June to July RV trip

On June 16th, Nancy and our youngest AZ grandson and I set-off on a almost 4,000 miles RV trip. The idea was to stop and see some old friends, but to show our grandson (Grady) some really cool places we had seen before and some we have not. The first couple days, like most of our RV trip are long (over 400 miles), but then we slow down to a manageable day ... less hours driving. North to I-40 through New Mexico and then headed Northeast through the Oklahoma panhandle, and the to Kansas for our first big stop. A Salt Mine, 650 feet below we went. Not the kind of salt we eat, but the type they put on roads. But first we had to stop and look at some BIG RIGS.

Now the Salt Mine was not only for salt, but for storage too. The had the tapes of the whole series of "Friends", Superman's costume and Iceman's costume from the Batman movie, plus thousands of other stuff.

Next stop was north of Kansas City Missouri to see our former across the street neighbors.After a few days, and a near scare of a tornado, we headed North along the border of Iowa and Nebraska. When we hit South Dakota, we turned West along I-80. If you have never been to WALL DRUG, you really should go. Yep, it's a tourist trap, but fun.

Still westward to Rapid City and several attractions. Mount Rushmore, Reptile Gardens, Custer State Park, Wind Cave and much, much more.

Believe me, I have A LOT MORE photos.Then it was on to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We have meant to stop here for SO MANY times and thought...why not now? So we did. OMG, it is outstanding!

Ok, now we turned South into Colorado hoping to climb Peak's Pike but the Cog Train was not running and the road was closed for a race. Bummer! So we went to the Cave of the Wind and Garden of the Gods. Grady loved it.

next stop was Santa Fe New Mexico to see some really good traveling friends who we have gone all over the world with. They moved from south of Portland Oregon to Santa Fe recently and still getting use to the Southwest ways. While we were there, we went to an VERY old settlement (1760s) for a tour. Amazing! The Sparrow's Nest is how it translates from Spanish.

The very last stop, as we came back to Arizona, was Meteor Crater. Not an overnight thing, just a stop and see. Very interesting, if you like the evolution of the earth history.

Finally on July 5th, we arrived home to 100+ temperatures, but that's OK...it's a dry heat, RIGHT?