Westward bound in Rose - our version of the covered wagon!

After a wonderful 4 months at home, we're off on a 3 month trip to spend time in the national parks in the south west after a  fun Bon Voyage party send off from our good friends John and Cindy.

It was so much simpler to prepare for this trip than it was for Alaska last year - no border crossings, no ferry rides and hopefully much better access to email and cellphone service! Our plan is to travel across the very most southern parts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona during the colder months of February and March stopping to see Big Bend , Guadalupe, Saguaro, Carlsbad Caverns, Joshua Tree, Walnut Canyon, Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Parks and then travel up the California coast to Monterey and then head east to Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Sequoia, Death Valley and then on to the 7 national parks in Utah and Mesa Verde in Colorado before scurrying back home to enjoy the summer on the lake!

Gary did lots of prep to ready Rose for the 7,000+ mile trip out west. We were so hoping to have a really smooth start to our trip ( quite a change from last year) but is was not meant to be.  We weren't even out of the driveway when we discovered water was leaking out of the water heater onto the driveway ( not where the water is supposed to go!). Somehow during the cold winter weather  a valve cracked in the water heater system and of course the part that we needed was not in stock at the dealership near our home. So......our planned departure date was delayed a few days - fortunately it was easily adjusted since we had no reservations for this trip!

We had originally planned to spend a few days in Atlanta taking care of our granddaughters together but instead , I headed on down to Atlanta in Scooter to help out with Emmy and Lyla  for a few days while Gary took Rose to the "hospital" for her needed repairs. Rose got her leaks fixed in just two days so Gary met me in Atlanta. After a fun visit with Drew, Anna, Emmy and Lyla we headed south to Pensacola Florida for our first stops at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, San Antonio and Big Bend National Park in west Texas.

While on the road.....

Our campsite at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Molly dog tired after a walk

Texas goes on forever - it took us two days to drive across the state - the landscape sure didn't seem to change much. The only exception was the "Buc- ees" store that advertised on billboards for 300 miles on I10 to "hold it" because  they have the cleanest bathrooms in the U.S. - we had to stop and see for ourselves! They do - plus they have LOTS of food and stuff to buy of course!!! If you are ever on I10 between Houston and San Antonio - "hold it" and stop at Buc- ees!!!

Pensacola Highlights:

• Gary and I sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet. He used a flight simulator to successfully land the jet on an aircraft carrier ( just like he did for real in the "olden days" when he was in his 20's)!   He wished it had been for real again , I , on the other hand, was thankful it was a simulation!

• Walking on the beautiful white sandy beach at the National Park

• Fresh shrimp from our favorite seafood shop - Joe Patti's

San Antonio Highlights:

• Seeing the Alamo and learning more about Texas's fight for independence from Mexico

• The river walk - a lovely stroll along the river

Big Bend National Park Highlights:

• Seeing the high desert and the only mountain range in Texas

• Rio Grande River that creates a 1,750 mile border with Mexico

• At the campsite in Marathon near Big Bend NP

Next stops will be in Northern Texas and New Mexico - Guadalupe National Park, Carlsbad Caverns and Roswell (can't wait to learn more about the UFO sightings there)!