2010-05-11

Well, we did get back on the road Sunday afternoon....only to experience high winds and....yup, that's a sand storm! This happened within an hour of getting back on the road! The police actually closed I-40 just behind us for several hours! So our friend, Lucky, was right not to put our 5th wheel on his low-boy. We arrived in Williams, AZ finally. The drive was pretty difficult-Randy did a great job. You cannot believe how hard the winds were...gusts over 45 mph. (On a side note, yesterday and today the winds were 70-100 mph--hurricane strength. Monday afternoon we made the trek to the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon so we could be there for sunset. It was beautiful. We had planned to do a helicopter ride,but...oh, yeh, the wind! And this RV really rocked in that wind last night. Enough of that. Today we had a nice drive down to Sedona and saw the red rock formations...cool stuff, and visited a chapel built right into the rocks. We are thankful again that we are safe and are looking forward to seeing Bryce and Zion National Parks by the weekend.
Again, click on the picture, then click on slideshow button above the 1st picture to see what we've been up to.
We enjoy your comments, so keep them coming

2010-05-09

Happy Mother's Day all you Mom's out there in Blogger Land! This has been one of the most unusual that I've ever had. From somewhere along I-40 near Holbrook, AZ, we sit while waiting for repairs to our 5th wheel. Yesterday, as were driving from Albuquerque, NM to Williams, AZ, we lost a wheel off the 5th wheel. Thank goodness Randy felt something and looked in his mirror to see a tire rolling across the westbound lanes of I-40 (later found on the other side of the eastbound lanes)!
Fortunately, everyone else on the road was able to avoid our tire! But...what to do now? We drove 4 miles at about 20 mph, called the insurance company, and waited. They had a terrible time finding someone with a "low-boy" trailer that would haul someplace for repair. We were allowed to park in the parking lot at the Petrified Forest National Park overnight (now that's another story) and wait for action. The pictures in the slideshow tell to story. We are now at the repair parking lot waiting for solutions...to be continued. Hopefully we'll be at the Grand Canyon ... maybe by nightfall! Love to all. And please keep us in your prayers.
AND TO SEE SLIDE SHOW, CLICK ON PICTURE, THEN CLICK ABOVE THE 1ST PICTURE ON THE SLDESHOW BUTTON TO SEE MORE PICS.....

2010-05-09

2010-05-07

Santa Fe, New Mexico and surrounding area! We have had a great experience in the Santa Fe area. Lots of new things to see and learn. I didn't know what "Tuff" was, do you? Every day has been filled with good times. Today was a bit different, flat tire for us and Rick and Betty tried to get their awning repaired---wrong part installed and then uninstalled! Patience is still a good thing to have. The weather has been perfect here...a nice change from TN! Tomorrow/today (it's 1:30 AM here---oh,my, didn't realize it was so late!) we will go to Williams, Arizona for several days and visit the Grand Canyon, Sedona, and points around there. Hope you are all doing well. And thanks for the comments! Click on Randy to see some new pics...then click on "slideshow" just above the 1st picture. Hope you enjoy.

Westward Ho I

I think you can click on the picture and see a slide show of our stop in Oklahoma City. Let me know if it works.
B

Pictures can speak

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial....

Tornado Sirens at 4:00 AM....

What would you do if your bed buddy woke you up at about 4:00 AM and said: "The sirens are going off! Get up!"? As for me, I jumped out of that bed without hesitation! We were dressed, shoes and all in a flash, grabbed our wallets, woke up Rick & Betty and headed for the concrete block wash house just a few feet from our RVs....praying pretty feverishly! Only about 6 or 8 other campers joined us there. Apparently the other folks didn't hear the sirens. And I think Randy can't hear, sometimes... Anyway the warning was removed from Shelby County at about 5:00 AM, so back to bed we went.

Our original plan was to visit Graceland this morning, then head to a state park in Dardanelle, Arkansas. After a little delay, trying to get the weather facts straight and settling our nerves, that was just what we did. A visit to Graceland is certainly a step back in time...and music history. It is hard not to dance a little when you hear Elvis sing, isn't it? The gold and platinum records are unbelievable. He truly was a gifted musician. One of the new things I learned on this visit was about his love of grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Betty & I enjoyed one for lunch! That may become our stand-by lunch for this adventure.

We hit the road about 2 PM. As we drove north west out of the city, the results of the night storm were very evident. The fields were completely under water and many home were really islands...water surrounding them. But off we went to our next stop at Dardanelle Lake State Park, near Russellville, Arkansas. Three GPS's couldn't get us there! After 3 phone calls to the visiter's center there, we finally found our way. We did see some magnificent homes around the lake in the mean time. Once we arrived, we wished we were staying for more than an overnight. It was beautiful. We woke up to cool temperatures and clear skies. We are so thankful for this time.

And tonight Sunday, we're in Oklahoma City. And the ride was over roughest road we've ever been on. South Carolina I-95 is nothing compared to this! After we set up camp and relax with a cool beverage, we drove in to downtown to visit the Memorial at the site of the OKC bombing of the Murrah Federal Bldg. It was quite a moving sight to see and understand all the symbolism of the memorial.

So there you have it....wonder what adventure will be next as we head to Amerillo, TX and Albequerque, NM