Homeward Bound to Loveland

I got a call from my nephew shortly after we got back from Bryce Canyon and he asked what was going on with my mom's grave stone. I said that nothing had been done so I got the RV ready to travel back to Ohio to check out what type of tombstone my sister and John had in mind. I got back to Cincinnati at the beginning of August and I began to check out the types, designs and costs of different types of tombstones. I selected a mother/father type that covered both graves and my sister was happy with my selection. We had a long term campsite at Olive Branch Campground which is not far from Loveland where the graves and the funeral home are located. I ordered the grave marker from the funeral home. They will install it in the graveyard as soon as they receive it from the supplier. We stayed there until about the end of August. We stopped at Elkmont Campground in the Great Smokies for a couple of weeks before we headed back to Fort Worth for the winter. We spent most of our time there in Gatlinburg shopping and walking up and down the parkway. We rented small trikes one day and rode them all around the Gatlinburg area. They were only 50cc models, so a motorcycle license was not required. We had a great time riding them.

Bryce Canyon Trip

We left Fort Worth again on the first of July for a 2 week vacation at Bryce Canyon National Park. We spent the fourth of July at an RV park in Tucumcari, New Mexico. We arrived at Bryce Canyon on July 7. It just happened that our visit there was at the same time the Astronomy Festival was taking place. We bought a newly published book there on the night skies in the National Parks. The author was in the visitor center signing copies of the book, so we got ours signed. We visited all the view points and hiked the Navajo and Queens Garden loop trail while we were there. We returned home on July 25.

We left Carlsbad Caverns to return home to Fort Worth. We got back home from our 2 week adventure on June 15.

Sitting Bull Falls

We drove from our campground in Carlsbad to Sitting Bull Falls which is just North West of Carlsbad Caverns. We drove about 20 miles down rural roads through several ranches and numerous washes to get to the Falls. It is a small USFS park with several picnic areas that is usually only frequented by locals for picnics and sunning on the rocks and pools at the base of the falls.

Carlsbad Caverns Tours

We went on the Historic and Kings Palace guided tours during the last two days. We also went on the Left Hand Tunnel tour which is a lantern only tour on unimproved cave trails that are uneven, rough and hilly.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We have been touring Carlsbad Caverns the past two days. We have done the self guided cave tours entering through the Natural Entrance and going down to the Big Room. This is a distance of about a mile and descents about 750 feet. We also did the self guided tour of the Big Room and chatted with a couple of Rangers that ere along the route.

Carlsbad, New Mexico

We traveled from Fort Worth to Carlsbad, New Mexico today. It was less than 500 miles and the last half was via US routes through unspoiled Americana. We passed through towns that still had things like drive-in's that disappeared eons ago in most places. We will be staying at the Carlsbad RV Park for the next week while we visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Record Snowstorm in Fort Worth

We had the largest snowfall since about 1978 yesterday. The entire Dallas/Fort Worth area is shut down. There are no snow plows or snow removed equipment here, so we have to wait until it melts.

Arrival in Fort Worth

I left Jackson, Mississippi early in the morning amidst light rain which continued much of the morning while I drove down I-20 toward Dallas. I arrived in Fort Worth, Texas in the late afternoon. I just missed the rush hour traffic through Dallas by about an hour. I checked into Rustic Creek RV Ranch at about 4PM. I will be spending the next 30 days or so here living in the RV.

Nightfall in Jackson, Mississippi

I got back on the road early this morning so as to miss rush hour in Knoxville, Tennessee. Liz called me while I was at a rest area about half way between Nashville and Memphis saying that an ice storm was predicted for Little Rock and much of AK. We decided that I should take I-55 to Jackson, Mississippi instead of heading to Little Rock. I got just short of Jackson late this evening after another 600+ mile day of driving.

On the Road to Fort Worth

I left early this morning in the RV for Fort Worth, Texas. I will be closing on our new home there in the middle of February. I stopped for the night just over the Kentucky/Tennessee State Line. I have driven a bit over 600 miles today.