Two for the Price of One...

So much to tell, so little sleep to tell it...

Entry 7

This entry is a double feature. It covers Tuesday *and* Wednesday, August 9th and 10th and it covers, OK, TX, NM and AZ!

First, as I try to do when we have Adventurers donate to our cause, we'd like to thank Teri for her kind-hearted and wonderful gift. Thank you for supporting our trek. Much love to you!

Now? On to two days worth of bloggin:

So. Tired. That is the best way to start this blog. Yesterday we drove 13 hours from our prison, I mean our hotel in Clinton, OK, to Gallup, NM. I would tell you about Myrtle (the new name for the RV in homage to Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter) and the fridge breaking... and the fact that she eats CD's, doesn't play them and doesn't spit them out either, but I think you have all heard enough about my issues with Myrtle. I have been informed that as long as Myrtle doesn't have a *mechanical* failure, I can not get another RV. Period. That's when I simply gave both Elizabeth and Lucas - the two cruiseamerica help desk people (who I realize are just following the policy of a company with little customer consideration) a gypsy woman curse. I felt bad afterwords because seriously... I was upset and crying. And they were towing the party line. So... yeah. They both better hope nothing happens to me, my godchildren or my friends on this trip. Just sayin'. I also learned that cruiseamerica will not reimburse me for *any* of the hotel or meal expenses I incurred while Myrtle was broken down in Clinton, OK. That's $700 worth of hotel and food and supplies I will never see again. While it is true, we would have still had expenses for those 2 nights and three days of being stranded, we would be much farther along on our trip. I would like to say, however, that they would be glad to add 'free' days on to the end of our trip (more mileage at .32 a mile, that's only *good* for them). *sigh* If it weren't for the good stories we got out of it... the locust invasion followed THE NEXT day by a cricket invasion... not to mention the guts of the roof of the Ramada Inn hanging forlornly as we pulled out of the driveway... I'd be way more upset about it all. But it is grace that got me started on this trip and grace that will get me to Seattle.

So enough about that. Let's see some pics. We stopped in Texas to get a steak after leaving Oklahoma. I was informed not to bother with a steak once we got west of Texas. So we stopped here:

That's right, The Big Texan: it was a treasure trove of good photo ops to embarrass the children for the rest of their lives. Awesomeness:

That's right. A free 72oz steak. But you have to eat the salad, the roll, baked potato and shrimp cocktail not to mention the HUGE plate of meat and the drink in 60 minutes to get it for free. While we were there someone took on the challenge:

All I know? Is that it was a LOT of dead cow. And I LIKE steak.

One more embarrassing pic - I love Gman's face in this one:

Then we pushed on through Texas toward our goal of Gallup, NM. Texas can be quite beautiful, but honestly? There is a LOT of nothing moments as shown by Mads finally getting to hold her 'tumbling tumbleweed':

After 13 long hours of travel, we made it to Gallup, New Mexico. I have decided New Mexico is an amazingly beautiful state:

 We arrived late to our campgrounds: USARV Park in Gallup, NM. A friend of mine asked me to post this:

Because a friend asked me for this, this is the 'Gallup pole'. Snicker snicker snicker. That's right folks I'm here all week!

The campground was clean and the showers great, but the beds in the cabin not so comfortable. None of us ended up getting very good sleep. Which led to a bit of grumpiness all around. However... we kept moving moving moving... and got up early, had some awesome Huevos Rancheros, refilled the cooler with ice (fridge still not working) and headed to our destination of Sedona.

Little did we expect we would have an incredible side trip along the way. 

Bffc had some pain today (due to the fantastic bed she had last night) and she ended up sleeping a bit in the back of Myrtle. While driving, I saw a sign for Walnut Canyon and we decided to check it out on our way to Sedona. When we arrived, this is what we saw:

The native people of Walnut Canyon *lived* in these canyon walls and dug them out to make their homes! Even in the winter when it was snowy and icy, they climbed up and down the walls of the canyon! I can barely even imagine it considering they didn't wear shoes! Here is Gman in one of the 'homes' that still survive!

All I know? Is someone told me it was 200 steps down. When I reached 300 straight down? I stopped. Gman and Mads continued down about another 80 steps. Then trudged back up to find me and we slowly progressed back UP those 300 steps to the main overlook. Wow. Nothing like 600 steps in the hot sun and then driving 5 more hours! woohoo! 

We took the exit marked "Sedona 89A" and started down. It was about a 2000 foot drop through windy roads. I wish I had better pics of the trip down... Myrtle was very good about it, but truth be told? I am kind of anxious about the trip back up those 2000 feet! Myrtle doen't like anything that is too strenuous you know. Clearly she takes after the women and one boy on this trip.

Not exactly an easy trip with Myrtle, but we all made it safe and sound. Yay for lower gears and the 'towing' button! I hardly had to use the breaks except when I was making the crazy hairpin turns! 

We finally made it to Sedona and got a room at The Matterhorn Inn - we have a lovely ground floor room with two beds. Gman, BffC and Nix stayed in the hotel and Mads and I are out in the RV. We plugged it into the hotel room so we have AC and all is well.

Now it is time for me to crash... Tomorrow, we have a jeep tour of Sedona and then we are on our way to the Grand Canyon. Very full day tomorrow! More pics and I'm sure more stories to be posted when I get some time in the next 24! We pretty much have no idea where we are going to end up in the evening on the 11th, so the adventure continues...

We all had a great day today and even though bffC had some break through pain, tonight she's in a super comfy bed and we are all getting some much needed rest so we can pack in a full day of cool stuff tomorrow.

I love Sedona, I will post more pics when I write the next blog. Sedona's really lovely. Maybe a little 'far out' for me, but as in all the places we've been we've met some wonderful people so far! Can't wait for sunrise. We have to all be moving by 8:45 as our tour starts at 9!

Happy Trails,

MaryKate

OOOOOKlahoma where the wind goes sweeping down the lane...

Entry 4

First... we would like to thank Adventurers Hans and Bob for their love and support on our big trip across America. Without you this trip literally would not have happened.

So I had this illusion that I would be updating my blogs before going to bed at night. Uh. That isn’t the only idea that has had to be kicked to the curb. *chuckle* Apparently, crashing and burning after 9 hours of driving the monster on rte 66 is enough. :-).

Yesterday spent the day in St. Louis at the St. Louis City Museum. It was fantastic. I went to get th fridge on the RV fixed at RecTec. If you are ever in St. Louis and need your rig fixed up? They are wonderful! They got my RV in quickly, fixed the short that was causing the fridge not to stay cool while driving and got me back on the road in about 2 hours. They had to pull up the bed in the back to fix it, so I say… well done guys! Also? Hat’s off to CruiseAmerica. They stayed with me every step of the way. I was *very* impressed with their customer service. I’ve read a lot of horror stories about cruiseamerica and I’m sorry that is what is out on the web, because so far? I have been impressed and have really enjoyed the trip so far. Of course I had the ability to drop the kids, bffC and cousin at the museum and wait while things got done, but the efficiency and such to *get* things done was all around impressive.

No pics of me in the waiting room. (Too bad, ‘Brad’ was both helpful and cute). But good pics of the kids at the museum:

We made bookmarks for all the wonderful people who donated to our cause! We’ll be trying to get those in the mail in the next few days! Yay!

Just too darn pretty for words!

So much to climb, so little time! After the museum, we decided to start our trip to Tulsa. On the way? We saw the infamous, “mine for stones” signs at Meramec Caverns in Stanton, Mo. Well, we HAD to stop and do a little mining. So I bought the minimonsters each a bag of dirt and we went ‘prospecting’.

Fun times and the kids LOVE looking at the stones and matching them up to the cards with the pictures.

After Meramec Caverns, I started to drive. And drive. And drive. About 11:30 I decided I’d had enough. We had another hour and a half to Tulsa. It was too long for everyone I stopped to get a room in Joplin, Mo. But the big Asian festival there and the tornado relief people had every single room filled. We all needed a hotel and a hot shower and solid bed, so we pushed on to Miami. Where apparently? All the other Asians and construction workers were pushing on. I stopped at a motel and got two of the last rooms in the city. Yay Oklahoma for the one nonsmoking room (which was smoking) and the smoking room (which was as advertised). bffC and Gman stayed in the single bed in the nonsmoking room and cousinN, Mads and I stayed in the double smoking room. And even though it took a while to get the room cool? It was a good night’s sleep. Just have to work in the goat chewing Mads hair in her dreams. Because she felt the need to kick *me* in an effort to make the goat stop. *chuckle*.

This morning we got up ready to eat and get on the road. CousinN is driving for the first time today. She’s pretty white knuckled and realizing this rig and the crosswinds aren’t friends. It’s pretty hard driving. At least we are out of the hills of the Ozarks. Those were killer with a full RV! Thank heavens for the ‘towing’ option which helped the engine keep cool.

We had breakfast at Buttered Bunns Café. Our waiter had the cutest Nashville accent. He was all, “Yes ma’am. I’ll get that for you right away, (insert adorable smile here).” He got a good tip. I’m just saying, 2 kids, 3 adults make for a needy group to feed!

Now? We’re on our way to Amarillo with cousinN driving.

It’s about 7 hours away. Not sure if we will stop in Amarillo or try to push on a couple more hours. It depends on how the kids are doing and how much we’ve needed to get up and out walking around and bathroom breaks and pain tolerance.

Thanks again everyone for all your love and support!

Happy Trails,

MaryKate