Friday morning, heading north out of El Paso into New Mexico on I-10, we play hide and seek with the Rio Grande, but we have to say “Adios, big river, we’ll see you in a couple of days in Albuquerque” as we make a detour onto Hwy 70, heading northwest to White Sands. Continue reading
Our last stop in Texas – El Paso – up in the northwest corner of the state, is a 577-mile scenic drive from Austin. Scenic, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. We were warned that it was a long and boring drive, but we found lots to look at and admire on the eight hour drive. Continue reading
About 80 miles south of Austin, San Antonio beckoned as a day trip. The seventh-largest city in the United States with a population of 1.3 million, it’s impossible to see everything in a day, but a day is all I had, so Judy Fowler and I headed down there to see just a few of the city’s highlights. First stop, downtown, home to the Alamo, the Gunter Hotel and the Riverwalk. Continue reading
We arrived in Austin smack-dab in the middle of SXSW (South by Southwest), along with 50,000 other people who’d come to Austin to take part in the festival. Continue reading
Fortified by a sumptuous breakfast, care of Natalie and sous-chef Dan, we were back on the road, heading down the highway a piece to North Little Rock, to spend the night at Dan’s place. Hey, it’s Saturday night! Let’s see what’s doing in Little Rock. Continue reading
As we cross over the Mississippi River heading west on 40, Memphis at our backs, it hits me that we’ve crossed America’s Great Divide. The mighty Mississippi, where East meets West. Continue reading
We didn’t come to Memphis for the food or the river walk or the ducks – we came for the music. Memphis – “Home of the Blues.” Continue reading
Memphis – home of the blues, Graceland and Beale Street. That’s all we knew about Memphis before we got there. Oh, and one more thing – the Peabody Ducks. Can’t miss the Peabody Ducks. Continue reading
Two hours east of Nashville, in the mountains of Tennessee, you’ll find the town of Crossville. Head out of town a ways, down the winding country roads, and out there among the rolling hills are two of the biggest Van fans going – Don and Mary Bell, Continue reading
We could see the storm clouds brewing overhead as we approached Nashville, but the rain held off just long enough for us to get to our hotel, drop our bags off, and head across the street to the local Waffle House for a bite to eat. And then the skies let loose. Continue reading