A much bettter day!

Today was a nice leisurley day. I decided to take my time and to stop at as many rest areas and tourist info centers as we wanted. This really broke up the day. I still made it to Lincoln, IL tonight, so now I only have 300 miles to go tomorrow. Then I will be home! Also, tonight we found Kickapoo Creek Park. It had a lot of land with many many trails. We went on a couple of longer trails and Moon Shadow loved it. She ran a lot and seemed thrilled with the leaves and grass.

A Tiring Day

I started early this morning in the dark, hoping to make as many miles as possible. I wanted to make it at least to Joplin and maybe even farther. It ended up being a very long and tiring drive. There was construction going through Tulsa and the toll roads took up time as well. Oklahoma does not have any rest areas. They only have "picnic areas" that do not have bathrooms. This means that I stopped at McDonalds along the way. Each time you got off the toll road, you had to show them your receipt and get a refund at the exit and then pay as you got back on the turnpike. Talk about a pain! Then I had to make stops for Moon Shadow that were separate from my stops. Overall, I ended up making 530 miles. I was pretty much ready to stop driving an hour before Joplin, but the area that the hotels were located at were not very good. They were basically a gas station and a hotel next to a field and dirt roads. So, I pushed on and made it to Carthage, MO. I still have about 700 miles to go. At least Missouri and Illinois have rest areas!

Las Cruces to Vega, Texas

I made it to Vega, Texas today. It was about a 400 mile drive. I drove on US 54, which goes through the valley of many different mountains. It was very scenic. I had a hard time finding places to stop, as the towns were very small and far between. They didn't have much in the way of parks, etc. I think Moon Shadow is feeling confined in the car, as she sits up and looks at me like "when are we going to stop?" She doesn't sleep at all when we are driving. I know she will be happy when we finally get back to our home where things are familar and where she can go to all of the parks she ever wanted to.

Also, today I had to go through another border patrol inspection. Brent and I went through one coming from Tubac, AZ. Some times they just set them up on the highway. The one I went through today was a permanent one. Yesterday I saw 4 border patrol trucks that pulled over a car on the side of the highway.

I am posting some of the images from yesterday's blog of the crows flying into the wind. I heard this morning on local news that there were actually gusts of 50 mph yesterday. It definately felt that way!