A Cavern, Traffic and Miscalculations!

Sunday, July 8th!

After going through two time zones and two states we made it to Phoenix, Arizona last night at 10pm! That's midnight back at home! It was a long and exhausting day but we did it!!!

Leaving San Antonio early morning and made it to Sonora, Tx by 8am for the first tour of the Sonora Caverns! We didn't get back on the road till 11am but that's ok! The cavern was fantastic!

We drive all of 30mins to make it to a subway for lunch and realized they had only slim pickings of sandwiches! Really?? No ham and only 2 breads to choose from and slim pickings on toppings! Once back on the road we headed west!

Rocking out to 90's music and rock! We made it to El Paso about 4pm (5pm at home). Yes El Paso is a shanty town where stupid people can't drive! Marissa showed her wonderful fascination (or intolerance) to roadwork and traffic! I even learned a few new vocabulary words! Thank goodness we won't have to go back to El Paso!

It was only a short trip across the New Mexico border where we decided to stop at a gas station and decided to eat at the gas station restaurant! I have to say it was the best bowl of soup and BLT ever!!

By 6pm (7pm at home) I was behind the wheel to drive us across New Mexico and to go through Our first border patrol stop on I-10! That was fun and quick! We then decided to stop at this country store to buy moccasins! That was unsuccessful!

By this time exhaustion has set in but we are trucking through Arizona to stay at Jenny Ward's condo in Phoenix! By 10pm(12pm central) we finally made it!!! Yea!! It was one great accomplishment!

Cavern Pix and a Jenny pic to
Come!

San Antonio, TX

When you're moving across the country, it's bittersweet to make more friends on the way.   I love Katie's family even if her grandma doesn't let us talk in the car.  This is for you ladies Roslyn, SIERRA, Valerie and Jill.

We also met a lovely lady named Mary Martinez.  When Mary heard we were going to see the Alamo she asked,"So other people know about that?"  I looked at her with as nice of a face as I could and said, "Yeah it's like in history books..."  Katie and I held our laughter...for the most part.  Poor thing, but youth is awesome.  She must have thought only San Antonians knew about it...

We all ate at a Mexican restaurant,  saw the Alamo and Sierra almost exploded.    The girls told the nice Mexican musician it was my birthday.  EVIL!!!

Jill wanted to know if we'd get sick of each other, and she shocked her grandma by telling her she was a lesbian...Sierra's (Savannah) dog died but she owns a horse...Valerie and I bonded over gum and she has the perfect eyebrows...Roz was adorable as the littlest sister should be.  She told her Grandma she had the best time. 

When Valerie told me the inside of the Alamo just had a bunch of things to read, Roz snidely asked her sister, "When was the last time you read a book?"

Katie will post more pics and a video tomorrow.   PS I had the soup and it was great...

Betsy from Sonora

Betsy, bless her heart,  is a good example of why it might be good to move around a bit.  Lived in Sonora for all her 40 years,  she now works as the tour guide at The Caverns of Sonora (Katie's pick for a road trip detour.)

She's clearly very happy and very secure in her little piece of West Texas but she is VERY limited...this is west Texas.  Her boyfriend owns a nice 4 bedroom house in Fortworth but she'll never live there.  Her oldest son is about to move 6 hours away and she nearly cried telling us about him.

If the barbed wire tattoo around her ankle didn't tip you off,  Betsy is tough but would be out of place outside of Sonora.

Pictures to follow.

Leaving San Antonio at 5am...

I'm not a morning person, but does this even count as morning ?

Why does she want to go to Portland???!

Katie kept mentioning she wanted to go to Portland, OR.  I dislike Portland and kept wondering, "Why does she want to go to Portland???" 

Not one to want to smash dreams,  I approached it carefully.

Katie wanted to go to Portland to see the OR coast.  THANK GOD I was able to find this out and inform her we can go to the OR coast without going to Portland....so no Portland for us!

We won't post any Shades of Grey references ...

On the road!

Marissa and I are jet-set like the Jetsons! But I keep forgetting, "it's you not me!" that's moving across country! First stop will be on the outskirts of Lake Charles!

Hope you enjoy our loaded down car! Oh, and F the Rain!!!!

Call Me Maybe?

Theme Song of the day:  Call Me Maybe?

Last night here in Lafayette, Louisiana for Marissa! Its a bittersweet moment but at least the car is packed and ready to go for our 7am departure! Next stop....

Thank you Ross, Jamie, Allison, Dustin, Andy and Austin for stopping by to help pack!! Bust a grove and get gone!

Mirror for the Sun

Theme song for the road:  Road Trippin'

Red Hot Chili Peppers says it all!

Road trippin' with my two favorite allies 

Fully loaded we got snacks and supplies 
It's time to leave this town 
It's time to steal away 
Let's go get lost 
Anywhere in the U.S.A.


One more day to go and then it's Goodbye Louisiana and Hello California.  Marissa and I will be leaving bright and early Saturday, July 7th for our first destination on our west coast road trip.  Stay tuned for destinations, pictures, random music links and more!!