Day 9

Went back to the Grand Canyon today, couldn't really see anything because the weather didn't clear up at all, so we moved on to Monument Valley, Utah. The weather was pretty bad there too, but we decided to wait it out for about an hour, and went and grabbed some food. By the time we were finished, the weather had cleared up enough to take the 17 mile crazy dirt/ sand/ rock road through the park. My little car did pretty damn well! It was a bit rough, but we had so much fun! Blasted Ennio Morricone (he did most of the famous scores for classic westerns) while we drove through.
Once we finished at Monument Valley, we headed north to Arches National Park in Moab, UT. Drove through the park right around sunset. Got to see the arches, but by the time we got there, the sun had pretty much set, and some clouds came in, so we didn't get many pictures of the arches themselves.

Day 8

Went to "Bearizona" ... a drive through wildlife park about and hour away from the Grand Canyon, went to the  canyon in the afternoon, but it was rainy and hazy and really hard to see anything, so we stayed just outside the park for the night, hoping that the weather would clear up over night.

Day 7

Went back to White Sands in the morning. Then headed for Roswell, which was less than eventful, but just one of those things you have to do. Then we moved onto the petrified forest.

Day 6

Hung out in El Paso for most of the day with Anthony. Went to the gun range with him to shoot some stuff. heh..... I don't have the photos on the computer yet, but you will all hear about how that one went soon enough. lol
Then we all went to White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, NM. Rachel and Anthony drove separate, and we parted ways after sunset. Mike and I stayed in Alamogordo at a campground for the night,  and went back to White Sands in the morning. (But that will come in the next post.)

 Yay! White sands!

 Yucca Plants were all over.

 We had a lot of sand in our shoes.

After the sunset. This was done with a long exposure.

Day 5

Drove across Texas today..... yep. That was a long haul. Some pretty stuff, and some pretty boring stuff too. haha Got to El Paso around 7:30 at night, and the view coming into the city was beautiful. Stayed with Rachel and Anthony for the night.

 This is what most of Texas looked like...

This was our view on the way into El Paso....

Day 4

Today we left New Orleans, but not before visiting some of the old cemeteries. We visited a graveyard for the people who cannot afford the traditional mausoleum (which means you are buried in the ground in a rather shallow grave.) New Orleans is at sea level, and bodies are pushed up out of the ground, and heave and cave in and what not. It was quite sad actually to see, but a harsh reality I suppose. After that we visited a traditional Cemetery. Once we left town, we headed for Baton Rouge, and on the way stopped at a Plantation house called Oak Alley, which was one of the most beautiful sites we have seen thus far. Then we headed on to Texas!

This pathway is a quarter mile in length, and leads to bank of the Mississippi River, which is now on the other side of a levy. It is lined by 28, 300 year old oaks.

This is the view from the balcony of the Plantation house.

This is me enjoying a mint julep during one last stroll down the pathway before we headed out. (I only drank a bit of it cause there was a butt-load of bourbon in it, Mike didn't like.... but I rather enjoyed the taste. )

Day 3

Got into New Orleans about mid-day. Set up the tent at the KOA campground which was pretty much in the city, which was interesting. Traffic is getting crazier by the day. Going into New Orleans  at one point is 7 lanes on each side, and bumper to bumper traffic going 70. (70mph is the actual speed limit down here... but people go MUCH faster than that. We went to a local restaurant and got some fried food. Mike ordered alligator, and we both tried it. (It was pretty chewy...haha) He also got a soft shell crab po boy, which was literally an entire crab deep fried, on a bun with all the fixins'. The legs stuck out beyond the bun, so it looked like a bun with crab legs.
Then we headed into the French Quarter for some nightlife. Saw some beautiful stuff, and some really gross stuff....( if you want to know you have to ask, lol) Mike had his picture taken with a goat, and got dehydrated from sweating so much. Camping was super-miserable. I don't think I have ever been that sweaty in my life. But, New Orleans was great!