Gallop to the Grand Canyon to California

Today we did pre-race practice.  Darrin and I loaded everything into the excursion.  We packed the coolers for the day.  We checked the rooms for anything left behind.  Scott had purposely left stuff unpacked to see if we would find it.
We had breakfast at the hotel.  We got an early start today.  We are already getting tired of the travel and still have two days to go. We took photos at the city sign just before leaving town. 

Wasn't long and we were in Arizona.  We saw the painted desert, the lava flow from the volcanoes and a lot of wide open land.

We were still traveling alongside the Historic Route 66.  I was thankful for the "new" interstate and thought about how that had changed life for the people that lived along the route.

We decided to make a side trip to see the Grand Canyon.  We turned off onto a road that was very rough.  It was a short cut.  We drove up into the mountains.  The scenery grew a little greener and the elevation began to effect our ears.

Our first stop was at an over look at Little Colorado River.  The view was awesome and looking down into the canyon made you a little dizzy.  We took pictures of the car and headed to the Grand Canyon.

It was $30 to get into the park.

We drove along the edge of the Grand Canyon for quite a while.  

We stopped at a lot of the turn offs and took pictures.  At one turn off we jumped out and Scott drove around a few times so we could take photos.  Then Darrin jumped in and drove around so Scott could take photos.

Most of the views were just breath taking.  Then a cloud came up and decided to dump a little bit of rain.  That was a fascinating sight.

 We made our way to the visitor center.  I got another stamp in my passport book.

We had some lunch.  Scott purchased two sandwiches and two coffee's for $30.  We headed out of the park.  On the way out we saw some moose.

We spent a lot of time just riding in the truck.

We stopped for the night in Barstow .  We have made it to California, just the wrong end.

Wichita to Gallop, New Mexico

Morning started slow.  Nobody was in a hurry to go anywhere. We had breakfast at Denny's.  We tried to go see the famous Wichita Falls. 

 We drove past it but didn't get close.  The falls were washed away in a flood in the 1800s. So in the 80s they built a water fall.  The falls were a pretty sight.
I drove for a while this morning.  When we reached Amarillo Scott took over driving.  

We took a little bit of time to stop and see Cadillac Ranch.  It is hot and windy here in Texas.  We talked about having a '51 ranch in Mobile.  The paint was so thick on the cars that is looked as if it was dripping.  In some areas the paint was as much as 12 inches thick.
After leaving the cars we headed toward Albuquerque. 

We stopped and took a group photo at the welcome to New Mexico sign. 
A lot of our drive today is along side the historic Route 66.  Very cool to see some of the abandoned hotels.
One of the little towns along the way called Tucumcari is a TV destination place where 1000s of RVs come once a year.  

You can see large campgrounds that are empty.
The scenery keeps changing.  It is so beautiful.
We stopped early in Gallup, New Mexico.  Gallop is known to be the most patriotic town in the US.  The Navajo Indians were known as the Code Talkers.  

Headed to the Great Race

This is the day I have anticipated for a long time. Packing and planning are done.  The Excursion is loaded with suitcases and snack food.

Scott, Mallory, Darrin and I met at the Henderson Museum.  Travis came to see us off. Travis also took photos of us leaving.

We all piled into the Excursion and headed out.  First stop IHop.  We went a whopping 1/4 mile.
With breakfast finished we were on the road. Darrin started driving.  We headed out to take 98. Jackson, Shreveport, Dallas is the route.

When we got to Jackson the GPS tried to take us to the center of town. Took us a little bit to figure it out and get back on track.

For a stretch of the road we thought we were on a roller coaster. The road was so rough that the car on the trailer cut right through a strap.

We stopped in a little town in Louisiana just off of interstate 20.  Of course it would be the only place without water.  No Restrooms.

We went up the road a little and found relief.
Mallory's turn to drive. Just as soon as Mallory started to drive all the adults are on their devices. The only teen in the car was the only one without her device out.

Our goal is to make it to Wichita  Falls for our first stop.  As the sunset the conversation picked up. As night falls it gets quite again. The final stretch of Highway is a four lane with nothing on it.  Dark out here in Texas.

Magnet

Magnet

View the entire collection of cards.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Never To Late

There is so much I have missed putting in this space.  I don't need to do anything more than I am doing right now.  But I wish that I had taken the time to blog the big moments in my life. 

God has taken care of me well.  The God stories in the last 6 weeks alone would help anyone come to know Jesus or know Him better.  Time to start writing them down.  I will try to get them down so that I can remember them when I need them.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.