Made it!

We've haven't had internet access the past couple days, so it may be a surprise to see that we managed to go all the way from Amarillo to New Jersey in only 3 days. That's right!
On day 4, we went from Amarillo to Oklahoma City to Little Rock. In Oklahoma City we walked around the 'bricktown' area (touristy, I think) and ate at Toby Keith's restaurant (where else?). In Little Rock we drove into downtown and were just about to give up on finding anything when we stumbled into the happening area - we parked and got a pizza and hung around for a couple hours. It was a very fun evening, and we even met someone who was driving from the East coast back home to Oakland. All paths led to Little Rock.
Day 5 was from Little Rock to Memphis to the Great Smoky Mountains. In Memphis we walked to Beale Street, which is full of restaurants and music venues (also touristy). I was there a few years ago - the street is closed to traffic and it becomes a big outdoor party on the weekends. We also walked (on the advice of the guy from Little Rock) to the Civil Rights Museum, which is built around the motel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot. It's full of exhibitions and stories from 400+ years of the struggle for Civil Rights....a very interesting museum. We actually planned to camp outside Knoxville, but somehow ended up camping in the Great Smoky Mountains, about 40 miles south. They live up to their name - as soon as we got near them (~1:00 AM), everything was covered in fog. We found the campsite and fortunately there were sites left. On the drive out in the morning we got to see everything we missed on the way in. The mountains are huge! Knoxville's elevation is around 800 feet, but the highest peaks in the park were well over 6000. I had gotten used to the Santa Cruz mountains, but these were really quite a bit bigger. Surprising to find stuff like that in Tennessee! Also, Dollywood is just outside the park, as well as a sprawling entertainment area - theaters and amusement parks and restaurants...all in a town called Pigeon Forge. We thought it would be all forest in the area, but instead it's a world of Tennessee entertainment. Who knew.
Day 6+ was a doozy. We originally planned to take I-81 North out of Knoxville, but instead decided it would be nice to take the scenic (and somewhat parallel) Blue Ridge Parkway out of Asheville, NC. It certainly is scenic, but the speed limit is only 45, and the plentiful curves limit you to around 35 most of the time. Three hours and only 100 miles later, we took an hour-long detour over to I-81. The result - 4 hours to get 120 miles from Knoxville. We were afraid it would be a lost day until we got our second wind. We stormed through Virginia and looked for a campsite in Maryland around 12:30 AM. Finding none, I decided we might as well try to make the ~220 miles from Maryland to Harrisburg to New Jersey, and finish the journey that night. So, we did. We arrived at Alicia's parents' house in New Jersey at 4:47 AM.
Why I am awake and writing this, I do not know. I have a bunch of pictures, and now that I've got a normal internet connection, I'll put up some of them. Have a nice weekend everyone!

Don't mess with Texas

Good morning from Amarillo, Texas!
After the canyon we made it as far as Holbrook, in eastern AZ. I took a little nap while Alicia took over the driving. We found a KOA, set up camp and fell asleep.
Yesterday was a big day of driving. We took a break in Albuquerque for lunch and quick sightseeing. (Carol - we saw the Isotopes' stadium AND bought a t-shirt). Looked for Xilinx license plates, but no luck. Also, I have to recommended that you skip eating at La Hacienda next time you're in town.
After Albuquerque we came out of the mountains into the Great Plains, and a huge thunderstorm. I'm pretty sure the cargo bubble is waterproof. We finally made it to Amarillo and got a real motel room. This morning looks pretty gloomy outside...I guess the West Coast is officially behind us now.
Today the plan is Little Rock, but we may get even farther, despite a later start today. After losing 2 hours yesterday between Arizona and Texas, we're actually car-lagged. Weird.

That sure is a grand canyon.

Three days and over 1500 miles already. Yesterday we got a late start from Vegas and reached Hoover dam in the mid-day heat. After a quick photo op at the dam we continued through the neverending Arizona desert towards the Grand Canyon. It's amazing how even in the most seemingly desolate of areas, you can still find houses and little towns.
We got to the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon with enough time to do a little rim walk and fully appreciate the awesomeness of the canyon. We drove East to Lipan point at the eastern edge of the park where we were able to watch the sunset. Pictures don't do justice. It is so beautiful.

Viva!

We packed, cleaned the house, and finally left San Jose this morning at 7:30 AM. After an uneventful trip down 101 and over to I-5, I noticed that the front of our beloved cargo bubble was beginning to lift up in the wind. Left alone, it looked like the side hinge would eventually get tired and the lid would tear off and disaster would ensue. Fortunately we had some spare bungee cords and they have done the trick so far. Bur when we get back I'll have some stern words for the folks at REI and Yakima.
Once we got going again, we made our way to Bakersfield (a shout-out to Garland), and then on to Barstow and points East and rediculously hot. My guess was the thermometer would top out at 107...but we hit 114 just past Baker...amazing that so many people can live in the desert. It cooled off to a balmy 102 as we rolled into Las Vegas.
We've got a hotel a couple blocks off the strip, and spent the evening and night seeing all the big and famous casinos...I also managed to somehow lose $100 in blackjack over the course of the night. I'm not a big bettor so it was a relative bloodbath for me there.
Tomorrow we're off to the Grand Canyon (south rim) and we'll try to make it at least to Albuquerque for the night.
We're taking pictures but it looks like Blogger doesn't let me post photos from my handheld gizmo...I'll try to find a photo site that will work.

Packing packing packing

It's been a slow march of progress to get everything either boxed up, thrown away, or sold. Craigslist has been working well so far - so far we've sold:

• TV


• TV stand


• Rug


• Tent


• Bike helmets


• DVD player

People should be coming over later today to get the microwave and nightstands. It's nice to be able to sell all your possessions...maybe I'll try a vow of silence or some other minimalist trick.

The plan is to leave tomorrow, but it might be pushed back to Sunday. Today is all packing, all the time, so hopefully we'll get everything together. And hopefully it will all fit in the car.