Blogs from Texas, United States, North America - page 3

As our friends are selling their homes in the Houston area, we guess that this should be our last planned trip here. We used this last couple of weeks to really explore all that Houston has to offer. Visiting the beautiful parks, eat at incredible restaurants, ride bikes on the abundant paths, and of course visit the Space Center. Don signed us up for about every extra opportunity the center had to offer. We rode the simulator ride, toured the area, visited the historic mission control center, and spent the entire day exploring. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did. There was a plethora of information from NASA's past and how we got where we are today and a peak at the future endeavors. It really makes the mind work, will ... read more

THE BASICS We left Durham on January 24 in our RV, aiming for warmth and sunshine in New Mexico and Arizona. We left our house which remained without power because of recent snow and ice storming. It is now January 31 and we are ensconced in a KOA In Texarkana, Texas, listening to the steady rain which might cause treacherously icy roads in the next day or so. En route here today, we passed numerous caravans of power trucks heading northeastward - deja vu. THE FLUFF We actually spent the night of Monday, January 23, sleeping in the RV; it was relativerly warm and provided lights; inside our house it had grown quite chilly and dismal. We also had contact only via cell phone and that wasn’t dependable. A few days prior, it had snowed, a ... read more

Route 66 Blog part 4 18th October 2022 – 21st October From Amarillo, we drove to Cadillac Ranch. This was a short drive from our hotel, and it was a quick stop along the way. Cadillac Ranch is located in a field where 10 Cadillac cars, dating from between 1949 and 1963. These cars were installed in 1974 by Chip Lord. The cars have been installed with their noses concreated into the dirt. Apparently they are at the same angle as the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. These cars were an art installation, however they are now a community/ tourist attraction and ongoing canvas for many generations. Locals and tourists are invited to bring cans of spray paint to make their mark, and of course we made ours – luckily there were a few cans of ... read more

(Sally writes) Finally. We got let out of jail. The problem with Betty, the travel van, was not easy to solve.We wondered "Will we never leave the Millennium Hotel?" Too many hours in a darkish hotel room. Too little nourishing food. And, I fell ill with what I am going to call a head cold. I haven't been sick in Montana EXCEPT when returning from visiting the East Coast. Sick again, on the way home, in a hotel room, waiting anxiously, helplessly, for the mechanic to find and fix the problem with the van. We needed that to happen to get ahead of the BIG STORM. And I get sick. And, with all of the shifting around over the last week, I've lost the my magical natural desiccated thyroid. I take a very tiny dose, and ... read more

It had been 19 years since we last visited awe-inspiring Palo Duro Canyon. Lois drove the RV down the often steep switchback road to the Juniper Campground, about 6 miles into the park. The first day we hiked the Riverside and Cliffside Juniper trails, which included a side trek to a large crevice up a boulder-strewn path. The next day we made the rigorous 6-mile hike up to the Lighthouse rock formation. The last 30 or so yards was very steep with a sheer drop-off on the last turn. Mike was encouraged to crawl across this section by a fellow hiker from Columbia, South America. Definitely out of Mike's comfort zone! The following day we went into Amarillo for a workout at Planet Fitness, lunch at the Big Texan steakhouse, and a short drive on Rt. ... read more