North to Alaska

Farewells said this morning and it was time to leave. Donning our sunglasses and rolling our windows down I pointed the front of the truck North for the first time in over a month. The sun and warm breeze felt good on my arm as it rested on the door. 61 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. As our kids would say,"Sweet".

First stop Fredericksburg 60 miles away. Thought it was going to be a few hours stop, but we opted to spend the night. Nice town and lots to see. Tomorrow we'll spend a little time walking around town and look in the shops and galleries.


We went thru the National Museum of the Pacific War. Certainly worth the trip here and the walk thru the museum.

Just because we're headed North, the trip isn't over. We still have people to see Colorado, Nebraska, Michigan, and Indiana.

Texas Mountain Cedar

Didn't do much today so not much to write about. So guess I'll just mention a few things that I'll share about the trip.
When the TM Cedar is pollinating, it plays heck with my sinuses. Didn't get to sleep until 4am this morning. Heck of a time with allergies.


Restrooms

The further South you drive, the better the restrooms are. The ones in Canada are of the outhouse variety. When you get to the states. The ones just across the state lines are usually the best you'll find in that state. Take advantage of the stop and grab some tour literature that's there. Also get a booklet with coupons in them. You'll save money on items including motel rooms.
Carry an extra roll of TP with you when going thru Canada. No guarantee they'll be TP in them. Also carry a bottle of hand cleaner. They'll be no water or soap in them either.

Thought I got the big one

Ate lunch while out at a shopping mall the other day. I ordered a chicken fried steak. $7.99 for a small one and $8.99 for a big one. I ordered the small one since I wasn't that hungry. When it came, it covered 3/4 of the plate. Thinking the waitress made a mistake and not wanting to hurt her feelings, I said, " Gosh!, I should have ordered a small one". The waitress said that it was the small one. The Big ones come on a plate by themselves. Seems like all we do is eat and much more than we need.
I guess I'm stimulating the economy and spreading the wealth at the expense of spreading my as setts.

The restaurants down here seem to all be very busy in the evenings......"what recession".
Saw a 5lb bag of Idaho potatoes for 88 cents a bag. Amaretto is $6.00/ bottle. In Alaska it's $24-27.00/ bottle.

Like I said at the beginning, slow day in Texas

For Laura and her Spice Monkey

Let's see, last time I updated was back in Arizona a week ago. We drove across the lower part of New Mexico in a day. I heard about the beautiful women in New Mexico and wanted to try and photograph them and then do a sketch and maybe a painting. Well, from what I saw while traveling thru NM is that someone contaminated the gene pool. Perhaps I need to look closer when we drive thru again next week.

Don't Mess With Texas

Saw that sign a lot when we got to Texas.

We spent New Years Eve at Fort Stockton, Texas. We rented a room for $42.00 tax included. After we, I mean I rented the room, we went out to get something to eat. On the way back we decided to get some bubblie for the New Year's celebration. So one bottle of sparkling cider and some snacks.
Back in the room and in a few hours we'll be ringing in 2010. In a $42.00 room including tax one doesn't get coffee maker, hair dryer, clock, or cups to drink sparkling cider. So at midnight Pam and I drank our cider like two recovering wineos passing the bottle back and forth. So welcome to Texas and say hello to 2010.

What can I say about driving across Texas. It's big, it's flat, and you can go fast. 80 mph fast.

Remember the Alamo

We're at Chuck and Jan's house just a few miles outside San Antonio. We haven't been to The Alamo this year, but we did see it last year.
It's been cold here, but not as cold as the rest of the country.

Hablo Espanol ?

We went to a WalMart and I needed to use the restroom. As I walked in so did a young man just in front of me He started talking so I looked around and we were alone. The fact that he said something to me wasn't unusual. What was unusual is he was speaking Spanish. I certainly don't look Mexican. As we were standing at the urinal he kept speaking Spanish. So I finally looked at him and said , " I don't speak Spanish". He looked at me and kept talking. I then said "No habla Espanol". We just looked at each other. He kept talking and I could only imagine what he was now saying to me. As he went to wash his hands, I noticed he had a wireless earpiece for his telephone in his ear. I'd forgotten about those things.

That's about all that was funny to happen this week. Hey, it's Texas.

Beep Beep ----whooshhhhhh

Not much to write about this evening. We left Sierra Vista this morning. Thought about going to see The Buffalo Soldiers Museum, but didn't. Maybe next time.

I'll try filling this evenings blog with blah blah blah stuff. We have seen road runners while on the trip. You know Wiley Coyote and the Road Runner. They are funny to watch running. We've gone thru several Border Patrol check points. Two of them again today. We're in New Mexico this evening. I now send Pam in to get the rooms. She has a knack of getting the $55.00 rooms. We're staying in a La Quinta Motel in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She got for $49.00. She was standing in line and saw a lady in front use a coupon for a lesser price. So Pam came back to the truck, looked thru our coupon books we got at the visitor center. Eureka, she found one. Thus the price. Ate at Country Kitchen. Again, $20.00 for both meals and drinks. The food wasn't bad. Walked over to WalMart and shopped and stretched our legs. Prices were comparable to Ketchikan prices. There were some good prices on food. Example - 2 bags of oranges $1.00. ....for both. about 15 oranges in each bag. Saw a beautiful sunset this evening.

Well, that's about all today. No videos this evening. Was a nice warm day today. Hope everyone will have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve.

Our Lady of the Sierras

We spent last night on Sierra Vista, AZ. Nice little town yet still has large shopping malls. See a lot of Border Patrol vehicles. Also go thru BP check points, so yes that are on the job.

We visited Montezuma's Pass with an elevation of 6,575 ft. and a cavern not far away.

We took in the view and drove a few miles to see Our Lady of the Sierras. That's the video below. Our Lady of the Sierras Shrine is located on a hill in the Huachuca Mountains. Visitors are welcomed by a 75 foot Celtic Cross and a large angel with open arms.

We've decided to spend another day here and planning on seeing a museum about the Buffalo Soldiers tomorrow.

Had dinner at The Texas Roadhouse. Two steaks and shrimp, ice tea, and a strawberry daiquiri was $47.00. Again, it was more than we could or should eat in one sitting. The room is $55.00/night and diesel is still $2.89 -$2.99/gal.

Bisbee, Az. an old copper town

Bisbee is a old historic Copper mining town. Although the mining has long since gone, the historic buildings and flavor of that era still lives on. If you go to Tombstone, then drive a few miles further and visit this town. It will be worth the drive.

The weather was chilly today by local standards, warm to us though. Thought about wearing shorts, but decided on jeans.

Looked in some art galleries. There were some nice paintings and pricey ones. One gallery had paintings from $4.000 and another $14,000. Talked to a gallery owner who also paints. Of course I asked her all kinds of questions. She reminded me of Diane who owns the Exploration Gallery in Ketchikan. I need to get my paints out and start painting.

39 shots in 30 seconds

That was the shoot out at the OK Corral. Saw a reenactment of it. It was certainly realistic.....sort of. After the gun fire, kids were crying. So if ya got kids, cover their ears. Video of it below. All the videos I post are a short version of longer clips. We ate at one of the resuarants in town. All the places to eat keep the Western atmoshere. Did see a young lady order some beef ribs. It was the biggest ribs I've ever seen served on a plate. I wanted to go over and take a movie of it, but Pam said no. The ribs were bigger than the plate. I looked over about 20 minutes latyer. She was still eating on them, but didn't look like she made a dent in them.


Cloudy today. Headed towards Bensen to see some cavern, then on to New Mexico. I'll blog about it tonight and add more to this one.

Saw on the weather channel more snow up North..BRRRRRRRR