We're Here!

We made it to Hayward, California at about 5pm yesterday.  We had stopped and had a nice lunch with friends in Paso Robles, California.  Of course, we did find a little traffic around San Jose.

Now we can relax with Sean and Amy and do some sightseeing in and around San Francisco.
I might not post every day but I will when we have been somewhere or seen something fun.

"The Trouble with Tribbles"

Today we are in Paso Robles, California.  Our drive from Flagstaff, Arizona was beautiful.  I am such a pushover for any mountain.  Then as we get into the area around Paso Robles these fantastic green hills and mountains appear.  

Does anyone remember the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles?"  If you do you might understand my concern when I saw fields full of them along our drive.  

TRIBBLES!

Tonight we will be in Hayward, California with Sean and Amy.  Can't wait!

Oh Nuts!

We've made it to Flagstaff, Arizona.  I had forgotten how much I love the southwest.  I love the buttes and mesas, the red rock, the colors of mountains, the canyons, all of it.
We started out today at White Sands National Monument outside of Alamagordo, New Mexico.  What a spectacular site.  275 square miles of white gypsum sand.

The sand dunes are much higher than they appear in this photo. The white that is visible is actually snow.
Next we headed north to Pistachioland.  We stopped at a pistachio farm and bought some nuts.  How could we not when we were at the home of the world's largest pistachio?

On our drive through New Mexico we also passed the lava fields.

I still have a hard time imagining a volcano in New Mexico.  But then, I know nothing about geology.

Stalactites, Stalagmites and Columns, Oh My!

Oh wow!  Today we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  We did the shortest and easiest tour but even that is totally amazing!  If you've never been there put it on your bucket list.  And if you're a senior you can get a Senior Park Pass for a one time fee and get into all national parks free.
The caverns are huge, a little humid, cool and a little dark.  We descended 750 feet, 75 stories, by elevator underground.  Sounds scary but it wasn't.  The formations are spectacular.
Here are some pictures, but they don't do it justice.

From the park we headed north.  We drove through the Sacramento Mountains to Alamagordo, New Mexico.  Pardon the windshield schmutz on my vehicular photography.  

Tomorrow we're planning on visiting the Space Museum and White Sands National Monument.  This is the part of the road trip I love, seeing the natural wonders of our country.

They'd Better Be Chocolate Chip!

It's Monday evening and we are in Carlsbad, New Mexico.  The drive from Abilene was different than anywhere we've been so far.  Mostly mesquite trees, cactus and brush.  We weren't on the interstate so we were surrounded by fields.  Cotton fields and oil fields.  The air smelled of oil for many miles as we drove and there was cotton piled along the side of the road looking like snow at home.

As we got closer to Carlsbad the scenery changed and we are seeing more hills and mesas.  I think we're getting into the Enchanted part of New Mexico now. 

I can tell you one thing, though.  Don't stay in Carlsbad.  We paid twice as much for a room at Holiday Inn Express here as we have anywhere else.  When we asked why the rate was so high we were told it's pretty much the standard here because of the oil field and nuclear waste disposal site that are here.  Apparently the people who come here for those purposes will pay that price so I guess we all have to.  You can bet we went directly to the pool and hot tub.  We're going to get all the perks we can. 

I'm off to get our complimentary cookies now. 

Where Can A Guy Get A Good Steak Around Here?

For anyone who has already read yesterday's post I want to apologize and beg for a do over.  I was really tired and didn't do a very good job.  I've updated it now, so it's a bit better.  Sorry.

It was an easy drive this morning from Ardmore, Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Texas.  We stopped in Arlington, a suburb of Fort Worth, and spent a few hours visiting with relatives.
On the way we went by the Texas Motor Speedway where the NASCAR races are run.

From Fort Worth we headed west to Abilene, Texas where we are spending the night.  It finally looks like what I think Texas should look like.  There were long horned cattle grazing along the road and lots and lots of prickly pear cactus.
So, here we are in Abilene thinking we'll have a nice Texas beef steak for supper.  We asked at hotel desk for a recommendation of a local steakhouse.  After a  little confusion and difficulty finding it, we were disappointed to find they were closed for their employee Christmas party.  Really?  You might think this is a rare occurrence but you'd be wrong.  It happens to us a couple of times every trip.  We hear about, or read about a place only to find it's out of business, closed for remodeling or some other circumstance.
Thank goodness Sonic is always open!

The Land of Drinking Birds

Tonight we are in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  We're only about 30 miles from Texas and we're planning on getting to Dallas-Fort Worth and visit relatives tomorrow.
The drive today took us through Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  Not a bad drive, blue sky and bright sunshine, temp about 65.
Not much to see since we opted to pass up The National Wrestling Museum, the site of the Super Hero Fest and the Toy and Action Figure Museum.  I was really disappointed to miss the wrestling museum.
There was some interesting scenery, though.  Oils wells are everywhere, even in between industrial businesses along the interstate.  I mean like in the parking lot!
Now I don't know about anyone else but I think oil wells look like those drinking bird toys.

                                                    Drinking Bird

                                                          Oil Well

 Maybe it's just me.

Caught In The Webb

Our first day on the road has gotten us to Cameron, Missouri.  We had to delay our start and actually got on the road at about 1:30 pm and stopped for the night after about 5 hours.  There wasn't much in the line of scenery so we kept ourselves amused listening to the radio.
So, has anyone found Radio Classics on Sirius XM?  It's one of our "go-tos" on the road.  If you're not familiar with the channel, it plays a lot of the old-time radio programs.  You know, BT....Before Television.  Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Our Miss Brooks, Johnny Dollar, and many, many more.
Today we listened to "Pat Novak For Hire" with Jack Webb.  Those of you who are my age will remember him as Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet. But BT he was Pat Novak on the radio.  In this show he has some really great lines.  Here are just a couple of them.

     " He slid down like an old sock on a bony leg."

     " It's like washing your kid's face and realizing he was ugly before."

     " You couldn't strike oil in a filling station."

So, we got caught in the Webb today.  It's always good for a chuckle in the car.
And who knows what we'll hear tomorrow.  Maybe with a little luck Fibber McGee and Molly!

California, Here We Come!

Tomorrow we're heading out on our next adventure.  We'll go south to Oklahoma and Texas and then west to California.  Can't wait to see Sean and Amy and Lewis.  We'll also visit with Jan and Linus, Carol and Dick,  my friends Peggy and Linden and John's aunt Ann.

Stay tuned for posts from the road.  We're hoping to see some new sights and have some new experiences.  And of course, have some fun along the way.