Day 28 - The "Things Don't Always Work Out As Planned Day"

Day 28
Tupelo, MS - Madison, GA
Officially back through all the time zones.

You can probably determine how your day is about to unfold based on your first important transaction.  Today I drove through the McDonald's drive through for a breakfast biscuit and some Diet Coke, drove to the first window, paid the cashier and then drove off without actually picking up my breakfast.  About 5 minutes later I felt kind of thirsty, looked down and didn't have a drink.  They got quite a kick out of my second time through the drive through.  I will refrain from including all the details of the rest of the day but let's just say I'm thinking tomorrow will be a lot better!

Travel Tip #1:  If you are trying to visit a tourist attraction that has moved to a new location, don't drive around the middle of Atlanta looking for the old one.
Travel Tip #2:  Remember, the time doesn't actually change until you drive across the time zone line.
Travel Tip #3:  If your hotel advertises rooms by the week and is right beside a big rig truck wash, don't expect clean towels...or really clean anything else.
Travel Tip #4:  Always have hand sanitizer and wet ones at your disposal...see above.
Travel Tip #5:  Don't be fooled by air conditioning.  If you are not in the Pacific Northwest it will be over 100 degrees when you step out of your car.

Day 27 - Armadillo Day

Day 27
Perryville, AR - Tupelo, MS (Birthplace of Elvis)

7:15am  Breakfast with Sarah & her cutie pie daughter from Heifer Study Tour trip
8:00am  Nap
10:00am Tour of Heifer Ranch - fed a camel & a llama
11:30am  Gift Shop
12:30pm  Hit the road for Little Rock
2:00pm Visited Global Village & took a tour of the super green Heifer Headquarters building and said hi to Todd, our Study Tour Team Leader
4:00pm On the road to Memphis
6:00pm Arrived at Graceland to realize they lock it up at 5
7:30pm Saw Armadillo
9:00pm Arrived in Tupelo, MS

Day 26 - The Day I Milked a Goat

Day 26
Elk City, OK - Perryville, AR  Heifer Ranch

Long day of driving through places that were about 108 degrees today but it ended at the Heifer Ranch where I:
* took a quick look through the gift shop to see what damage I can do tomorrow
* took lots of fun photos
* milked a goat
* walked three goats back to their pasture on a leash
* rode in the farm truck through the cow pasture with one of the volunteers
* had the best meal of the trip so far at a Mexican place in town
* checked into one of the rooms at the ranch that is super clean and comfortable
Tomorrow is breakfast with Sarah, one of the Honduras trip leaders...a tour of the ranch...more photos...gift shopping and then back to the road.

Day 25 - The Day of The Big Rainstorm & The Roadrunner

Day 25
Albuquerque, NM - Elk City, OK
432 miles
States So Far This Summer:  Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington State, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma & the a general state of confusion.  :-)

Now that the excitement of the west is over it's time to buckle down and get some hours in over the next few days.  Tomorrow I'm hoping to make it the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, AR.  Driving through the Texas Panhandle today it rained for the first time on my trip.  And when I say rained I mean I couldn't see the white lines and pulled over using the rumble strip as a guide.  The sky was beautiful when the rain finally stopped.  I blame the Bush's for the Texas rainstorm.  I learned today that Amarillo produces 90% of the beef in the state of Texas and that accounts for 25% of the beef in the USA.  I think it was a great town to contemplate veganism while driving through.  Also, I learned today that broccoli is made from milk as you will see explained in my photos for the day.  Visited some petroglyphs, saw a rabbit and a roadrunner.  Stopped at some Cadillacs sticking out of the ground.  Interesting day full of a lot of driving.

Day 24 - The day I neither drove north to Arches or south to the Saguaros

Day 24
Flagstaff, AZ - Albuquerque, NM

I've somehow lost track of my mission...seeing every cool thing the US has to offer before returning home.  :-)  The days are fewer and the places more.  Better get busy on that list of places to visit once I get back home.  Today I went to Petrified Forest National Park.  It wasn't that scary.  The photo above is of the Painted Desert.

You may have been on the road too long...
...if your seat breathes a sigh of relief each time you get out of the car.
...if taking photos from the driver's seat seems like the perfect angle for any shot.
...if you get almost as excited about unlimited salad bars as you do National Parks.
...if you've seen at least one appendage that looks real floating downstream.
...if your new best friend is your container of Lady Anti Monkey Butt Anti Friction Powder.
...if you're not sure how many public restrooms you've made use of in recent weeks.
...if you have nightmares of dropping essential items into pit toilets.
...if you've worked out a plan of how to retrieve said essential items.
...if you've devised a way to wedge your cell phone between your bra and seat belt for hands free car chats.
...if you have no idea what city you are in when you wake up or go to sleep.
...and last but not least, you know you've been on the road too long when it just seems run of the mill that the old man checking into the Super 8 ahead of you asks where the hospital is because he has kidney stones and may need to go there during the night.  It's not odd that he's driven from Colorado after getting a shot of morphine at his home hospital, which has has followed up with morphine pills.  It hardly even seems strange when he mentions his leg is still bleeding quite a bit and you and the hotel clerk gaze down to see some sort of medical apparatus hanging from his leg under his shorts.  All in a days travel.

Day 23 - Day of the Bighorn Sheep & The Grand Canyon

Day 23
Boulder City, Nevada - Flagstaff, Arizona
Gas Price Range Today - $3.45 to $4.09

In honor of last night's stay at the Nevada Inn I'd like to give some tips on how to know if you are checking into and staying at a roach motel.
1.  If a sign on check in desk says, "Only two rolls of toilet paper will be provided per week and no extra tissues."
2.  If the rooms have a jacuzzi that can only be used for an additional $20.
3.  If the hotel sign lights up in neon like a casino.
4.  If a large banner near the street proclaims the largest parking lot around as one of the draws to stay there.
5.  If you walk into the room and it's 95 degrees because the air conditioner has been turned off all day and the mini fridge is also unplugged.
6.  If the carpet is so stained you keep your shoes on until you get into the bed.
7.  If you wear flip flops into the shower.
8.  If you take in your own pillow and sleeping bag and strip the bed to the bottom sheet and then get nervous because you know the pillow and sleeping bag have to go back in the car in the morning.
9.  And finally you know if you're at a roach motel if the giant bug on the window sill begs you to let it outside as you close the curtain for the night.

I would like to thank Rachel Maddow for her public fascination with the Hoover Dam without which I would have passed it over and missed seeing bighorn sheep, funky chipmunks and some yet unidentified birds.  I'd thank her personally, but she still hasn't accepted my friend request on facebook.  What's up with that Rachel?!?

The Grand Canyon was grand, living up to it's name.  Most of the people there today were French.  I noticed they have a different take on personal space.  For instance, if you're in the space they'd like to be standing in they just bump you out of the way if you don't make it a point to stand your ground.  It would seem they are a people who know what they want and get it.  Or at least this seemed to be the trend for those at the Canyon.

Tune in tomorrow for...Signs that you have been driving too long.

Day 22 - The Day I Saw a Bear

Day 22
Sequoia NP - Boulder City, NV
Milage: 7,700

Saw a bear, drove, saw lots of hills, drove, saw Vegas, drove, at cheap hotel, tired.

Tomorrow:  Hoover Dam and then 4.5 hours to The Grand Canyon