GRT2014 Day 7 Maricopa, AZ to Sedona, AZ

Not much mileage again today. About 150, putting total mileage at about 2400. 

After 7 travel days, I am going to play in Sedona for the next few days.  I met Derrick in the Pink Jeep Cafe (Pink Jeep is a tour company here in Sedona); he gave me a good list of places to go, then took me outside & pointed out all the peaks, their names, and which ones to visit.  Then I walked a little more and met Autumn at another tour company; she gave me lots more good ideas, so I think my days won't be boring! And did I mention there's a great quilt shop here? Yea.  First stop. Even before the hotel. Fun stuff! Quilters are never alone when they walk into a quilt shop. I met a bunch of ladies there.

The drive from Maricopa was amazing! Scary at times, riding on the edges of big BIG mountains, but amazing. And there were THOUSANDS more saguaros along the way. Some had arms on arms on arms (4th generation arms?). Consider that the cacti don't grow their first arms until they are at least 50 years old: how old must these be to have so many layers of arms? I'm so glad they're protected. They are really magnificent.

But I digress. The drive was, as I said, scary at times, but the views far outweighed any fear. This area is known as the Colorado Plateau, and the cacti are in the Sonoran desert (I'm trying to learn as I visit. If I write it, I'll remember it.) It was so interesting to see all the cacti, then suddenly there were no more. I was out of their range. But then I started climbing up mountains to more thrilling views.  There are not many rest areas in Arizona, so no opportunity to take pictures. I'm sure the magic google machine will show you many views, but there's nothing like seeing it with your own eyes. Great stuff out here in this country!

I did see a sign I'd not seen before. It read "expect 30 minutes delays between 8pm and 6am while blasting." Really! Next thing I saw we're mounds and mounds and mounds of blown up rock. They are working on I-17 south (I'll get to experience that lovely construction on Saturday), and apparently dynamite plays a role. Or whatever is used for blasting these days.  Also I drove through 2 national forests, but .... No trees. Well alrighty, then. I think it was just that the road went through the desert part of the forest. I did a little research on the Coconino and the Prescott, and they do indeed have trees.

I finally made it to the hotel room, and this is part of my view.

The room has glass doors on the mountain side, so the panorama is fabulous. Also the weather is unseasonably warm, so I don't have to bundle up when going out during the day. High 60s, with cold nights. Perfect!

I did a cursory tour around this end of town, collected a bunch of info on sites to see,then came back to play with fabric for awhile.  These little cuties got completed this evening. 

I still have a bunch more of these to do, but I'm getting there!  They have their own big 'ol bin in the car, and they'll be given away when I'm in California. I'll have an empty bin! OMG! I'm betting that won't last long. :)

And that was my day! Thanks for stopping by. 

GRT2014 Day 6 - Wilcox, AZ to Maricopa, AZ

(with a side trip to Saguaro National Park)

No idea how many miles today. Not a whole lot. Maybe 200.

I'm in Maricopa to see my youngest brother. I've had a lovely visit with him and his lady friend. She's a terrific cook, and keeps a lovely home! Tomorrow I head to Sedona for a few days of rest, and to see what kind of spooky things I can discover, what with all the vortexes and stuff. I may do a few desert tours while I'm there.

I stopped at Saguaro National Park today. I finally bought my senior citizen's pass. Did you know that you pay one fee of $10 then you get into all the parks for free after that? Just a one time pay. You also get into all kinds of other attractions free. Nice to get some perks like this after living for a lot of years, huh?

The Saguaros are the cacti most of us tend to think of when we think of the desert. They show up in all the cartoons, etc. In fact, the Saguaros are quite finicky and only grow in a small region of the country. But man are they impressive!

Here's just a bit of what I saw today.

GRT2014 Day 5 - Odessa, TX to Wilcox, AZ

515 miles today; 1998 total

I wanted to make sure I got plenty of space between me and the Lone Star state! I put another whole state between us. Seriously, it was quite the challenge to get out of Texas! 

I was so excited to finally be almost in New Mexico after 3 nights in Texas. I was 9 miles from the border, cruising along I-10, when - AACK!!!! - the road was closed!!! Traffic at a dead stop. Oh I could have cried! I was so close - so close - to finally getting through Texas! Eventually we wound our way through the detours and finally got across the border to NM. A couple of miles later .... NO NO NO it can't be! Stopped again!  Border crossing checkpoint.  I was sure I would get caught in a Texas vortex and it would pull me all the way back there. 

Once we got going again, I kept driving until I was an acceptable distance past that way-too-big state. "Far enough" turned out to be Arizona.  I had a reservation in Las Cruces, NM, but got there so early that I cancelled that one & kept on driving. As a result, I'll get to sleep in tomorrow since I'm only about 3 hours from my brother's place. Oh! And now I'm in Mountain time zone. Of course I never know what time it is in Arizona because they don't change time, so sometimes they're on California time and sometimes they're on New Mexico time. (Do YOU know when you're on savings or standard time? I don't!)

At least I took some pics today, so I'll leave you with those.

Here's a little of what I see on the road:

When I checked into my hotel tonight, I grabbed these shots quick before the scenery got too dark. I was in the parking lot, so sorry about all the poles. The sunset was beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by.

GRT2014 Day 4 - Haltom City, TX to Odessa, TX

Yes, I am still in Texas. (Here is how I expressed this stop on my Facebook post:  Parked for the night in Odessa o-hell-yes-I'm-still-in-by-god-never-friggin-ending, Texas.

Texas is indeed one big-a$$ state. It amounts to about one-third of the entire coast-to-coast trip. But I should be in New Mexico tomorrow.

I finally remembered to bring the mileage numbers inside with me! 325.5 miles today, 1482.6 total, all of it in beautiful traveling weather. Sunny, and just a touch cool.

Driving across Texas can be boring, but I have to admit that things start changing here. (How could it not?) It gets hilly, and you see all kinds of energy sources. I saw the first wind turbine farms today - lots and lots of them. Also natural gas wells, solar-powered road lights, and zillions of oil wells. (I guess I really saw the pumpers, not the wells.) It's interesting that most of us think Texas=oil and yet there is every kind of energy source here.

Oil well pumpers fascinate me! I didn't stop to take pics (there will be plenty more opportunities), but they remind me of Praying Mantises. They have that big ol' head that looks a lot like a bug head. I stare at them incessantly while I'm driving and can't tell you why. I simply find them interesting.  Occasionally you will see pumper dealers along the highway with hundreds of these things laying around. These yards look more like oil-pumper graveyards! This year I noticed that there are now yellow pumpers in addition to the traditional black ones. Maybe they've always been there and I just haven't noticed.

Another fascinating thing: the tile murals on the rest-area bathroom walls. No boring grey-walled rest stops here!

I've gotten NO exercise on the trip so far! I thought I might get in a walk after I checked into the hotel, right after I sat down for "just a minute". That minute turned into a 6-hour "nap", and now I'm wide awake at 2:00 a.m. Oh well, who cares, really? I'm not on a schedule. I already know I'll grab another couple of hours before departing in the morning (or ... later this morning).

I'm still in the "getting there" part of the trip. Nothing interesting going on yet because I'm not "there" yet. I think once I get out of Texas, I'll feel like I've started the actual "vacation" (can one be on vacation when one is retired?). Oh well, the price you pay for having your "stuff" with you is having to make the boring parts of the drive, as well. But I can't say it has been uneventful!

Onward tomorrow, finally across Texas. Let the adventure continue!

Thanks for stopping by.

GRT2014 Day 3 - Winnie, TX to Haltom City, TX

About 310 miles. About 1100 total. Yea, yea. One of these days I'll remember to bring the numbers inside with me.

It started out like the other two. A beautiful clear day, great for driving. I took the windy road up, which is a 2-lane truck route (speed limit 75). The scenery (such as it is) is better than from an interstate. Such a great drive!

Then this happened

Hash tag uh oh!

These are run flat tires, so I took a chance and kept going. I stopped for air once, but managed to make it the 150 miles to Haltom City. My sweet friend Vicky had already called the Toyota dealer & told them of my little bump in the trip.  Even though I didn't get here until almost 5:00 on a Friday night, the dealer took me right in. Two hours later I had 4 new tires and am ready for tomorrow's leg of the journey.  

I had figured I'd need new tires somewhere in California, so this wasn't a huge disruption to the financial aspect of the plans. It wasn't even a disruption, come to think of it.  Just a couple of hours of angst about whether the tire would hold up till I made it here. If you're gonna have car challenges, this is the way to have them.

I really did enjoy the scenic drive. There are moments when you wonder if you'll ever see another gas station or find a place to pee, and you KNOW you won't see a Starbucks for awhile. But there were plenty of trucks on the road, so I never felt totally creeped out and isolated. And I made sure I didn't drink too much!

Tonight I am at Vicky's, after enjoying some yummy Texas barbecue. We're doing what people do these days - each of us sitting with our computers and our phones, catching up on STUFF. We occasionally speak to each other. HAHAHA!!

Tomorrow I head to Midland. I've not taken I-20 through Texas before, so this will all be new scenery for me. Maybe I'll get to take some pictures!!!

Now off to bed to rest up for tomorrow's leg.

Thanks for stopping by!

GRT2014 Day 2 - Biloxi MS to Winnie TX

(and again I didn't bring the mileage numbers inside. About 380 today)
WARNING! Parts of this post are rated X!

No pics today (except of my breakfast, at Beau Rivage, for the "capture your 365" daily photo). I just drove. All images include here are courtesy of the Magic Google Machine.  I'm on I-10, which just about speaks for itself. (Oh, stop yawning!) There is, however, the Atchafalaya basin drive, which is rather interesting. I think, though, it was much drier than it was the last time I made the drive. It's kind of amazing driving a roadway through water. A totally different feel from your basic, every day bridge.

  

   

This was also Big Muddy day - crossing the mighty Mississippi.

The call letters on TV and radio change from Wxxx to Kxxx once your on the other side.  Last time I crossed, she was all gnarly and churning. Today she was as smooth as, well, a river. That sucker sure is muddy, though. Of course I'm down here at the delta end. One of these days I'll have to take a drive up to the other end and see if it's muddy up there. I took the I-12 way around, so missed NOLA completely. Probably just as well, as I may have been tempted to take a little stroll down Bourbon Street. And we all know that one cannot continue to drive after one of those strolls!

   

  daiquiri, anyone? name your pleasure!

  I bet he got a LOT of beads! Guess we know what's under the kilt now!!!!!

Still in the central time zone. Probably won't get to mountain time till Sunday, when I finally get OUT of Texas. Gads, this state is HUGE. The year I took I-10 all the way home from California (aaaaaaaa .... run for your life!), I realized that Texas alone was 1/3 of my trip. I-10 is 880 miles through Texas - most of it the same color as the Mississippi! I am NOT taking that route tomorrow! I head toward Dallas to see my friend Vicky.

After I got past Atchafalaya, the landscape started to change. I went from the canopy/tunnel of trees that is representative of our swampy part of the country to wide open expanses of dry. The western-most part of Louisiana reminds me of Texas. I am a water baby; once it turns dry and brown, I get restless. Ah well. Only another 2000 miles! (No, really only about 1800.) (HA!)

I am now parked in Winnie, Texas for the evening. At the anti-Beau Rivage. I took a chance and ended up in a really cheesy place. I checked for bedbugs before I decided to stay, though. It's icky, but only for a few hours. At least they have free wi-fi. The Universe is in balance. Winning the cost of my room last night, losing to this crappy room tonight. I can live with that!

Onward!

Thanks for stopping by.

GRT2014 Day 1 - Jacksonville, FL to Biloxi, MS

(forgot to check the mileage - somewhere around 425 miles)
(I can't get the first photo to locate where I want it to be in this post, and I'm too tired to figure it out!)


First day on the road. It'll take me a couple of days to get my routine going, and another few days to figure out the edits on the GoPro videos. I might have put one in here this evening if I wasn't staying at a casino. Oh dear. More later.

First stop, just west of Tallahassee. I like to get out and walk around about every 90 minutes or so

The trip today was uneventful, which is how I want all the days to be! Nice, smooth driving is good. It's surprisingly cool! These pics have been on Facebook and Instagram, but here they are again, anyway:

Waffle House, Chipley FL. My favorite place to eat when on the road - until I run out of them.

Blue Angels. Just east of Pensacola. Also my photo of the day for CY365

And I DID make it to Mississippi

I don't normally drive this far in a day, but I want to make a side trip in Texas while on the way to Dallas to see my friend Vicky so I'm rushing just a little bit.

My friend Kathi suggested I stay at Beau Rivage here in Biloxi. Hotels.com had a great rate, so here I am. I got checked in then had to go check out the casino. Lo and behold! In about 20 minutes I won enough to pay for my stay! I cashed in and came back to my room!

The great thing on the day was the pink bull dozer. Or land mover. Or some such huge piece of equipment. I guess it was being towed to the job (or maybe from), but I have never seen a pink dozer before! It is, of course, to support breast cancer research. "rent pink". I have it on the GoPro, so as soon as I figure that baby out I'll post a pic.

It has been a good first day. I'm not too tired, but after that short time in the casino, I smell like a week-old ashtray. Oh well - there's a shower in my room!

I might make it all the way to Texas tomorrow, or I might not get out of Louisiana. It's Mardi Gras season!

Thanks for stopping by.