Dinosaur Bones, Tuba Players And Route 66

Today we traveled 717 miles from Little Rock, Arkansas to Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  Once again, Kirk was our driver.  He has amazing endurance!

On display at the New Mexico welcome center was a bronze cast of a dinosaur hip bone.

 

 

It was here at the welcome center that the guys were treated to a tuba player in the men's restroom.  An anonymous tooter was "practicing" in the stall while G and Kirk were trying to stifle their laughter while using the urinals.  We did not have any tooting musicians in the women's restroom.

 

We stopped for the night in Santa Rosa, NM where historic Route 66 runs through the town. 

 

 

 

 

The motel was a dive.  Our rooms had old wall AC units.  There must have been a sewer stack on the exterior near our AC unit, as it seemed to be sucking in sewer gas from outside our room.  It was too late at night to change rooms.  Slept hard.  Sewer fumes probably knocked us out!

Get In, And Shut Up

Today was the start of our grand adventure.  My companions are my husband G and our good friends Kirk and Joan.  Our goal is to visit sixteen U.S. National Parks in the next 27 days.  We will drive 9,000 miles and visit 17 states and one Canadian providence.

Kirk did all the driving today, 537 miles from north Georgia to Little Rock, Arkansas where we intended to visit Hot Springs National Park.  We arrived later than expected, and the park closed by 5 p.m.  So, we missed it and need to keep moving tomorrow.  

Our motto on this trip is: "Get In And Shut Up."  We want to make sure we are still good friends by the end of this road trip.

In the Navigator are packed some interesting and amusing items including Kirk's coffee maker, two CPAP machines for the sleep apnea guys, two sets of hearing aids for the guys, and a violin.  The violin is mine, and I need to practice while we travel so I don't lose any ground and for an upcoming recital.

Everyone behaved today.  Kirk's phone did not behave.  He was running "Ways" on it, and for awhile his iPhone would randomly play the Auburn University Fight Song.  Auburn is Joan's Alma Mater.  Kirk's is University of George - he's a Dawg.  Joan swears she did not put that song on Kirk's phone.

After supper at The Texas Road House, we filed out to the parking lot.  I headed for the nearest white SUV thinking it was Joan's vehicle and pulled at the locked door.

"Christy," Kirk called out.  "We're parked over here."

We all laughed and climbed into Joan's Lincoln Navigator...all except G who was trying in vain to get into a third white SUV parked some distance away from us.