New Mexico into Oklahoma

Good bye New Mexico

Cool old gas station in the middle of nowhere

Surprise array of wind turbines near Oklahoma City.
Almost as many here as in the Columbia Gorge.

With friends in ABQ

Becky and 'Andrew' Whitehead

Jason and kids with the Heine / Whitehead Clan.

Our children with the Ruehle children, they had a great time playing!

The Twins. Billy B. and Jason.

How to tell that you're in New Mexico

Pinon seeds for sale!

Lots of churches, in all shapes and sizes

courtyards with Chili's hanging

Wind and Dust storms that blow you all over the freeway.
Actually, they partially ripped open our awning, knocked the trailer around, and the sand probably ripped off half of my paint. (the Starboard side)

One of the wildest drives ever! (winds at 30 MPH, gusts over 55)

Newspaper Rock

One of my favorite places in Utah

Ancient petroglyphs, very artistic. Fat tailed gecko? Hunters, buffalo, antelope, feet, ???

wider view of the rock

Arches Part 3

Photos from the afternoon:

Pine Arch

Sand dune arch

Artistic shot from Sand dune arch

Row of rock fins towards sunset

Arches Part 2

Some pictures from around Arches:

Arches Part 1

Everyone at the visitors center before going into the park proper.

Wall-street section as we entered the park. The winds coming through the gorge were moving at least 30 MPH due to a funneling effect.

Day 3, Idaho to Moab

Well, I will just say that the drive was long and mostly un-interesting, except for the crazy weather. There was snow along both sides of the road as we headed into Utah, some winds and such. At one point we saw sleet and were driving in slush. The truck got covered in salt from the semis passing us and splashing rocks and slush onto the windshield. (see pic) The traffic was crazy through the Salt Lake corridor with lots of construction and narrow passages against stone barriers.
We were snowed on and passed large snow drifts as we passed from Provo to Green River through the pass, but the road stayed clear. We dodged a few major rain storms after the pass and before the park, one of which you can see in the picture. The storms were Enormous! It's called the Wild West for a reason!
We made much better time this day, made fewer stops, and pulled into an RV park in lateafternoon. The park had a view of the park, and we could see an arch or two in the far distance.

Our 

The second day, we drove to a small town just East of Twin Falls, ID.
It was cold, and windy. And Cold.

The kids went out and played in the light dusting of snow/frost.

I should have unhooked and drained the hose at night. I ran the water for a while, and was able to thaw out the hose. It was mostly full of ice to start. :)

The first night out (Sunday afternoon) we drove only a couple hours to Maryshill on the Washington side of the Columbia river. I wanted to be across Portland by Monday morning!

Our Trailer in our spot.

That evening, we trucked up to the Stonehenge war memorial and dodged driving winds and then rain to play around the monuments. The sunight down the river through the rain was spectacular.

The Rig

I wanted to post some older pictures of The Rig.
We'll be towing the ~30foot trailer behind the Ford, total trip length will be somewhat over 7,000 miles.
We will need 2 oil changes and a tire rotation somewhere in the middle. ;)

Our travel plan

This is the route for our trip, traveling "counter-clockwise" to the east coast and then returning through SD and MT.


View Sabbatical Plan Rev1 in a larger map

Less than 3 weeks!

So little time and so much to do!

With fresh tail-lights on the trailer, a fresh coat of liner in the back of the truck, and all appliances apparently functional, we are getting close.

The best words of advice that we have received: "There are plenty of Wal-marts along the way, so don't stress about missing something in your packing"

Some of the next items on the list are getting tires and brakes checked, cleaning the roof, a shopping trip to Camping World, and cleaning out the truck cab. (the last item being the most difficult!)