Amarillo, WAHOO!
At the risk of tagging  the good folks of Amarillo with a nickname like, "Stinker or Holy Crap! What the Hell is that Smell?!", I realize there will be no risk as no one will, especially those from Amarillo,  be reading this.
As we were approaching an odor so strong and foul hit us like a charging Bull. I immediately yelled at Seville. After two other long days, event free (no cat mistakes or smells in the cage), I figured it must have finally happened. As were driving in the dark we could not see the surrounding countryside. I was chiding the cat and Kathy kept saying,"that can't be the cat, it must be cattle yards close by that can't be seen in this darkness". This smell, though not as strong, was still in the air when we got to our hotel. So I guess Amarillo is an agricultural center. Who knew?
Other than this bit of excitement we did pass by the largest Meteor Crater, which can be viewed on google, and gave me an opportunity to take a shot of Mt. Humphrey.  
We spent a wonderful evening with the Johnson's at their new home in Wichita. Zoe is beautiful and growing up so fast. Nick and Sabrina, as always, so much fun to be with. Being in the same time zone, I hope to be able to see them sooner than every 3 years or so.
I post these two shots. One of Mt. Humphrey taken from a distance of about 10 miles from the east as we decided not to pay to see the largest meteor crater ever. And a shot of Nick as we left to go back to our hotel.

Our next leg of the journey takes us into winter storm Saturn. I just love it when a plan comes together.

A Day at the Grand Canyon

Our first day out we made it to Needles Arizona. That should be the longest days drive. It was 10 hours. We ate at Bob's Juicy cafe. I'm not really sure about the name but it was "something Juicy". (food was good too). Seville, the cat, did well also. She made no messes and and slept most of the way. No more herding in the mornings and no need to wrangle topless. (See posts from trip out.)
The Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular sights in the world. It's like being in church. At least at this time of the year there is very little traffic, no crowds, and few bus tours. Everyone that was there was quiet and awe struck as were we. This didn't stop me from taking 185 pictures. It was very easy to get great positions and take all the time needed to fiddle with the camera. It was kind of different to see a bus load of tourists go to the edge and hold up their I Pads and wave them around. (What must the spirits must be saying?!)
We saw elk, antelope and deer. The deer and antelope seemed to be more interested in grazing than playing, just in case you were wondering. You can see almost the entire southern rim by using the free shuttle service. I highly recommend using them. They stop at the different outlooks every 15 minutes and you get a chance to see the wildlife as well, no, not as in Lohan, just more elk.
Well, got to get packing, we are off to wild and wonderful Amarillo!

Saying Goodbye

As we look forward to our new adventures in Chicago we say good bye to our friends and our sunny California digs. It has been a fast three years, Caitie graduating college, Yardley getting married, Josh and Corrine with impending nuptials, and my 3.0 GPA. (yes, a little about me)Oh yes, we must not forget the meteoric rise to power of Kathy's career from CG-6 to CG-9!
Sadly we leave Leo (the big cat ) behind. He made his way to the rainbow bridge here in California. Seville, going solo, has developed a whole new personality. She is out going, curious and makes appearances when we have company.
In planing our way "I decided" to go the southern route through Arizona up through Wichita (to finally visit Nick, Sabrina and Zoe in their native environment ) then on north to Des Moines, Iowa and east to Chicago. This route planned because of my fears of being stranded in blinding snow on the Donner Pass. With my Magellan like powers of navigation, apparently, we will be driving into the plains on the heels of record breaking blizzard conditions. (we hear Kathy laughing in the background).
Today we will going as far as Bakersfield, Ca. We were going to try to make Flagstaff, Arizona, but in light, or lack thereof, of the weather ahead the plan is to give the hardy pioneer types time to dig out and plow a path for us.

Leaving California

Long time no see. All good things keep coming. We will miss the city by the bay and all the wonderful sights sounds and smells. We also much anticipate the next chapter in our adventure. In a few short days we will be off to our next port of call, Chicago!
We will return here when ever possible. San Francisco is a great place to visit and that we will do. We have had wonderful times here together and made some great memories. In the process I have taken over 5000 shots with three different cameras.
So I am starting this blog anew with the next leg of our journeys and develop some kind of theme centered around all the great photos of the wonderful places we have been.

Californy is the place to be........

The temps dropped from the low hundreds to about 78 degrees as we stopped for our first fill up in California.
The views just kept getting grander and grander. I believe we were in the Big Valley for about an hour or two.

Leo and Seville , totally referberized, slept throughout the whole day. It was so beautiful I kept trying to get a rise out those two. Earlier in the morning Leo had found a hole in the linning of the box springs. Pretty crafty, Leo. But after much coaxing and some prodding (with the cane of shame) Leo ran into Kathy's open arms.

One last leg to go. Up highway 5 to Alameda.

Arizona

After three days of free roaming at Kathy's Mom and Dad's Leo and Seville must have thought that "they had arrived"!

With the run of the house Leo was starting to assert himself once again and Seville took the opportunity of an open western style roofline to stalk us from above.

All things good or otherwise come to an end. The next leg involved a bit of referberization.

The views across southern Arizona are breathtaking.With Cacti and geological formations that boggle the mind we needed to stop and take in the views as much as possible. Again the heat built up to about 106 degrees. The spring had provided much needed rain so everything is in bloom.

We had a great time with friends in Cave Creek, north of the Phoenix city limits. Nick, Sabrina, and Zoe took us to a great local hangout for some of the best Tex-Mex in Arizona. It was wonderful to see them and family in the place Nick has been describing to us for the last 30 years.

Leo and Seville are back to an understanding of being on the road and I keep up the mantra we are almost there.

El Paso for three days

From San Antonio to El Paso is over 500 miles and lots of flat mesas, dry arroyos, and flocks of buzzards overhead,hence the lack of road kill.

We drove smack into a record breaking heat spell of 109 degrees!

Oh please,Prius,don’t fail us now. The AC keeps putting out cold air and we keep humming along. (Prius’s kind of hum) We stopped at a roadside rest and had lunch when it was still only about 104 degrees. With buzzards flying overhead and a loan gecko waiting for scraps. I have to say it was fun. It’s a dry heat.

The views are as panoramic as it gets. The sky goes from horizon to horizon and everything in between, reminds me of the movie “The Searchers” with John Wayne and Jeffery Hunter.(1956) I hope no one has to come searching for us.

Oh yes the cats, we keep the car running with the AC on for Leo and Seville at all times and take turns for rest breaks at the gas ups.