Tennesse, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas

June 22 – Monday - Southwestern, Tennessee

We woke up early because we’re now in the central time zone, walked around the campground, had a nice breakfast, checked the internet, took our showers and got on the road 8:30. Another scorcher – forecasting 100 degrees. We headed west on route 57 at the southern edge of Tennessee, going through small rural farms and then depressed areas with vacant businesses and dilapidated single wide trailers. Just outside of Memphis, there were a few upscale subdivisions and then we got on the interstate to circumvent Memphis. (We had spent a lot of time in Memphis in 2007 visiting Beale Street, Graceland and other attractions a few years ago, so no stops here for this trip.)

Just as we crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas, we stopped at the welcome center to have lunch – 102 degrees. Next to us in the parking area was a guy who needed a nap and apparently had no AC in his truck…now that is tired!

We stayed on I40 through Little Rock (waved to Bill & Hil) and then dropped down to route 70 through Hot Springs and route 270 through the Ouachita (pronounced Washita) mountains and national forest. We stopped for the night at a Corps of Engineers recreation area on Ouachita Lake. We grilled some steaks for dinner and sat outside watching the kids playing in the lake. It was still 84 degrees at 9:30, so no choice but to sleep with the air conditioning again.


June 23 – Tuesday

Did our early morning walk, took showers, packed up and were on the road by 8:30. We continued on through the Oachita Mountains and then up to Fort Smith and picked up I40 again in Oklahoma. We stopped at a Walmart for a few things, filled the tank at $2.36 (cheapest yet), ate lunch and continued on boring I40 – lots of trucks and patches of really rough road mixed with stretches of construction. Not too many alternatives to I40 through this area, though.

We stopped in OK City to visit the Murrah building bombing museum and memorial. It was very moving – Kleenex is a requirement. The museum begins with a timeline starting early on 4/19/95 and proceeds through the morning with an audio recording of the bombing from the building next door at 9:02. The exhibits of building bomb debris and artifacts from the victims, including baby shoes from children that were in the day care center were especially sad. One exhibit showed the pocketknife that a surgeon used to amputate a woman’s leg at the knee that was pinned in the rubble to save her life. Interviews with survivors highlighted the heroism of the rescuers and people in the bombing helping others escape, including a blind man who led a number of people to safety.

The memorial has a stone and bronze chair for each victim with the person’s name etched in the glass base, with smaller chairs for the 19 children who were killed. There is also a large reflecting pool with black gates at either end marking the 9:01 minute before the blast and 9:03 after the bombing.

In addition to the uplifting stories of heroism, another positive note was the American Elm that was severely damaged by the blast, but survived and is a living symbol of resilience and hope.

June 24 – Wednesday

The AC ran all night long and it was 78 when we woke up. We slept in a little this morning and got on the road by 9:30. Drove I40 all the way to Amarillo. The landscape is dryer with fewer trees as we drove west. We passed a massive wind farm on a ridge with the huge turbines slowly turning. The roadside wildflowers were spectacular – lots of yellows with some oranges and few purple thistles along with occasional clumps of pure white daisies.

We saw a sign for the state museum of Route 66 and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop – lots of fun seeing the memorabilia from the Mother Road. We were reminded of the old tv show “Route 66.”

Continuing on I40 to Amarillo, we stopped at Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is the second largest canyon in America – 120 miles long and 800 feet deep.

We camped in the bottom of the canyon and toured the scenic 6-mile road with nice views of the red canyon walls.
After dinner, we walked ¼ mile to an outdoor amphitheater (encountering a very frightening spider – tarantula?) to watch the musical extravaganza “Texas” (what else?) that dramatizes the history of the Texas panhandle. The cast was huge – at least 75 mostly college kids that were very talented singers, dancers and actors with the canyon wall as the backdrop. The play started with a horseman on the top of the canyon wall waving the American Flag. During the play, horseriders would gallop along and an occasional covered wagon pulled by horses would provide a realistic background to the happenings on stage. The end of the play included horseriders carrying the five historical flags of Texas at full gallop and finishing with the American flag and fireworks. A great day!


June 25 – Thursday

It was in the high 70’s when we went to bed, so we left the AC on. When we woke up, it was 65 and clear. The smell of the Colorado juniper and mesquite trees freshened the morning air, the birds were singing everywhere – what a gorgeous morning.

Jack checked the tires and found the tire that had been repaired was very low, so we stopped at a tire shop in Amarillo. They couldn’t find anything wrong, so apparently the repair shop at home never inflated the tire to the correct pressure.
We got back on nasty I40 watching the scenery change to desert the further west we traveled. Few trees, cholla cactus in bloom, and cows, cows and more cows. We had to make a u-turn to visit the "Cadillac Ranch" where vintage cadillacs were put nose-down into the dirt and visitors add their spray painted artwork.
We stopped for the night just east of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Continuing Westward

Happy Father's Day & The First Day of Summer


It was raining in the morning and temps were about 70, but as soon as we drove out of the rain, temps were back in the mid-90's again. We drove west continuing on route 64 through the Hendersonville and Murphy, NC areas. We crossed into Tennessee through the beautiful Ocoee gorge where we had gone rafting a few years ago. Diesel is running about $2.49.


We stopped early in Savannah, TN so Jack could watch the end of the US Open. We could only get ABC over the air, but they had satellite in the clubhouse and the folks running the campground offered to set everything up so he could watch the Open. Just as we were getting ready to walk over to the clubhouse, all the power went out. No TV or air conditioning and it is hot, hot, hot - about 100. We jumped in the squeaky clean pool for a hour or so to keep cool, even though the water must have been in the mid 80s. Still no power, so we had to run the generator to make dinner. Sat outside in the shade until dark, then we had to run the generator again for the air conditioner so we could sleep. The power came back on a few hours later.

We're on our Way



We finished packing the RV and left Friday morning for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Charlotte.


We had a great time visiting with Alicia and Sean and playing with the grandchildren. Brynn and Finley are growing so quickly!


After lunch on Saturday, we said our goodbyes and headed west on routes 74 and then 64 in the southern part of North Carolina. These scenic, twisty roads took us through the beautiful Smoky Mountains. It was close to 100 degrees when we left Charlotte, but in the mountains the temps dropped to a comfortable 80 degrees.



The scenic routes were slow-going, so we drove less than 200 miles which is just fine with us - we're all about the journey and we don't have to be at the Grand Canyon until the 28th.

We stopped for the night at a nice campground five miles outside Franklin, North Carolina. We enjoyed watching the fireflies sprinkle the night with twinkling lights.
We're back! Time to get on the Road!!!!

We will be leaving on Friday, June 19th for the Grand Canyon. We have been cleaning the RV and getting a couple of flat tires fixed (one had a nail and the other needed a valve replaced), but we still haven't figured out how to hook up our converter box to our analog TV. We have digital TV in the bedroom, and the analog TV will work when we have cable, so we're good to go even if we don't get it hooked up. If anyone has any great advice on how to hook a converter box up through a DVD player, let me know....

We're still working on the intinerary, but right now the plan is to meet up with my sister Linnie and her son, Ben at the south rim of the Grand Canyon for a few days. Jack and I are trying to get reservations at the campground at the north rim for the next couple of days, but it is full. We'll keep trying for a cancellation. After the Grand Canyon, we are going to explore northern New Mexico, especially the pueblo ruins (Bandelier and Chaco) and the Taos area. After that, the planning is pretty flexible....we'll see.