Next Road Trip Coming Up Soon!

Well, it won't be long until we hit the road again! This journey will take us across northern Nevada to Great Basin National Park. Then we'll venture through Colorado and visit Dodge City. Next north through Nebraska and into the Badlands of South Dakota to Wall...and a visit to the old Wall Drug Store going back to 1939. On to Rapid City. Mt. Rushmore, of course, will be on our list of stops.

Next, it's across Wyoming with a stop at Devil's Tower (you know, from Close Encounters) and a stay in Jackson for a visit to the Tetons.

We'll head for West Yellowstone and a five night stay while we visit the park. Heading home, we'll stop at Arco, ID and hit Craters of the Moon on our way to Elko, NV. Next stop is Tonopah, NV where we think we have a reservation at the Clown Motel (if they are still in business).

Our planned accomodations in Tonopah, NV

From Tohopah, we're tentatively planning on stopping near Bridgeport, CA for the night, then driving through Yosemite and stopping in Sonora. An extra day in Sonora (so we don't have to drive to Morgan Hill on a Sunday afternoon) will let us make another visit to the Columbia Historic State Park, one of our favorite places. Then, home to Morgan Hill.

There will be lots of photos, video and a captivating travelogue. Hope you will join us on the journey. Oh, and did we mention we'll be playing Mileage Madness again?

New Orleans Road Trip - Day 25

The old buzzards took their time getting up today since they did not have a long drive home. After a Bright Side breakfast, we left Bakersfield at 8:01. Our stays a La Quinta have been consistently good experiences. Well, there was that one incident where John got chatted-up and panhandled. We are considering giving them a chance to be a sponsor for our next road trip. We learned what La Quinta means from one of our River Taxi drivers in San Antonio. And it is not “Next to Denny's”. Would the buzzards sell out? No, never, unless the price was right.

We took Roseville Road to I-5 and then got off briefly at Buttonwillow for mocha and chai at Starbucks. That's our second most frequented Starbucks in the chain. Back onto I-5 which is not always (try NEVER) the most scenic of California byways. But the weather was great and the traffic not bad and we were headed home. We passed by cotton being harvested. There were lots of orchards and vineyards along the way. One group of trees looked like they might be loaded with pomegranates but it was hard to tell.

After changing off driving duties a couple of times we were to the turn off of I-5 onto Highway 152. When we get that close we are almost home and it feels like it. We were hoping that the hills would have turned green by our return but there is just a tinge of green in some places. The fall colors of the trees are pretty. We don't have anything as dramatic as the change of seasons in some other places but we do have lovely weather as compensation. And, as soon as we start getting more of our seasonal rains, the hills will become lovely green mounds, replacing our summer California “gold”.

We came into town on Dunne Avenue so we could drive by the newly moved Honda dealership (from Gilroy to Morgan Hill into the old Chevy place). Wilma needs a mani-pedi (oil change and tire rotation) next week after going x,xxx miles (Hah, thougbht you'd get a Mileage Madness clue right there, didn't you)? Next we stopped at the Post Office to retrieve our mail in one of those BIG USPS buckets. Then we did a survey of the Crawfish House to see if they were open yet. The paper was off the inside of the windows, there were 2 cars there and a menu taped to the front door. Linda got out to look at the menu and a lady opened the door and gave her a take out menu. When Linda asked when the opening would be she said “In a couple of weeks”. That answer seems pretty funny since that is the same thing Linda was told in May by one of the construction workers. The menu does not look that encouraging. No gumbo and most entree items have their prices stated as "Market Price". John's comment was "The menu has a rot of items served with lice." But we will give it a try if and when they ever do open...in a couple of weeks, months, years...

The next two stops were to Safeway (for a few basics) and to Tacos Choice (for lunch to take home). We came home and partially unpacked, sorted the mail, got the heater going, blogged some and caught up on a few Survivor episodes. We did unpack the van and put things where we can redistribute them into their normal places at home.

Fannie Mae seems especially glad to be home. She has been romping with her cow and some other toys.

John's brief road trip calorie report: Consumed 53,801 calories (14,424 under budget) resulting in a loss of 4.8 pounds on the road trip. And, he was NEVER hungry and got to eat the foods he enjoys.

Linda's favorite sign of the day was just after passing the San Martin exit. Soon there was a sign that said Morgan Hill. We both noticed that it is very faded but it does say Morgan Hill. There is something that feels real good about coming home.

Here's hoping that we will have a lot of entrants into our Mileage Madness Contest. Got some really cool prizes. John will be sending out the rules and a notice of the entry deadline.

Here is a "Two Minute Medly" of songs by Johnny Cash, Nat King Cole and Willie Nelson that sort of fit our road trips, and especially this most recent one. Just click here to play it.

We are thankful to have had such a wonderful Road Trip and to be home safe and sound. Special thanks to you for riding along with us and we hope you enjoyed your armchair travels. The four of us (Linda, John, Fannie Mae and Wilma) wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration next week.

Happy trails! We hope to be at it again by next summer!

New Orleans Road Trip - Day 24

“Let's just see what happens if we go down this road.” That seemed to be the mantra for today and it worked out well. It was our next-to-the-last day on our trip and we were still feeling adventuresome and still having tons of fun.

We were up and out of the Pine Country Restaurant in time to enter I-40 at 8:01 a.m. Linda had buckwheat pancakes with orange marmalade. John had three eggs, bacon, English muffin and a small bit of hash browns. If you are ever in Williams, AZ (gateway to the Grand Canyon) be sure and try the Pine Country Restaurant, right in downtown Williams near the visitor center.

Before long we pulled off the interstate to take a look at Seligman, AZ, mostly because we saw their billboard for the Route 66 Roadkill Cafe. Too bad it was early for lunch, but we got a look at the fit to kill restaurant and their menu. Here's their motto: At the Roadkill Cafe, "Eating's more fun when you know it was hit on the run!" Some menu items are Fender Tenders, Varmint Vittles, Center Line Bovine, Mystery Meat, Too-Slow Doe, No Luck Buck, Tire Tread Buff, High Speed Special (a chicken that didn't make it across the road) and on and on and on. There's a photo of the Roadkill Cafe in todays photo gallery.

There is a poem by one of their surviving customers on the back of the menu that starts out like this: "I had my dinner yesterday, in a place they call Roadkill Cafe. They serve their dishes full of tricks, scraped off Highway 66. There's Frog Leg Pasta a la mode, Squirrel Lasagna a la road. Hamster Hash, Rack of Coon, Chunk of Skunk, Leg of Loon. Fat Free Cat, Pit Bull Pie, Seagull Soup with Eagle's Eye. The Buffalo Wings are very good. They lift them gently from the hood. Turtle Toes are quite a deal, They serve them hot, right off the wheel. Ground Hound meatballs, Souffle of Snake, Deep Ditch Rooster, Flattened Drake." You just gotta love the humor!

We learned that you can stay on the actual old Route 66 all the way to Kingman, so after exploring Seligman we stayed on Route 66 just for fun. Soon we came to a series of 5 signs along the road reading "If daisies are - your favorite flower – keep pushing up – those miles per hour – BURMA SHAVE". We were ready when the next signs popped up. You can see them in today's photo gallery. Neither one of us have seen the old Burma Shave signs in decades. They were, and are, truly a national treasure.

Being on this old highway made Linda feel nostalgic since she rode on it with her family on two trips from Texas to southern California. The 1st time was a summer in the '40s when she was around five. Their car was a blue Studebaker. It had a canvas water bag hanging on the front of the hood. It would get refilled at gas stops by the attendant while he was pumping gas, cleaning windows and checking the oil. The water was used for drinking and for refilling the swamp cooler that was in her mother's window. Every once in a while she would add more water to the straw using a little hand pump and it would help cool off the family. The other trip was in December of 1957, the year Disneyland had opened (visiting our relatives and going to the Magic Kingdom was the purpose of our trip).

Back to November, 2011: Soon we came to another series of signs: You can drive – a mile a minute – but there is – no future in it – BURMA SHAVE.

And then these: Train approaching – whistle squealing – pause and get – that rundown feeling – BURMA SHAVE

Seeing these signs made both old buzzards remember how much fun they provided oh so many years ago. It was nice of someone to recreate them for old and young people to enjoy. Some had a safety message, others a life message and lots were just funny.

Here's more: Big mistake – many make – rely on horn – instead of brake – BURMA SHAVE

This last set was next to an old gas station with tons of memorabilia and a corvette out front: Blackened forest – smolders yet – because he flipped – a cigarette – BURMA SHAVE

We were back onto I-40 at Kingman, Arizona where we switched drivers at a McDonald's and Linda drove into California past the fruit checkpoint. As we approached the border we gained an hour so that it became 11:11 instead of 12:11. Lunch was in Wilma from a McDonald's in Needles. Linda had a yogurt parfait and John had a Caesar chicken salad. Both had diet Dr. Peppers.

“Let's see what happens when we go on this road” said John after we had been on I-40 in CA for a while. He had spotted a sign saying "Historic Route 66 - Exit Here". We got off at Ludlow, CA and took a few photos there since we have friends whose last name is "Ludlow". We met them when they were customers at our print shop. Low and behold we were off onto the National Historic Trail for Route 66 again. We had been warned that the road got a bit rough. Sure enough, parts of it would loosen your fillings. We did come across a railroad crossing while a train was going by. Linda grabbed her camera and shot a bit of video which you can see below. It is quite shaky because of the road being so rough. We stayed on it a while and then dropped off in Newberry Springs, Yermo and Daggett before reaching Barstow (where I-40 ends – or starts, depending on your point of view). We had to pick up Hwy 58 to go across the Mojave and through the Tehachapi's to get to Bakersfield, our home for our last night on the road.


It was a long, long day and when we exited CA 58 to get to our La Quinta, John made a wrong turn. It was going home time. We found ourselves on the Roseville Road. The traffic was HORRIBLE. John remembered that the Red Lobster restaurant we had visited on our last road trip was on this road. So, we decided to go to to dinner before checking in. John called the La Quinta and told them we were in town and what we were up to.

So we pulled in to Red Lobster for dinner. John had shrimp, lobster, muscles and scallops on a bed of pasta. It was one of their specials called the Bay Harbor Lobster Bake. He also had a salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Linda had lobster pizza. Both had a cheese biscuit and enjoyed their seafood a lot.

They went back to the room and worked on the day's travelogue just a bit, then turned in for the night.

Linda's favorite sign of the day was on a church in Newberry Springs. It said “Get Rich Quick – Count Your Blessings!” And the BURMA SHAVE signs on old Route 66.

John's favorite sign of the day (maybe for all time) was found in the Pine Country Restaurant. It said, "Unattended children will be use for soup base". You can see this sign and the other 101 images in today's photo gallery by clicking here. Most are images taken along Route 66.

New Orleans Road Trip - Day 23

The two old buzzards got up at 5:20 a.m. in Silver City in time to be at Off the Hook by 6 for breakfast. Even though the sign said 7 the owner had told us that he would be there by quarter to 6 and open at 6. He was a little late (had to go to the 24-hour Wal Mart in town and get sausages) but we waited around and had a nice breakfast. Still made it out of town by 6:46. Wilma's navigation system showed 6 hours and 8 minutes to Williams, AZ and she didn't even know yet that we were driving 18 extra miles to go in and out of Mogollon (off our Highway 180 route).

Leaving Silver City it was 20 degrees but it warmed up to 25 by the time we went over the Gila River. There was some beautiful smokey-looking condensation coming up off the river so we paused to take a few shots. By 8:06 we reached Glenwood whose motto is “A town you'll never forget!” Apparently CASH BINGO on Saturday nights at the community center is a big deal. We saw 4 or 5 A-frame signs advertising it plus a banner. The building where the bingo is being played says "Senior Center." The Friends of the Morgan Hill Senior Center are going to get BINGO going early in 2012 so we took a few photos. Anybody wanna sign up to be a Bingo Buddy in Morgan Hill on one Tuesday night a month? If so, just click here. http://www.fmhsc.org/bingo.html

At the next small town - Alma “A town you will soon forget” we got off Highway 180 and on to Hwy 159 to go to Mogollon, an old mining community that's now a Historical District and mostly a Ghost Town. One of our first sights was some black cows and their cute calves strolling down the road. Not the side of the road.... the road. We drove slowly until they got out of Wilma's way. Linda took a real short video clip of the cows. What you need to know is that John's remarks were caused by the "herd" all moving to the left side of the road except for one, who got left on the right side of the road. And, at the end, you can hear Fannie Mae's take of the whole situation. You can play it below.



It was truly a long and windy 9-mile road, starting off 2-lane and changing to a scary and sometimes icy one-lane road for the last 5 or so miles. The good news was that there were no other vehicles on the road on the way in. It was a real treat to see all the interesting old buildings and the remote place where some people still live. We only saw one person in the whole place. There was a fellow working who could be seen through a window in a wood shop. Everything (including the woodworking shop) was marked closed. Apparently their season for the museum and coffee, etc. shops is May through October. Actually we were glad because we got to see a lot without having to deal with any traffic on the way in. On our way out there were several vehicles that we had to make way for by scooting over on the one-lane road as we met them. It was the most scarey when we were on the outside of the cliff where we could have careened off into a gulch and just ended up as a rusty piece of “old California mining equipment”.

By 9:51 we were back on Highway 180. There was soon evidence on both sides of the road of the bad forest forest fires that have occurred in Northern Arizona and New Mexico during 2011. By 11:04 we were in Arizona and were still seeing leftovers of forest fires. In some places the trees were completely black. In other places the trunks were black but there were still green branches of needles on the trees.

We stopped in Springerville at a McDonald's for mochas and a rest stop at 11:43. At Holbook we got onto I-40 and saw lots of things that looked familiar from a previous road trip we took to the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert. We held off stopping for lunch until 1:30 at Joseph City where we got gas and Subways.

Soon we were out onto I-40 again and John was consulting his cartographer (Linda) for the name of the mountain with snow that was becoming very visible in the distance. She was able to find Mt. Humphreys, 12,633 feet – the highest point in Arizona – on her atlas. The top of it was covered with show so it was especially beautiful today.

We arrived in Willams, AZ at 3:49 and made it to our assigned room 107 at Motel 6 by 4:07. Linda noticed right away that the funny Motel 6 bedspreads were back. Eagle eye John noticed that there were clothes and other items obviously belonging to someone who was still occupying the room. Fortunately for all concerned, they weren't at home. We backed up pretty fast and shut the door. John went to the lobby and was reassigned to room 111. Whew! The same funny bedspread but nice and empty. We have never had that happen before. Ever!

When Linda took Fannie for a walk they found a small park with a statue of William Sherley Williams, the early Arizona territory explorer and trapper for whom Williams was named. He was born in 1787 and died in 1849. Doesn't it seem that his parents had a lack of imagination to name him William? But it worked out OK. He ended up with a city, a lake and a mountain named for him. And there's also that nice green statue.

The Pine Country Restaurant is our favorite place for any meal in Williams, so it was great to get to go there for dinner. The old buzzards were both hungry for omelets. Linda got veggies and John got the meat lover's.

There are 77 photos in today's photo gallery. You can view them by clicking here.

Linda's favorite sign of the day was a small one – on a tea bag. It said “You're never too old to become younger” by Mae West 1892 – 1980.

We must be almost home. We are already talking about our next road trip.

New Orleans Road Trip - Day 22

Last night John was wondering what our Motel 6 breakfast would consist of. Betty Ann's guess was that it would consist of one table heaped with packaged muffins, donuts, etc. Actually, when the old buzzards checked it out they found that it was low fat, low sugar and high fiber (if you count the table top). In other words the table was bare and there was a sign on the wall that we missed last night. It said Free Coffee available from 6am to 10am.

When Fannie and Linda went out for their morning walk they had discovered Off the Hook Cafe and brought back a breakfast menu. It looked like a place the locals liked (4 pick up trucks and more pulling up as Fannie and Linda walked back to Motel 6). It turned out to be a cute place. Linda had Raw Bits Twang Twang, orange juice and dekaf senior coffee. John had eggs, bacon, hash browns (just a taste), toast and senior coffee.

After breakfast we picked up Fannie at Motel 6 and toured historic downtown Silver City. It sprang to life during the summer of 1870 with the discovery of silver. Miners and merchants were soon present in abundance. Because of devastating floods between 1890 and 1910, what used to be Main Street is now known as the Big Ditch and lies some 55 feet below grade. There has been lots of downtown revitalization since 1985 and downtown is bustling with over 200 entities, including businesses, art studios, government services, nonprofits, churches and schools.

John and Linda spent some time at the Javalina Coffee House. It was brimming with personality and a few dogs (even though there was a sign on the door forbidding dogs). They had lots of unusual seating arrangements. Some were couches and tables up in areas that were formerly display windows. The coffee and tea were excellent and the people watching was spectacular. You'll get a good flavor of this business in today's photo gallery.

Linda visited a few antique stores and found some treasures at practically every one. John, Fannie Mae and Wilma waited patiently outside each location until it was lunchtime. John headed up an investigation of a Whataburger wanabee called Blake's Lotaburger. We had been seeing them around since we drove through New Mexico 2 weeks ago. And since John had run out of Whataburger establishments, he felt duty bound to see what a Lotaburger was. They started in Albuquerque 2 years after Whataburger started in Corpus Christi. They copied the orange and white stripes (using red and white stripes) and most of the name. There are 79 Lotaburgers, all in New Mexico. John reported that his Lotaburger was OK but not quite as good as a genuine Whataburger. Linda got chili pie (chile and Fritos) with jalapenos and green peppers. It was OK. The buzzards both had diet Dr. Pepper. (He's a Pepper, she's a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?)

After lunch we drove north to explore Pinos Altos (before the thought even crosses Jim's mind, it means "Tall Pines"). We went up about 1000 feet in elevation and all at once found that we were at the Continental Divide. For those of you not paying attention in geography class that day, here is a link which explains what the Divide.

There were pine trees, some very cute cabins and a lot of really old things, as in museum-old. We saw an ancient sign telling us about the Pinos Altos Museum and found it right down the road. The proprietor was a fellow named Francis Schafer who is a 4th generation Pinos Altosite. His family has owned the building the museum is in for over 130 years. After we bought a couple of things in the gift shop he offered to let us go through the museum for free (it's only a dollar admission). It turned out to have LOTs more in it than we were expecting. We hope you will enjoy seeing some of the fascinating historical things in today's photo gallery.

We returned to our lodging to blog for a while and work on the photos. Because there was such a beautiful sunset yesterday with all the clouds we decided to try to get some "drama" shots during the golden hour (1/2 hour before until 1/2 hour after sunset). So, at 4:15 we drove back on the road towards Pinos Altos to take our photos. Our subjects would be the sun, clouds, hills, brush and trees. Turned out it also included a strand of barbed wire. We have put the sunset pictures in a separate photo gallery. We'll provide the link below.

For dinner we returned to Off the Hook for an all-you-can-eat catfish, shrimp, chicken, hush puppies, fries, coleslaw and iced tea. The owner, cook, bottle washer, cashier told us that he has had the place for 6 months and his wife told him he was the only person she knows who pays to have a job. The restaurant business is hard and his place is sort of out of the way. We hope he succeeds since he seems very nice and has great food.

And so ends another day for the two old buzzards as they prepare to roost and get up early tomorrow to journey to another state of mind, namely Arizona.

So, we hope you enjoy the 107 photos in today's photo gallery which you can view by clicking here. The sunset images are in chronological order, earliest to latest part of the day. If you'd like to view these 18 images, just click here.

Linda's favorite sign was seen at breakfast under some old boots. It said “Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could be like a pair of old boots … the worse we look the better we feel!”.

New Orleans Road Trip - Day 21

Linda ran out of her Raw Bits Twang Twang and had Bright Side raisin bran cereal and a sliced banana as a lame substitute, along with coffee and OJ. John had coffee, OJ, a banana and a Texas malty waffle with Jif peanut butter.

The old buzzards and Fannie Mae were gassed and on the road by 8:03. Gas in Fort Stockton seemed to be $3.399 across the board. John went to an enroute McDonald's and ordered a medium Mocha. He's learned how to order the non-fat with "light chocolate" and no-whip. We had a nice surprise when entering onto I-10. The speed limit was 80 miles an hour (65 at night). It was a day for no gravel in our travel since there were no back roads that would not take us way out of our trajectory and we had over 5 hours of driving, even using the freeway.

We did gain an hour even before we got to New Mexico. Wilma had been indicating that it was after 10 am and all at once it was 9 something. Apparently Texas is so big it has at least 2 time zones. We soon came to a sign informing us that we were in a new time zone. This occurs just west of Van Horn, TX as you enter Hudspeth County. Neither Linda nor John were aware that Texas was in two zones.

The scenery was a vast desert that has been in a severe drought, so it was even drier than usual for the road to El Paso. There were lots of prickly pears, other cactus, lots of scrubby things, yuccas and vast areas of bare earth. We came to a Border Patrol checkpoint. The dog dutifully sniffed around our car. John commented that after seeing the miles and miles of desert, he felt these Border Patrol officers had a really difficult task. The officer's reply was "Every day".

There were some mountainous areas before and after El Paso. John remembers going to El Paso and into Juarez with his parents to a nice Mexican restaurant back in the 50s or 60s. That is not done so casually these days. This was Linda's first look at El Paso, other than from an airplane and the windows at the El Paso airport. John sweetly offered to drop her off in Juarez to shop for trinkets but she declined. That rascal knew she did not have a passport and would not be able to get back into the good ole USA. From the freeway part of the wall separating Juarez from El Paso could be seen along with an 8 to 10 block stretch of crowded housing in Mexico.

We were welcomed into New Mexico at 10:51. After leaving El Paso and driving in even more desert we came upon another Border Patrol checkpoint. At this site, they are constructing and even larger facility. John wanted to tell the officer that we were all citizens except the little chihuahua in the back. Reason prevailed.

Those who are weary of reading about Whataburgers can now rejoice even while John is going through his 5 Ws of grief. The Whataburger he had for lunch in Las Cruces was perhaps the last one he will have until next June when he is in Texas for his 50 year reunion. Or maybe the last one....ever! We did have one follower who asked “Just what is so special about Whataburgers?” John explains it this way: "First, the Whataburger buns are about 6" in diameter. You can get the burger on a smaller bun and even on a whole wheat bun if you desire. The buns are always really fresh. The burger comes with meat, lettuce, tomato, mustard, onions and pickles. For $.39 to $.49 (depending on restaurant) you can have them add sliced or grilled jalapenos. The coup de gras is that you can ask them to toast the buns on both sides and even request them to get them extra toasty. It is really a yummy sandwich. Don't need cheese. Don't need bacon. Just the Whataburger. Hence the slogan, 'Oh, Whataburger should be!'"

Our route out of Las Cruces was still on I-10 until we got to Deming where we turned northwest onto Highway 180 which took us to our destination for the next two days: Silver City, New Mexico. There were cattle and goats, windmills and some interesting clouds along 180. The puffy and swirly clouds we had seen earlier in the day turned dark and we went through some pretty heavy rain between Deming and Silver City. Eagle eye (or is that buzzard eye) John spotted a windmill that Linda was able to get a nice shot of out of her window. And since we were not on the freeway, we were able to stop briefly.

Linda has a classmate who told her that he had never heard of anyone going to Silver City on purpose. He said “I have relatives there so that's why I have been to Silver City”. We arrived into the city limits at approximately 2:13 and it was still raining. The Glad Tidings Church welcomed us with this pithy thought: “A tamed mind brings happiness”. Hmmmmmmmm! The old buzzards and Fannie Mae will have to remember to tame down our minds the next time we feel a spell of unhappiness coming on. But, as of today, Day 21 on our New Orleans Road Trip, we are all Fine AND Dandy, thank you very much.

Linda is esPECially looking forward to exploring Downtown Silver City tomorrow because of a video that the downtown merchants made. It was filmed in Historic Downtown Silver City, New Mexico from January 29-February 6, 2011, as part of a winning application for the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2011 Great American Main Street Award. Merchants and downtown denizens gathered in their places of business and/or favorite hangouts to sing a line of the 1963 hit song "Downtown," written by Tony Hatch. You can view the 3:30 video on YouTube by clicking here.

We checked into our very nice clean room at Motel 6. We even have a microwave and a fridge (not always the case at no frills Motel 6). Linda washed up our delicates at the very clean and handy guest laundry facility about 15 steps from our room. So we are all set with enough tidy whities to make it home.

We had located lots of interesting-sounding Silver City restaurants on the internet but, now that we are here, it seems that many of them are closed on Sunday and today just happens to be SUNDAY. So our choice was pizza or Subway. We chose Subway. We got the address for Subway, asked Wilma to find it. When she said "Destination", it wasn't there. Then we tried Papa John's Pizza. It was located in a Shell gasoline station. No sale. The we stumbled across the Wrangler Bar and Grill. Good news, the parking lot was crowded! Almost always a good sign. We decided to dine there and were not disappointed. Linda had broiled trout with a salad and sweet potato fries. John got a chef salad with some bleu cheese dressing. They brought out a small loaf of jalapeno-cheddar bread that we really yummy. All-in-all, were glad we couldn't locate Subway!

Only 12 photos in todays gallery, but there are some nice ones of the sky and clouds. You can view them by clicking here.

Our funniest sign today was the 80 mph speed limit sign in Texas. 75 is the highest speed limit we had ever seen before. With all these long straight roads it is really hard to go 55 mph.

Plans for tomorrow were to go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument (free admission with John's senior pass). Plans were scrubbed when we went online and found they are closed until early December because of work being done on the highway. We'll find something interesting for you, though.