As I said last time - I couldn't just go directly home after dropping Audrey off. I needed some time to adjust to the thought of an empty house. So instead of just turning around and driving back the way we came, we headed off from Nashville toward Memphis and a tour of the southwest and route 66.
Craig has a friend, Michael, in Memphis so we were excited to meet up with him for dinner and do some catching up. Its only about a 2 hour drive between those 2 cities and we got a call from Audrey that she'd already met a friend who works with the country music association and she was going to volunteer to help Hunter Hayes try to get a nomination the next day! That didn't take long :)
As I looked on the map to schedule the trip home and how many nights it would take, etc. I had planned for us to spend the night in Little Rock Arkansas. Now, mind you, this was not a hotel night. Because we knew we would have space in the van we thought it would be fun to do some camping along the way back. Camping always sounds like a much better idea to me when I'm at home and itching for adventure than when I'm actually out in the cold and dark trying to set up the campsite.
Of course we didn't leave Nashville as early as we thought and then dinner took longer than we planned too so it really was setting up in the dark. I have to say though, we have a new tent with the poles built in and it takes about 30 seconds to get it up and ready! No joke!
That was the second best purchase for our camping adventure that I made; well possibly the first but it's a close race because the other wonderful new piece of equipment was an automatic drip coffee maker that you put over the burner of your camp stove! I love to sit in the mornings in front of the tent listening to the day come alive with a nice warm cup of coffee, but I always hate the trials of the percolator. I never know how long to let it bubble and then theres always grounds in my cup. This time - it was ready when the carafe was full then smooth, ground free drinking could commence. Between those two things it really made it a lot less stressful all around. After a couple of cups of that warm, lifeline we broke down camp and started out again.
We kept driving until Oklahoma City and then we camped again; once again setting up in the dark because we stopped and looked around so much during the day. But it was ok knowing it was so quick to get it all together.
Then we were able to watch the beautiful full moon by the campfire and relax. It got a little chilly and I wasn't expecting it to be that way in August. Talking with the campground owners the next morning it was apparently a very atypical summer that was much more mild than normal. It made it nice for us, so it was all A-ok in my book. Day 3 took us through Oklahoma and into Texas
along historic Route 66. Even though it isn't what it once was, it was fun to feel like we were traveling through history. I'm very bummed because I saw a group of true Longhorn cattle but we drove by so fast I didn't get a picture. I kept hoping to see more as we went a long and we didn't. They were very impressive however! Craig had his heart set on finding some good Texas bar-b-que and we did at Tylers in Amarillo. It was a cute little local place that was very friendly and the food was great! It was so hot though that there was no way we could leave Libby in the car - not even in the shade with water. Texas heat had taken over for the milder weather of before. So in a move that I very rarely do, she came into the restaurant with us in her bag. She is so good in her bag though and never made a peep but she was hot after getting a bone for a treat when we got back into the car!
The plains of western Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas are very flat but beautiful in their way. The wide open blue sky almost begs the imagination to dream bigger. It has some common elements with Eastern Montana in that there are probably more animals than people in population. I couldn't shake the George Straight song "Amarillo by morning" from my head though! While expansive in view, it didn't take too long to drive through and get into New Mexico. This time, we decided to stay in a hotel and give ourselves a respite from the tent and air mattress. This made Libby very happy too.
Albuquerque is a nice town. I liked it actually and I can see why it has been used for tv shows and movies. You definitely know you are in the desert but it is still a big enough town to enjoy. As we drove through the rest of the state during day 4 however, I can't really say that New Mexico is such a great place. It had so many dilapidated buildings that looked like ruins except that people are still living in them along with single wide trailers and yards full of broken down cars and trash. You really get a feeling that the people just don't care. We did find a great "off the path" destination though when we came across Billy the Kid's grave site. Craig found it a lot of fun to read up on the history of it and see it all in person.
After crossing into Arizona we also had to stop at the Meteor Crater site. It is quite expensive to walk into the privately owned tourist spot, but it combined space and adventure so we had to do it. Even though we had crossed another weather line and we were hitting the monsoon season of the southwest and it was raining buckets.
It's so interesting the weather and cultural changes when you cross into and out of different states. In Oklahoma we could still feel like we were a part of the South but getting into Texas it was different. Not the Southwest yet, it was Texas, all by itself. Still extremely hospitable and friendly people but on its own. Then from New Mexico on it was the Southwest. The air of southern hospitality was gone and the "feel" was much different. It was kind of like they know the scenery and landscapes are so incredible that it all speaks for itself. But we made it to the biggest part of this leg of the trip for me - the Grand Canyon. We were camping again but this time we'd stay for two nights and take a day off from driving. The campground had a cute little dog park too so Libby got to run around and take a little time off the leash too.
The Grand Canyon is everything it is billed to be and more. It is almost unreal even while you are standing right there! The expanse and the brilliance of sights are almost overwhelming. We stayed along the rim trail because dogs aren't allowed on the trails below but that was plenty fine. We took our time and ambled along the path, sometimes venturing out to the edge and sometimes just soaking it all in.
We saw 4 mule deer and a ram along the way. The ram was walking along the path for a while and then went off into the bushes. One of the mule deer was so funny because it was ignoring all the people and starting to walk away then leaned back to peer around a bush at Libby - I'm sure trying to figure out what she was. She is so good with wild life and just looks and doesn't bark, but she'll chase the occasional squirrel if it seems to beg for it. Other dogs, not of the chihuahua persuasion, are a completely different matter though. She is obnoxious about thinking that she needs to be in charge and tell them off. We came upon a yellow lab puppy about 6 months old and just a wiggly mess of cuteness but she acted as if he needed his head handed back to him real bad. I held her and used a Ceasar Millan tactic of letting the lab smell her from behind and that settled her right down. She was a little upset with me for the humiliation but she got over it. One little boy asked his dad what she was and he said the Grand Canyon white wolf, I just smiled and said "yes, they're very rare". His wide, fascinated eyes said he believed us both.
We ended up walking about 7 miles that day which had Libby begging to be held during the last parts of it. To remember how wonderful it is and then to think we only saw a small portion of it! If anyone has any inclination for hiking or adventure, they can't let their life go by without a visit to that awe-inspiring place. It definitely made me sing praises to our Lord who creates such wonder!
After the long day we collapsed back into the tent and were thankful for the lack of driving or setting up again.
But the next day (day 6) we packed up the tent the final time and headed out. We went back into the park though and headed east to go around the end and start heading toward Utah. There were still so many great views that we stopped at each pull out spot to take a look. When we made the turn around the end of it we crossed over the Colorado river by a bridge that was so high! The old bridge has been made into a walking bridge and we got out to walk out and look down. It was the last bridge built that was allowed to be anchored into the canyon walls. Then we headed away from the canyon and into Utah but to do it we had to climb a pretty steep pass but it gave a beautiful view once we got on top.
Once again the terrain was different but so was the feel. There is a difference when you cross into Utah and leave Arizona. You know you've left the southwest but not in a way that is openly different, you can just feel it. We made our way to Bryce Canyon and stayed the night. The oranges and reds of the soil and formations in the area are just amazing. We did a lot of walking again and followed some really fun trails that let us get some great views as well as seeing into the canyon with all of its tall thin formations that look like sentinels standing guard.
Again there were paths to follow below the rim that would take you right up to and in between those tall spires but because of Libby and the amount of walking we'd already done, we just looked down from the top. It is by far a place that should be visited and explored by all. We still had to finish day 7 by ending up back in Salt Lake City and our hotel room. It started raining quite a bit but after you leave the canyon territory it gets pretty flat and easy to drive. It was a little bittersweet because I knew that for the most part the trip was done. We'd closed the loop by getting back to Salt Lake and the next part was just the drive home through Idaho and Montana which we are quite familiar with and it was going to be too long to do any stopping and sight seeing. We did take some time in the morning though to go out and see the Great Salt Lake. It's really not that much to see to tell the truth. I know some people are fascinated by the fact that you float because of the high salt content but there was a distinct smell and some of the biggest spiders I've seen among the rocks at the edge. But I can say that I saw it.
So it was on toward home. We took turns driving and trying to remember to stop for gas when we saw a station not necessarily when the tank needed it because those states are huge and not so populated. We took turns driving so that we could just get all the 10+ hours done as soon as possible with minimal stopping. By the time we made it into Missoula for dinner it was nice to be in familiar territory but my "blues" were beginning to surface. Libby liked dinner because Craig had steak and shared a little with her and it was a nice feeling to arrive back in our driveway and sleep in our own bed.
Poor Craig had to sleep as much as he could and then head out the very next afternoon for business. That made it a very quiet week for me after all of the excitement. I went and picked up Bear cat at Grandma and Grandpa's the next morning and got all of our stuff cleaned and put away as fast as possible since the house was clean and staged for sale. Then I just had to wait. I had given up my job, all my family was gone, my house was basically empty and I couldn't bake or anything because I had to keep it clean. Empty nester hit me hard! But I survived, Craig came home and a week later the house sold which gave my life a whole new set of challenges to deal with and a lot to get done in a short amount of time!
I have now seen 46 of the great 50 states of our Republic. I have been to the Pacific and Atlantic (and the gulf coast - but I'll give that story later) in the same year and I have loved every place I have seen. I still need to see Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I would love to see the Iditarod so that will take care of Alaska sometime soon and the 3 Deep South states are, at the latest, part of the graduation trip I've already planned for when Audrey graduates from Belmont. After that I can start traveling around the world! And to parts of some of the states I've been but didn't get to see all of, that too :)
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