Two Beers and a Pretzel

Well, the tow truck driver had no sense of direction, so I had to pay him $36 to cover the overage on his 250 mile tow (including 86 miles for him to get to where I was).

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But we made it to the dealership in Midland, TX and they replaces the tire and threw in a free wash - although the tire plus labor was $474.  Ouch.

On the way, I saw Guadalupe Mountain National Park… not the way I was planning, so I’ll have to go back sometime.

After hitting the road again, I saw a fairly decent sunset, but liked this pic of wind turbines and cows…

After sleeping in Shreveport, LA, I drove thru Louisana and hit the Natchez Trace in Mississippi for 100 miles or so on the way back to my Sister’s house in Tennessee.  I probably missed the peak fall foliage colors by 2 or 3 weeks, but the trace is a very sweet route to take.  You just see trees and farms with a thin, but well maintained road to drive.  Very few side streets, no driveways…  Even when you drive thru towns, they’ve made a great effort to isolate your view so you don’t see shopping strips or other highways - just trees and fields.  The lighting wasn’t so good for pics due to clouds, so I just stopped at a camping area for a snapshop.  However, I am totally planning to drive the 440+ mile trace for spring and fall foliage whenever I can.  Via bicycle would be even better since the speed limit is 50 mph anyway.

My sister is in her 41st week of pregnancy with my Nephew…

So I’m back to playing uncle with my twin nieces while waiting for the bouncing baby boy to pop out…  Then it’s back to Cincinnati to actually live in my house for a few weeks before going to Holland to hang out with Ingrid and a few others for a few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I got to Carlsbad Caverns National Park around 10:30 AM and did the self guided audio tour.

For anyone who has not been there, these photos do not do a good job of showing the scale of the cave.  Then main path is over 1 mile to take a lap around the ‘Big Room’.

FYI:  The camera accentuates the colors that your eye sees.

The farthest back you can see in this pic is about 1/8 of a mile.  The cave goes much further around a few bends…

After taking the elevator 750 ft back up to the daylight and getting in my car, my plans changed.  The original idea was to see Guadalupe Mountains National Park (same mountain chain as Carlsbad, but in Texas), but the car alerted me to a flat tire.  Having run-flat tires, I drove back about 4 miles to the mini-city at the park entrance and found a helpful guy with an air pump.  Then I drove 20 miles back to Carlsbad city and it was flat again.  BMW Assist is sending a tow truck tomorrow morning (for free) to take me and the car 180 miles to a dealership in Midland, Texas where I can get the goofy type of run-flat tires I need.  Hopefully they’ll have the tires I need on hand.

I used up a lot of AMEX reward points in Las Vegas and Los Angeles…  Once those were exhausted, lodging became an issue as my cousin’s housing status had become very complex.  Luckily, Asa’s friends Brian and Rebekah let me couch surf at their apartment.  Their hospitality was greatly appreciated (especially since even the Motel6 is $70/night in LA), and it was a lot of fun because they were working on songwriting sessions every evening.  I owe them both…

I left L.A. 2 days ago.  My mom told me that there’s a new Route 66 sign on the Santa Monica Pier, so I had to go back…

Then on to Joshua Tree National Park…

You may notice the crumbled pile of rocks behind the tree.  The geology here was very similar to Hampi, India (albeit on a smaller scale) - with piles of boulders and crumbling hills.

This next one will make a great black & white once I convert it…

Then I found a hotel in Tuscon, Arizona.  The next day I started by visiting Saguaro National Park and the cactus plants you remember from Roadrunner and Cayote cartoons.  And I did see a roadrunner, but it was too quick for me to snap a pic in time…

For reference, these cacti are about 25 ft on average, and up to 50 ft tall.

yep, that’s me at the base of the plant…

After leaving the park, I spent a lot of time on the road to get to Carlsbad, NM.  Got some good landscape shots along the way…  especially during a rainstorm in Arizona, and at sunset in Las Cruces,NM.

Sunday I’ll hit Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks before the loooooooong drive to Austin.

I was going to upload my canyon driving video, but it’s too big.  Oh well, it was fun…  and now I get the geotag link to L.A.

I really need to catch up on a few days of pics…

I started the other day  leaving Bryce Canyon for Zion National Park.  I was very glad that I decided to take the 1 mile ‘Canyon View’ trail….

Then drove thru the valley…

The White Throne

The Weeping Wall

The Patriarchs (Abraham, Issac, and Jakob)

Color contrast in the valley…

And on to Death Valley…

282 feet below sealevel…

Salt Crystals

Sunset

Sunset reflected on the hood.

Infra Red near Death Valley…

… then on to vegas…

and Hoover Dam

I’ve since made it to L.A. and I’m haqnging out with my cousin for a few more days before heading back to Ohio!