We snuck out of Blairsville in the middle of the night, or at least that is what it felt like at 4:15a.m. But with a 12-hour drive to Branson, and not knowing what the weather was going to be along the way, we wanted to get an early start.
We headed up toward Chattanooga and through Nashville, down I-40 to Jackson and then up into Missouri, across 60 to Springfield and then down to Branson. The trip went smooth until Wanda, our GPS, took us through Branson instead of on the north side of Branson, adding about an hour to our trip. This is why we call her Wanda; because we always “wanda where she will take us.”
As we were checking into our timeshare we were asked if we wanted to attend an owners update meeting where they would give us a $120 prepaid Visa card. We have been to many of these and know them to be a 2½-hour sales meeting. Since we had nothing planned the next day and the meeting was just across the parking lot, we said yes to the offer and ended up making the equivalent of about $25/hour each.
After two nights in Branson we left around 4:00a.m. Since it was going to be a 14-hour drive we wanted to get an early start. We headed north through Springfield and caught 54 heading west. It was a pretty straight shot going through Wichita and then catching 50 and going on into Pueblo West, CO.
Just past Ft. Scott, KS
We had a wonderful two-night visit with our daughter and her family. It had been a couple years since we saw them and the grandkids have shot up like weeds! Our two-night visit ended all too soon and again we were on the road..
We headed south out of Pueblo West. Pueblo West is almost desert and there is constant wind there and all along I-85 as we were heading south making it good country for windmills.
Windmills around Walsenburg, CO
The drive today wasn’t quite as long but it sure felt good to check into our motel and unwind with a glass of wine.
The next day we spent at the Grand Canyon, which has been the highlight of the trip so far.
Heading out of Flagstaff on 1-80 heading towards the Grand Canyon. After so much desert it felt good to be amongst the pine trees.
There are paths all along the canyon rim as well as trails down into the canyon. We decided to walk along the rim for about two miles. The paths go RIGHT along the rim affording fantastic views of the canyon.
Here I am standing on a rock along side of the path we were on and as you can see, it drops off into the canyon below.
On the way back to Flagstaff we stopped at the Desert View overlook and got a great picture of the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River flowing through. Normally the river is more of an emerald green but due to all the rain they have had recently it is now a muddy brown.
The Little Colorado River Gorge was just as awe inspiring as the Grand Canyon but in a different way. There weren’t the beautiful reds of the Grand Canyon but deep, narrow gorge was spectacular. The Little Colorado River flows into the Colorado River.
Here are Susan and I at an overlook at the Little Colorado River Gorge. Notice the desert land behind. It is in stark contrast to the deep gorge we are standing in front of.
Today we were up and on the road at a little after 5:00a.m. for the last leg of this part of the trip. We are heading for Santa Barbara, CA where we will spend four days at events for Susan’s 50th high school reunion.
As you can see, I haven’t gotten much writing done on this leg of the trip but plan on spending some time during the next legs of the trip.
Until next week.
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