kittenmmm's blog post - Day 8

Man oh man I've covered some ground. I went from Ft. Worth TX to Rosa Linda NM. The next day I drove from there to the Petrified Forest and the Grand Canyon. My son was unduly impressed by the "big hole in the ground". When I asked if he wanted to do the other rim the next morning he said no so I figured I would go a bit further down the road so the hotels would be less expensive and I could put some more miles under my belt.

Seemed like a good idea. Well 18 hours later I was following a truck into Yuma, AZ and seeing visions on the back of it..lol. I ended up pulling into the truck stop with him and just kicking back and sleeping in the car. Turns out, I was 2 minutes from my cousins' house. I refused to call anyone at 2:47 in the morning so I just tipped wolf's hat over my face, tilted the seat back and slept for 3 hours. I called my cousin around 5:30 am, he came to get us and we followed him back to his house.

Hey, the truck stop worked for me! No one bothers you and there's plenty of coffee and food. For $2.00 you can even take a shower. Although at that point that was the least of my concerns.

I spent the next day with cousins in Arizona. We went to Mexico and mucked about. Had some margaritas and some tacos and then came back to visit his sister. We had a good dinner and then watched a movie. I crashed...big time. I woke up around 2 am, looked over and my cousin was sleeping on a chair and I was still on the love seat. It worked for me so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up about 5am with his wife, had coffee and eventually woke my son for another day of driving.

The good news was that we only had to go about 3 hours to get to the next cousin in San Diego.

What beautiful sights we've seen though. New Mexico is red...rugged and beautiful. Arizona is yellow...and sandy...they get dust devils and right now they are in monsoon season so every morning everything is covered in dust. California...this part is cool and comfortable...coming in was hot and dry and mountainous but rocky. The mountains over here are very different from mountains in the east.

I marvel at the geological events that shaped this country. It is so different depending on where you are. And though the people are so very diverse, they are also so very much the same. I do have my favorite spots...as would anyone. But, I must say I love the entire country. You could easily spend a lifetime exploring this country alone. To think how fascinating it must be to go all over the world....

I'll try to be a bit more specific over the next couple of days while I'm here in San Diego but I also try to pack so much in that it's hard to try to condense it for a blog. This may be one of those living documents...lol Y'all be hearing about this trip for months after it's done.

Well, cousin doesn't smoke and I need a cigarette so that's all for now. Gotta run out to the patio and feed my addiction.

Talk to you soon!