5700 Miles
by Joanne Srack Mead

Sounds like a song doesn’t it?  My housemate, Debbie, and I left our home in Palm Desert, CA on Wednesday, May 2 and got home Sunday May 20, 2018.  All lodging was arranged prior to our departure and there were no glitches with the reservations.  My Ford Edge performed magnificently and we had no problems to speak of.  Well, two to speak of: a cloud-to-cloud lightning storm with HUGE rain drops for 30 minutes in Tennessee and a semi that had a tire blow out in front of us. We covered 13 states trying to stay on I-40 going east and I-10 going west.  We stopped at many sites along the way. The Grand Canyon was the first main stop where the only picture I took there was that of the female elk eating the grass.She was easily the size of a large horse!  This was the first visit to the Grand Canyon for Debbie who was awestruck by the canyon. The Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert were next where we enjoyed the sight of the ancient logs turned into rocks and the lovely pink, mauve and gray sand hills.  On the way to Tucumcari, NM, we drove through Albuquerque and walked around Santa Fe. We truly enjoyed the lovely scenery throughout New Mexico.  Our next place for sightseeing was Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. Did you know that there are over 410 miles of caves there?  While in Tennessee, we took county roads to get on the road to Atlanta, I-24.  The lands of Tennessee were some of the prettiest we had seen. We stayed in Chattanooga, TN for two nights.  The first night we took a dinner cruise on the Tennessee River and the next day we walked through a cave on Outlook Mountain to Ruby Falls.  We went to the Atlanta area to visit Debbie’s friends and family. On May 11 we went with her son to Stone Mountain which is a huge granite monolith with carvings of Civil War heroes on it.  We picked up the I-10 in Mobile, AL and when we got to Mississippi we stopped at a rest area/visitor center. Since it was Mother’s Day, May 12, the staff gave both of us handmade cards, some cookies and lemonade. We both thought that was very nice!  Our next stop was fantastic San Antonio! Our lodging had been the original city jail but made a great hotel.  We were able to walk to the Alamo  and then strolled along the Riverwalk.  We took a tour boat on the river and ate lunch at a great Mexican restaurant there.  Have you ever had a baked avocado?  Debbie did and said it was great. Carlsbad Caverns was our next site to see. We walked the Big Room in Carlsbad Caverns which was wonderful. It was a 1.5 mile walk with various stalactites and stalagmite configurations lit up  Then we headed over the Sacramento mountains to get to White Sands National Park on I-70.  After doing the drive through the park, we headed for the I-10. In Tucson, AZ,  we wandered through the Saguaro National Monument.  Thepicture is of the Visitor Center.  After stopping in Chandler, AZ to see my son and grandchildren, we headed on I-17 north.  We went to see Montezuma’s Castle which is a Pueblo Indian edifice built into the rock face of a cliff.

Then we went on through Sedona to I-40 and followed the signs to Laughlin, NV.  We stayed overnight at the Aquarius Casino and were home by 3 PM.  Whew!  Lots of driving but I enjoy being behind the wheel and Debbie was a great navigator.  One word of advice – when going to national parks, be sure to always see the films available at the visitor centers.  Every one was well done and full of very interesting information. Picture below – Joanne Srack Mead on the left and Debbie Tuttle on the right.