids slept at the end. I nodded off a few times but I was scared about Rich driving so long so late at night. We arrived at 4am.


And it’s hot. 93 degrees at midnight. That’s a good thing.

Monsoon Season

Did anyone know that the southwest has a monsoon season in summer?  We do, now. Ever since we left Nebraska, we’ve had cool , rainy weather.  Thunderstorms every day, gray skies, temps as low as 62 in the day! It’s really been tough because we get so little summer in CT, it feels as if I’ve given some of it up and jumped right in to fall.  Hopefully Texas will have some heat for us.

Capitol Reef, Grand Escalante, Red Canyon (FLASH FLOOD)

Pulled away from Goblin Valley, we needed to drive to our next campsite, 20 miles from the Arizona border, a good location for Zion, Bryce and then a good start for the North Rim. We did a power tour of Capitol Reef (petroglyphs – my favorite), Grand Escalante (enormous and barren), and several state parks (I don’t remember which ones but we stamped our passport).


We drove past Bryce Canyon knowing we’d go the next day and as we passed through a storm exploded on us. We entered Red Canyon as waterfalls of red mud and water were flowing across the road. The car in front of us drove through a stream and was covered with a wave of red. We had to go into the other lane to find a lowpoint. This was not just in one spot – it was for the whole of our trip through the Red Canyon. We passed a car that had blown all four tires going through one of the streams covering the road. The normally dry ditch on the side was a raging river, ready to overflow its banks with red goo. It was wild and, yes, I was scared. I thought we were either going to reach an impassable part and have to turn around or have a wall of mud slide onto my side of the car. Neither happened, the storm ended and we drove to our home for the next two days.