Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Tennesee

I put so much time and energy into planning my first three weeks that now I'm a little worn out. The second half of my trip will be more focused on getting from point A to point B rather than hanging out in one place for days at a time. One thing I realized today that I had not thought of was the time difference. In Vegas I will be on Pacific time and I will be traveling East so I will be losing time as I go. Kyle thoughtfully suggested I go to the Pacific Ocean to "save time". I know by this point I will be sick and tired of living out of my car and traveling so that's why I've decided to stop and see some friends along the way.

We last left off at the Grand Canyon. I will be leaving there and checking out some national monuments around Flagstaff Arizona, most notably Petrified Forest National Park. Apparently it's not so much a forest as it is a barren wastleland filled with dead trees but it's a national park so I will go. Then I'm heading over to my friend Meris' ranch in New Mexico. I've been once before when they first moved there but I am excited to see Meris and her family now that they've been ranch owners for a couple years. I will be stopping by White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico as well. Jess highly recommends Carlsbad and I'm planning on being there at night when the bats descend. Then I am hauling across West Texas for a day and ending up in San Antonio. I am pretty excited to see the Missions and the Riverwalk. Then I will drive north to Austin and meet up with Melissa, another friend from the ranch. It will be good to see her in her town because we've only ever hung out at the ranch.

I'm leaving Texas July 27th and heading towards Arkansas. There is a Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas but I won't make the same mistake of going to a hot spring in high summer again. I'll cruise through Little Rock where you can apparently see the namesake "Little Rock". Next I'll be in Tennesee and I am very excited for this. I appreciate the stark landscapes of the West but there's something about the dense forests, hills, and flora of the East that I absolutely love and have sorely missed in the last two years. I'll spend a day in Memphis and Nashville, soaking up the country culture before heading over to Great Smoky Mountains National Park where I know I'll spend a couple days.

RoadsideAmerica.com has been a helpful resource as it has led me to the following sites: World's Biggest Cowboy Boots (Texas, duh), World's Largest Caterpillar (also Texas) and the half and half post office in Texarkana (see pic above).

I've been so focused on planning for this summer but now I'm going to shift my focus to planning Kyle's visit. This will be his first time out West and I want to pack in as much as possible. I am still juggling ideas but most of my destinations depend on whether the snow has melted or not. Memorial Day in the Rockies can be brutal. See below
Actually, that's a good picture. You can see the road...