New Coach Part II: back to Redlands

Picking up the drive from Elkhart to Redlands, we stayed with my sister Charlotte in Santa Fe for a couple of days. But first, the Route 66 car museum:

Karin and Charlotte at La Fonda on the Plaza (hotel):

Beautiful petroglyphs on private land:

Surprise snow the morning we left. Santa Fe is at 7000 feet, after all:

Excellent science museum in Los Alamos:

And a spectacular view of one of the two supervolcano calderas in the USA:

We stayed overnight at "Mom & Pop's" RV Park in Farmington NM.
Pop still makes tiny dioramas at age 84, painting without a magnifier:

Next, a quick stop at Monument Valley. The drive from Kayenta to the Valley is a treat for amateur geologists:

We drove to Sedona via the Grand Canyon and a quick stop at the "other" Planes of Fame museum. Not sure I've ever seen a P38 without it's wings and engines:

We went on Kim Carlsberg's UFO tour in Sedona, recommended!  http://www.sedonaufoskytours.com/ After the tour she pointed us to the Red Planet Diner; good food and fun decor:

Overnight in Las Vegas, then home through the Mojave National Preserve. More great geology and interesting WWII boom-town history:

Home again to lawn mowing and pool chemistry.

P.S:  We lucked out on timing. For example, it was 55 and sunny when we were at Mammoth Caves. 10 days later there was a foot of snow on the ground.

We pick up the new Coach

We met in Chicago Jan 31 and stayed over again with Tex and Susan Hull.  The next day we watched the great Superbowl game with some of Tex's friends from SPSS:

Before the game, we braved the weather to walk over for another visit to the Field Museum:

Groundhog Day. Tex drove us to Elkhart for quick tour of the Phoenix Cruiser Factory and an orientation on my new coach. (not this one!)

We had lots of provisioning and outfitting to do in Elkhart.  Think: new 

apartment.  Maria carded us for our wine.

We stayed the first night right at the Phoenix factory, using their visitor shore line for 

electricity. They assured us we wouldn't freeze anything even at 5 degrees. 

We left Elkhart and drove south. We left the snow behind around Indianapolis.

First stop: Mammoth Caves, in Kentucky; we took the "Domes and Dripstones" tour. Sand-

hill cranes overhead as we entered the cave.

Next stop, Nashville for more provisioning and supper at Cracker Barrel. 

Excellent gas prices!

You can't drive through Memphis without paying homage to the king. 

Karin at Graceland:

Elvis' pool room:

Next stop: Little Rock,  Clinton library. 

I had been there for a conference social the year it opened.  Lot of saxophones and good 

vibes.

Oval office replica at Clinton Library

To extend the Clinton theme, we drove beyond Oklahoma City and stayed in Clinton OK. Main St is the old Route 66.

We got the coach washed at a truck-wash in Clinton, skipping the special "Carrots and Sweet-Potato Cleansing". I just wanted to get rid of the Indiana road salt.

Amarillo Attraction:  the Big Texan Restaurant.The 72 ounce steak is free if you eat in within one hour.

The restaurant has wonderful hokey decor:

In Amarillo we visited the Museum of Art which had a wonderful exhibit of late Andy Warhols:

Amarillo also features the Cadillac Ranch.  All the cars are coated with at least an inch of spray-paint graffiti. 

Russell's Truck Stop just into New Mexico has an excellent free car museum: