Desert in Bloom

We are so fortunate that we're in the desert in May. The spring rains have caused all of the cacti and desert wildflowers to bloom, and it is truly beautiful!

:) Connie

Carlsbad Caverns

Yesterday we spent the whole day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We hiked (unguided) into the cave's natural entrance and descended 1.2 miles down to the biggest chamber in the cave (3rd largest in the US).

Along the way we passed through large chambers and narrow tunnels. We saw amazing rock formations, pools of pristine cave water, and the black hole that led to the "bat cave" portion of the cave. The biggest chamber is located 750 feet below ground (that's the height of two Statues of Liberty!). There is a high-speed elevator that takes visitors back to the surface from there (pop your ears!). After lunch, the girls and I rested in the camper out in the parking lot while James took the elevator back down to explore the large chamber and its offshoots (another 1.2 mile hike around!). He took some great photos:

Then we had dinner in the camper before heading to the cave's entrance one last time to watch a ranger presentation on bats.

At 8:05 pm, tens of thousands of bats emerged from the cave and flew over our heads into the evening sky (no photos allowed... cameras and cellphones mess with the bats' sonar). What a fun and educational day! :) Connie

Drive from Abilene, TX to Carlsbad, NM

It was a long drive from Abilene, TX to Carlsbad, NM. Miles and MILES of flat desert reaching to the horizon in all directions. Along the way, we saw hundreds of oil pumps. We also drove through Sweetwater, TX, which is home to the one of the largest wind farms in the world. There were hundreds of huge windmills along many miles of the road.

We had two stressful incidents related to the drive. First, we almost ran out of gas. I was driving and noticed that the fuel light had come on. It occurred to me that I had not seen a gas station for at least 30-50 miles, and we were in the middle of the dessert with no towns in sight. After about 10 miles, the camper started to sputter on an uphill. A town was approaching, and it was a long flat stretch followed by a downhill off-ramp to a gas station. We coasted in. James filled our 50-gallon tank with 50.2 gallons of gas!!! The next thing that happened was that we got a flat tire. Fortunately it was one of the rear tires which has a two wheels on each side, so we were able to drive to safety before calling AAA. Good thing James upgraded our membership to Deluxe RV before we left! :) Unfortunately, driving on the bad tire required that we purchase a new one (very expensive for these heavy-duty things)!

Needless to say, we were very happy to be safely at our campground in Carlsbad! :) Connie

Severe Weather in Abilene

We arrived in Abilene a few hours ago. It was ridiculously hot. 97 degrees and the sun was relentless. Now we're experiencing a bit of severe weather.

I've been watching weather.com closely because, afterall, we are in a tornado zone. Fortunately, the storm seems to have limited itself to thunder/lightning, winds, and a brief bout of dime-size hail.

Whew, didn't want to experience any more than that in our RV! :) Connie

In Frisco With Family

We had a great visit with Roman, Susan, Abby, and Emma. On Sunday evening we all had dinner at Babe's Chicken, which offers family-style southern fried foods with unlimited sides (yum!).

Afterwards we went to the neighborhood pool and relaxed while the kiddos played in the water. In the morning, Roman made pancakes and we went for a walk and the kids all rode their scooters.

It was so great to be welcomed by familiar faces while we're so far from home!
:) Connie

Picnic at Purtis Creek State Park

On our way to Frisco, we stopped at Purtis Creek State Park for lunch. It had a nice lake and picnic tables. The eastern part of Texas has beautiful wildflowers *everywhere*... the picture doesn't even capture half of the beauty.

:) Connie

Rusk, TX

Today we drove all day and made it as far as Rusk, Texas. Our campground is on the top of a hill and there was a beautiful sunset this evening. In the distance there is a lighted cross on a hillside. Perfect, beautiful evening. Tomorrow we will head toward Dallas where we plan to visit with my cousins Roman and Susan. They have two girls a few years older than Anna and Jamie, so it'll be a fun stop for the kids too. :) Connie

New Orleans and Riverboat

We took a shuttle into New Orleans from our campground. The driver fancied himself as a "tour guide" but droned on and on about the negative impacts that Katrina had had on the city. He pointed out body counts that were still posted on the sides of buildings, devastated homes and businesses, and parks that had become tent cities. He listed statistics about population, unemployment, and lack of recovery that would make anyone depressed. Plus, despite the fact that there were children present, he delivered his monologue sprinkled with colorful language. We were SO happy to get out of the van (I don't mind getting a bit of history, but this guy had a way of force-feeding it to us with a very bitter taste).

James had gotten us tickets on a genuine river steamboat, "Natchez", that included lunch and live jazz music. We explored the French quarter in the morning and boarded the boat at 11:30. Food on the boat was delicious: red beans and rice, jumbalaya, fried catfish, cole slaw, and bread pudding.

Afterwards we went to the famous Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets (donut-like pastries with powdered sugar on top).

We explored the city a bit more (and saw some colorful people on the streets) before taking a *cab* back to the campground! ;)

:) Connie

First Taste of New Orleans

Well, yesterday we had our first "adventure" (not the good kind). As we were driving down to New Orleans, we said "Hey, since our campground is so far from the city (35 mins), let's skip setting up camp and just head straight into the city and check out the French quarter upon arrival! That way, we'll have two days to explore New Orleans instead of one!" It seemed like a good idea, BUT...

We forgot to account for the fact that New Orleans is a very old city with *very* narrow streets, and we're driving a wide, tall, 28-foot long RV. We got off the highway and into the French quarter and quickly realized that driving and parking was going to be a significant problem. All streets were narrow, one-way, with cars and delivery trucks parked along the curbs, crowds of pedestrians, horses, trolley cars, and low-hanging branches. :(

While I was trying to Google "RV parking New Orleans" on my iPad, James turned into a one-way street with a Public Parking sign. It got narrower and narrower, ending with a gate that appeared to be exactly as wide as our vehicle. It wasn't safe to proceed forward, but there were cars lined up behind us, and we were on an active railroad track! I jumped out and directed James to turn around (on the tracks!), but the other cars wouldn't let us go the wrong way down the one-way street. Finally a lady in a van came over and said that we *must* proceed forward... and that once we were through we should be able to exit out the other side. So, we turned around again on the tracks and *barely* made it through the gates (2 inches max).

It was so stressful that I was nauseous and shaking for 45 mins afterwards. We managed to get back on the highway and to our campground, where they informed us that they provide a free shuttle to the city. We decided to chill (read "recover") at the campground for the rest of the day and head into the city on the morning shuttle. Lesson learned!

More coming soon about our *fun* day in New Orleans! :) - Connie

Mississippi

It turns out that the RV park in Mississippi was not a dive (as we had heard)... it was just an older park that was "well-worn".

We had a shady spot and also enjoyed some time at the pool with the kiddos. :) - Connie

Morning in Alabama

We heard a rumor that our next campsite is a bit of a dive, so we decided to enjoy a few extra hours in Alabama this morning. After breakfast we did a bit of bike riding with the girls. :)

Soon we'll pack up and head westward to Meridian... :) Connie

Near Anniston, Alabama

We've crossed our first time zone! We made it to our campground at about 3 in the afternoon today, which meant we had our first real chunk of "downtime"! We brought out the awning, folding chairs, snacks, music, toys for the kids, and cold beverages for the adults... our own little tailgate party! :) By the way, I changed the "comment" settings on the blog so that you don't have to be a member of blogger to post a comment. I'll need to moderate the comments as they come in though to avoid the spam. :) Connie

Near Spartanburg, SC

We departed at around 11:00 this morning. After a quick stop for lunch at Lake Crabtree, we continued southwest past Charlotte, ending up at a KOA campground near Spartanburg, SC. The kids got to swim in the (cold) pool and play on the playground, which is right near the camper. It was a beautiful evening so we cooked steaks and ate outside. A great first day of our big adventure! :) Connie

Welcome to our trip blog! We will be traveling around the United States in 80 days (give or take)... check out the map with our intended route. James and I will be posting photos and updates here all summer, so please check in on our adventures from time to time. We'll miss our family and friends; this is our way of staying in touch. Departure date: Monday, May 21 2012! :) Connie