Our Cabin

Several folks have asked to see pictures of our Cabin in North Carolina.
Here's Fall pictures of the neighborhood pond and our new deck with the fire pit in the middle.

Here's the cabin with the new back stairs and our new bed.

These are the stairs going down to our little creek.

Back Home!

This is our last entry on our blog because we're home! Yep.. we made it - who knew? After we visited with family and had a really good time, it was time to head for home. On our way to Milton, Fl. which is next to Pensacola, our bikes, bike rack and metal hitch attached to the trailer fell off! The welds broke due to the bumpy roads in Louisiana. It ended up next to the cement wall in the middle of I-10. Yet again, nobody was hurt, or in any danger, except us I guess as we ran across 3 lanes of interstate to get the bikes, rack, metal hitch, etc.

We threw the bikes and everything else over the little cement wall. Did ya'll know that on the other side is a drainage ditch? I didn't, but that's how we got the bikes off the interstate. The drainage ditch goes to the overpass, where Rusty walked the bikes down the cement mountain that is under the overpass. I crawled down and waited with the bikes while Rusty got the rack and hitch. The bikes now need a little work - SURPRISE!

We saw some nice views after that on our way to Milton, Fla.

            We left for home the next day. Now we're home from our wonderful and exciting adventure!

We went through 18 States:

- Florida

- Georgia                 Survived the accident that didn't happen.

- Tennessee              Land between the States.

- Kentucky

- Illinois                   Drove through Metropollis - Superman's home.

- Missouri                Saw the Biggest Ball of String.

- Iowa

- Nebraska              Weaved in and out of Lewis & Clarks Trail.

- South Dakota        Saw Mount Rushmore!

- Wyoming              Yellowstone National Park!

                                Hiking and Buffalo Charging

                                Jackson Hole

                                Drove through the Tetons

- Utah                      Snowbird Ski Resort

                                Mountain Tram Rides

                                Hiking and Biking down the mountains.

                                Bryce Canyon

- Nevada                  Las Vegas

                                Hoover Dam

- Arizona                 Petrified Forest

                                Painted Desert

                                Canyon De Chelly

- New Mexico         Albuquerque - Rusty's Balloon Ride!

                                Balloon Fiesta Weekend!

                                Carlsbad Cavern

- Texas                    San Antonio - River Walk

                                The Alamo

                                Family Visit!

- Louisiana

- Mississippi            Bikes, Rack and Hitch fell off!

- Alabama

- Florida                  Back Home!

 We've seen breathtaking scenery and views. We've met very interesting people and we've had a once in a lifetime Adventure! We've been over 7400 miles with 37 gas stops!

Gas Cost = A lot

Fixing Bikes and Racks = Who Knows

Memories to last a lifetime = Priceless!

Family Visit!

After Carlsbad Cavern we went to San Antonio, TX. We checked out the River Walk and even saw the Alamo.

Then we were able to visit with family in Orange, TX. so we did just that. We had a wonderful time getting caught up, enjoying each others company, and eating terrific food!

Last time we talked we were at the Balloon Fiesta. We want to make sure that ya'll know that was Awesome! We've never experienced anything like that! OKay.... since then we went to Carlsbad, New Mexico. We ate lunch in Roswell which was on our way. Shortly after that our GPS lost Satellite Reception - strange huh? Once in Carlsbad we went to the Living Desert where we walked through the cactus gardens and saw the animals that live there. Here are pictures of an eagle, black bear, prairie dogs - that were adorable, and elk.

Then we went to the Carlsbad Caverns.

The cavern was cool! Seriously, it was 53 degrees inside as we hiked down into the cavern we saw things like this:

We stayed in Junction, TX last night which is in the middle of the state. Today we drove to San Antonio.

Balloon Fiesta 2010!

No words are necessary!

  

If finally happened! 

Rusty's Balloon Ride!

We got up at 5:30 am to get to the Balloon Fiesta grounds here in Albuquerque, NM. We watched as they got the balloons spread out and blown up. Rusty even helped getting his balloon blown up. Then they loaded up and they were off!

        

As soon as Rusty got in the gondola I handed him the camera. The shadow is his balloon. Rusty loved the balloon ride and I loved watching the whole thing! There were 60-80 balloons today, tomorrow there will be over 500! The Balloon Fiesta starts officially tomorrow and we'll be there starting at 4:30 am! Evidently, ballooning is an early morning sport. Here's the schedule:
5:45 am  -  Dawn Patrol Show Presented by Route 66 Casino Hotel.
6:30 am  -  Morning Glow (when all the balloons light their burners to heat up)
6:45 am  -  Opening Ceremonies
7:00 am  -  Mass Ascension
8:00 am  -  ECHO National Chainsaw Caring Championship

Arizona!

    

When we saw Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, Snowbird Ski Resort, Bryce Canyon, and Everything else the pictures just didn't do them justice. I know that's been said before, but it's the truth! Today we saw the Petrified Forest and the Painted Dessert. OKay.... here's what we saw:

                In all fairness, it was very interesting how this is the only place in the WORLD that has petrified wood with these colors. It's all due to the minerals that settled in the wood over 200 million years ago. So... it is Very interesting, it's just that the pictures do tell the whole story this time. It's a "forest" of pieces of wood that's turned to stone.

            The Painted Dessert was pretty enough to see, it's just that this is what it looks like. Maybe we're spoiled now, this is week 5 for us and we've seen some beautiful things! From here we drove to the Canyon de Chelly National Monument - one of Arizona's "Best Kept Secrets". It's in the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo Indians live in the canyon during the summer to take advantage of the coolness, streams, rivers and trees. In the winter they move up to the plateaus because it' warmer. This was beautiful and interesting also.

           The drive there and back was pretty cool too. We saw wild horses and windmills.

Tomorrow we drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico to catch the Balloon Fiesta. We lucked out with our timing. We scheduled a balloon ride for Rusty on Friday! We'll keep ya'll posted.

Tootles for now.