| We are getting into a routine now and I can give some time to the blog. In the next couple of posts I will be ‘catching up’ with narrative and pictures. We drove twice across the country, from Virginia to New Mexico. On our first trip, from Dec 25-30, we drove our two pickup trucks, hauling mostly things that would go in storage. On our second trip, from Jan 17-24, we drove our Odyssey and a 26 foot Penske rental truck loaded with all our household belonging. Here is a map of our route. |
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| Along the way, I snapped pictures of Welcome signs as we drove into each of the states on the route.In order of our itinerary, here they are: |
North Carolina – On our 1st trip, we drove in the rain out of Virginia into North Carolina.
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| South Carolina – We enjoyed good weather on both trips when we headed west from North Carolina.
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| Georgia - Good weather continued. On the 2nd trip we stayed overnight in lodging at Fort McPherson, an Army post in the southern suburbs of Atlanta. The post was clearly left over from the Civil War – big trees, old buildings, and winding roads. We stayed in VIP lodging, where the rooms were named after Civil War generals.
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| Alabama - The highways across Alabama were great – this was clearly a good choice to avoid the mountainous terrain and heavier traffic found on I-40, plus avoiding the detour resulting from the rock slide in western North Carolina.
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| Mississippi -The road that cuts across northeast Mississippi isn’t an Interstate, but it should be – it is as good as any other Interstate highway.
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| Tennessee - We passed through only the southwest corner of Tennessee, but it gave us the chance to eat at Westy’s restaurant in downtown Memphis. Pat & Sarah discovered esty’s on their trip a year ago and we stopped there on both of our trips to enjoy their fried catfish. It was a challenge on the 2nd trip to navigate the 26 foot Penske truck around the city streets of Memphis near the waterfront of the Mississippi River.
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Arkansas – One crosses over the Mississippi River going from Tennessee to Arkansas. We stayed in lodging at Little Rock AFB on both trips. |
| Oklahoma - We’re getting close to the Tree Line. We stayed in lodging at Altus AFB on both trips.
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| Texas - Now we’re in the Open Spaces, clearly we are now west of the Tree Line.
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| New Mexico – This is I-40, our route on the 1st trip. We drove the last 4 hours in a snowstorm(from Tucumcari and through Tijeras Canyon into Albuquerque). After that experience, on our 2nd trip and learning another winter storm was to hit Albuquerque on the day we would arrive, we detoured to Clovis, NM. We stayed in lodging at Canon AFB, and visited with my aunt and uncle who live there.
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Sandia Mountains – We’re almost there, some 20 miles east of the Sandia Mountains. |
Albuquerque - There it is, the first view of Albuquerque from Tijeras Canyon. |
Albuquerque, Central Avenue (once was historic Route 66) – There isn’t much more to be said about the Trip(s) West. |
North Carolina – On our 1st trip, we drove in the rain from Newport News to Rolesville, NC.
George, I hope that you are enjoying the “wide open spaces.” I just thought that I would check in and see how you and Pat are doing. Drop me a line some time and tell me about your adventures.