July 28 – Susannah was reluctant to leave all the music in Mountain View (even the RV park had a pickin’ shed for musicians!) but we continued our journey east in the morning. We travelled out of the hills and forest of the Ozarks and into the flat delta of the Mississippi River. We saw a number of armadillo road kills and also soybeans, rice, corn, and cotton crops growing along the road.

In Memphis, we stopped at the visitor center where Ben met a larger-than-life statue of Elvis, and we all enjoyed a scenic walk along the riverside park. Then it was off to the airport to pick up Susannah’s mom Dianne who flew in to join us for a leg of the trip. The timing couldn’t have been smoother – we pulled up to the doors just as she was coming out to the curb.

Our additional passenger safely inside, we continued on to our campground for the night at Chickasaw State Park. This should have been an easy jaunt from Memphis but we hit multiple snags on the way including searching several towns for a decent grocery store (pork rinds, anyone?), taking a wrong turn into the park (thanks, Google), then having to navigate several miles of gravel road in the wrong (and uninteresting) part of the park, and missing the main entrance due to poor signage. But we finally arrived at the campground that was quiet, clean, and blessed with horses in a nearby meadow for Rowan and hiking/running trails for Susannah. We had a tasty meal of Frito pie and salad for dinner with s’mores for dessert.

Day 30: Mountain View AR to Chickasaw State Park TN, via Memphis – 240 miles, plus another dozen or so from wrong turns and and snags!

July 27 – Early to rise this morning (first day of the trip with an alarm) because our plans for the day were full to the brim. We left Petit Jean before 8 AM en route for the Ozarks.

Arriving in the hamlet of Silver Hill, we hired two canoes and took to the water. The Buffalo River is a national scenic river that winds through limestone bluffs and gravel banks. We dined al fresco beneath one of these overhanging cliffs and the kids had a little impromptu swimming and river walking. Nick was eager to share the experience with the family as he had floated on the river many years earlier and remembered it fondly. Everyone agreed the experience was worth the early rise and then some.

We finished the voyage with a round of stone skipping while we waited for the shuttle driver to collect us – Nick’s record that day was 11 skips.

After driving through the Ozark National Forest, we arrived at the town of Mountain View AR, the self-dubbed “folk music capital of the world”. We had time for a short visit to the Ozark Folk Center, a living history museum where we saw demonstrations of many 19th century crafts and trades.

The restaurant by the Folk Center featured an excellent buffet of Southern cooking, and entertainment courtesy of the squirrels outside. The animals made us laugh with their antics on the “squirrel feeders”, man-made contraptions with a pivoting arm that held an ear of dried corn at one end. The squirrels had learned how to hold on while swinging in an upside-down circle and grabbing the food at the same time.

Our post-dinner entertainment was of the musical variety. The concert at the Folk Center included performances by five different groups including a former mountain dulcimer national champion – you haven’t heard mountain dulcimer until you’ve listened to Jeff Hames play Rock Around the Clock!

The music continued after we put the kids to bed – our RV park was close to the square in downtown Mountain View, so Nick and Susannah got to experience first-hand some of the famed local outdoor music jams. What a day!

Day 29: Petit Jean State Park AR to Mountain View AR, via Silver Hill – about 150 miles driving plus 4.5 miles by canoe.

July 26 – After starting the day with Karen and Micah’s family (who had power at their house but still not at their temple), we continued east to Arkansas to Petit Jean State Park. Much of the infrastructure in this park, Arkansas’s first, is thanks to CCC efforts. Despite the rain, we decided to pursue the Seven Hollows Trail, a 4.5 mile loop through sandstone canyons and forested terrain. We paused under the Natural Bridge for a snack and a photo. Some of the rock formations on the trail are known as Turtle Rocks, but we were delighted to see a real turtle.

We dined at the Mather Lodge (yet another rustic stone lodge), enjoying Possum Pie for dessert and majestic views throughout the meal. Check out the sunset from the patio outside the lodge!

Day 28: Tulsa OK to Petit Jean State Park AR – 224 miles.

July 25 – We don’t like to share the minor tribulations of road travel on this blog but we lost our AC somewhere west of Amarillo. Traveling through the South in the summertime without AC is not recommended so we hoped to get it fixed if possible. Susannah called around and found a shop near our campsite who thought they could take us but by the time we arrived they were already full. One of the mechanics had a brother in Oklahoma City who had a radiator shop (this sounds like the plot to a bad novel, doesn’t it?) who could fix us up. And sure enough he did – turns out it was just a broken belt. While we dined on pizza buffet across the street he replaced the belt and checked the fluid levels and we were ready to roll.

Then it was on to our real destination of the day – Karen and Micah’s new house in Tulsa. It was touch and go whether they would have electricity since two days earlier Tulsa had been hit by a massive thunderstorm and a quarter of the city was without power. But all was well by the time we arrived and Karen&Micah were remarkably moved in for having relocated from CA just a month earlier. We had a fabulous visit, complete with delicious food, drink, and conversation. Ben and Rowan really enjoyed playing with the twins: foosball, reading, and water guns, among other entertainment. Tulsa seems like a charming city and we look forward to visiting again.

Day 27: Foss State Park OK to Tulsa OK (via Oklahoma City) – about 220 miles.

July 24 – Another three-state day, as we made a mad dash across the Texas panhandle. Despite our intent to cross into Oklahoma by day’s end, we did make two stops along the way.

The first was at Cadillac Ranch, an iconic row of cars embedded at an angle in the earth. Apparently the tradition is to leave your mark in the form of a spray-painted decoration, and we saw a number of visitors doing just that. We were content just to look, however, and soon were on our way again.

Our second stop of the day came in Amarillo, at the American Quarter Horse Museum and Hall of Fame. This was a special hit with Rowan, as you might imagine. But the exhibits were interesting for everyone, and we all learned something from them. One of the galleries featured art by Orren Mixer, a celebrated horse artist.

We camped for the evening at Foss State Park in Oklahoma. The large reservoir made a pretty background and allowed for a refreshing swim before bed.

Day 26: Tucumcari NM to Foss State Park – 277 miles

July 23 – We picked up Chester with a brand new windshield (notice how the inspection sticker had to be stuck on with tape!), said goodbye to Ken and Maxine, and were on our way.

Our path took us east along I-40 (it’s all east and north from here on out) so we keep encountering stretches of The Mother Road (ie historic Route 66) as we go. Tucumcari, the day’s destination, looked like it had reached its heyday when Route 66 was still the main thoroughfare. See an exemplar photo of the local decor.

We thought there were two attractions to visit but the Tucumcari Cheese Factory wasn’t open for tours, just outside photos – say cheese! However, the Dinosaur Museum was a hit with everyone. Most of the actual fossils are dinosaur tracks and plants, but the museum boasts a large collection of bronze castings of dinosaur skeletons made in the local community college foundry. The exhibits were nicely laid out and fun for the whole family.

Our RV park was perfectly comfortable and featured a farmer’s market next door where we were able to purchase homemade cookies and fresh eggs.

Day 25: Santa FE NM to Tucumcari NM – 172 miles.

July 22 – No travel today; instead we took the chance to have Chester’s windshield replaced while we toured Santa Fe in a borrowed car. (The crack from the rock that hit us a few days before had been growing, spreading by a good eight inches toward the center.)

The grown ups had already seen the Plaza area on a previous visit, so we decided to see some of the museums instead – particularly because we had an inside connection (more on that in a moment). After a late start, we began our visit with lunch at the museum cafe. They were serving a sampler plate of new world cuisine (connected to one of the exhibits we would see later) – delicious but extremely small portions.

Our first stop was a display of paper Japanese kites at the International Folk Art Museum where Susannah and Rowan made miniature kites of their own while Nick and Ben viewed a video on aerial kite festivals. In the same building was the exhibit on new world cuisine with a focus on chocolate and Yerba mate.

The real fun began when we met Maxine, who took a break from her curating work at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture to show us some of the collections of projectile points and other artifacts up close and personal. Ben, in particular, was eager to make his own and begged us to buy rocks he could work with – perhaps when we get home!

Following the museum tour, we visited a few stops on the local chocolate tour. We highly recommend Kakawa for its recreations of historical meso-American chocolate drinks – see Nick happily savoring a spicy rose almond concoction.

We had dinner (with frozen dessert, of course!) near the Plaza with Ken and Maxine and then enjoyed the moonrise back at their house.

Day 24: 0 miles in Chester, less than 20 miles around Santa Fe.

July 21 – The main item on today’s agenda was a visit to Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs NM. Susannah had spent 10 blissful summers there growing up but hadn’t been back for 20 years. The people running the camp still remembered her – perhaps in part because her picture from the front page of the Albuquerque Journal taken 26 years ago still hangs framed on the wall in the dining hall.

It was a good day to visit since they were transitioning between sessions. Many parents were visiting and the campers from the previous week gave a public concert. Ben’s favorite place was Cavity Cave – you can imagine what is sold there. Ben even lost his (loose) tooth while chewing on his Snickers bar – bonus! Susannah was tickled to see how much of the camp matched her memories – and Rowan declared that Hummingbird was her favorite place in the world. Perhaps a future camper?

Leaving Hummingbird just before the skies opened up, we passed through Los Alamos en route to Santa Fe, arriving at the home of Nick’s relatives Ken and Maxine. They have a beautiful setting in the hills above Santa Fe, complete with outside fireplaces, a stone garden, and even a treehouse. A delicious dinner ensued.

Day 23: Albuquerque NM to Santa Fe NM via Jemez Springs NM – 145 miles.

July 20 – There wasn’t much to see from our campsite, but before leaving Homolovi Ruins State Park we decided to take a quick look at the eponymous archaeological site. It had been the location of a small village some 700 years ago, and not much of the structure remains visible on the surface. However, the kids enjoyed hunting for shards of decorated pottery and stones that may have been half-completed arrow or spear points.

The next remains on our route were somewhat older: 180 million years, give or take. We took a detour from our path along I-40 to drive through the Petrified Forest National Park. Besides the petrified logs themselves, we also had scenic views of the Painted Desert, including the colored Teepee Mounds.

A day’s driving brought us to Albuquerque, where we had dinner at the Frontier Restaurant on a tip from a local – yum! Afterwards there was just enough time to catch the aerial Sandia Peak Tramway for a sunset view of the city lights. A small trail runs along the top of the mountain, affording quite stunning vistas.

We returned to our campsite at the Enchanted Trails RV Park, where the kids and Nick indulged in the free wifi and Susannah watched the drive-in movie on the big screen: Elvis Presley’s The Spinout.

Day 22: Homolovi Ruins State Park AZ to Albuquerque NM via Petrified Forest National Park – about 290 miles.

July 19 – We had planned to visit Glen Canyon Dam, which was a relatively short (50 mile) detour, but were stymied when the only connecting road for miles around turned out to be closed and the detour was 150 miles each way! The primary road follows a fault line and in February giant fissures opened up in the pavement and the road still hasn’t been repaired – see article:

Change of plans… Consulting our handy US Road Atlas we saw that we could shift from a dam day to a crater day with stops at both Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Meteor Crater.

The former is a cinder cone that erupted 900 years ago covering the surrounding area with lava and ash. It’s part of a volcanic hot spot with many cinder cones, one of which we hiked.

The latter is the best preserved and first identified meteor impact site in the world. It’s run by a private enterprise rather than the park service so admission is somewhat steep. But the exhibits are well done and the intact crater is a rare sight to see. The kids enjoyed a meteor impact computer simulation and we all learned about US efforts to prevent future meteor impacts.

We had dinner in Winslow AZ on historic Route 66 – we had forgotten the Eagles’ lyric about “standing on a corner” but the locals were all too happy to remind us. Well-fed and stocked with groceries, we headed to our campsite at Homolovi Ruins State Park, arriving too late to really see our surroundings.

Day 21: Jacob Lake AZ to Homolovi Ruins State Park AZ (with 2 crater side trips) – 245 miles.