..........out of Colorado, through New Mexico, into and out of Texas; all on the way to New Orleans, Louisiana.

It's been busy since we blogged last. We left Durango, Colorado and drove all the way through New Mexico and into Texas in one day. We came into Texas on US Hwy 285. At the Texas state line it read; "Welcome to Texas. Home of President George W. Bush." Well, whatever. We entered Texas in the western part of the state. Not much there except for oil rigs (I can't belive I didn't take a picture of some - darn), sage, poor soil, and windmill farms (somebody's making money on that "green energy"). We ran into I10 in Ft. Stockton, TX. We stayed the night in Kerrville, TX. The next morning, we headed for San Antonio. Now, Texas didn't impress me that much; but, San Antonio is a city I would visit again. The Alamo was fun. That Col. William Travis (the guy running the show for the Texans in the Alamo), is a distant cousin of mine. After the Alamo, we went to the Riverwalk area. It is a canal that has shops and restaurants on either side. That is worth going to the city for in itself. They have some boat tours that go around the whole canal. We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. After a very short visit in San Antonio, we left for Beaumont, TX; where we would spend the night.

We left Beaumont, TX and turned toward NOLA. We arrived in New Orleans in the mid-afternoon hours, checked into the Marriott, and awaited our first meeting with the Bowl Games of America staff. We are now on some business of sorts. I'm taking the marching band to NOLA in January, 2008 for the BCS National Championship football game. As a result, we get a director's pre-trip. The most fun - it's all paid for by someone else. After our meeting (with a free open bar), we walked down to Jimmy Buffet's Margarittaville for drinks and dinner. I had some aligator bites on red beans, rice, and andouille sausage, followed by some key lime pie - oh yeah! The next morning, we had a 45 minute meeting, walked to the Cafe` Du Monde, and had bignets and coffee with chicore for breakfast. After breakfast, we were picked-up by a bus and driven to the bayou for a swamp tour. Following the swamp tour, we went to the Natchez riverboat for a 3-hour cruise (look out Gilligan!!!) and lunch aboard ship. We left the Natchez and went to the Superdome for a tour. They were putting down the artificial turf for the 2007-08 football season (yeah, I did get a piece to display at school). This will be the turf used for all the college and pro games played at the Superdome next season. We went on a bus tour through the Lower Ninth Ward in NOLA. Much has happened there to clean up, but there is still a great deal to do. Our bus driver was actually from one of those neighborhoods, and still lives in a FEMA trailer. After our bus tour, we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours. We met later that evening and walked via Canal and Bourbon Streets to our restaurant, Arnaud's. Wow, what a dinner!!! We had a five-course dinner that lasted for three hours - what fun. The house band (a jazz trio of upright bass, banjo, and trumpet) came up to play for us when we were having our dessert. That wasn't dinner, that was dining!

We got up this morning and did some minor sightseeing in NOLA, had chargrilled oysters at the ACME Oyster House, and left for home. We made our stop tonight in Montgomery, Alabama. This is our 24th night in a hotel. It will be good to be in our own beds tomorrow night. Here are some pictures from the past few days..............

(we'll start with New Orleans)

..............some of the shops in the JAX Brewery building in NOLA.

........St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. This is the oldest cathedral in the US.

................inside of the Louisiana Superdome. I felt an eerie sense of sadness as we walked in the front door of the facility. Just knowing what had happened there was enough to make us all stop and pay respect.

........official symbol of NOLA - the Fluer de Leis. (I hope I spelled that correctly - if not, I'll make a correction). These are all over the city. Everyone decorates them differently. To have one, is to declare that you have given money to help support the children of NOLA as the city rebuilds.

.........a scene from Deatur Street.

..........some pics from Mardi Gras World. There, they make and store many of the Mardi Gras Floats. This is were our kids will have a party when we come back for the game.

..........even currently serving, elected officials (Sith Lords) have their own image represented in Mardi Gras!!!!

............outside of the Superdome.

...........the riverboat, Natchez. This boat is all steam powered.

...........another bldg in the French Quarter of NOLA.

............the Cafe` Du Monde. This fantastic place is open 24 hours/day, and is located right across from the St. Louis Cathedral.


.......the view from our swamp tour boat.

........this 'gator is over 12 feet long, and is estimated to be over 90 years old. Our boat guide feeds him marshmellows to get him near the boat.

..........a cypress tree. This tree is over 100 years old.

.............the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

..........the Riverwalk in SA, TX.



............scenes from western Texas. The posted speed limit - 80 mph!!!

.................farmin' that wind in Texas.

..........Arches National Park, Utah and Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

Yesterday, we traveled to Arches National Park in Utah. I saw some pictures on What's Crackalacky that really made me what to see this park. It was beautiful! We stayed only two miles from the park the night before which got us to the park early in the morning. There were some great trails; but, by 10:00 AM, it was already 94 degrees! That made hiking very far a real chore. We did about 98% of our visit to Arches via car and viewpoints along the way. Luckily, we saw the entire park. The map they gave us at the park gate made identification of all the sites a piece of cake. The heat and altitude got to me quickly as we did some very minor hiking.

After leaving Arches, we went southeast to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. This was another dynamite park. The cliff dwellings were amazing. They have discovered sites in the cliffs and on top of the mesa that date back to 1 A.D. (based on RCD). The people used the natural formations of the caves and overhangs to build their homes. From a distance, you can hardly see the settlements. The color of the rocks and mortar used all blends in with the natural surroundings. I was able to get close to one dwelling that was on top of the mesa. It was really something to touch buildings that had been built over 1,000 years ago. You can see that each sandstone building block had been cut square by many hits from tools. Most of the blocks seemed to be about 4" high, 8" long, and 4" deep (this is a visual estimate). Each one of those blocks had hundreds of marks from the tools. This obviously took much time and patience. In many cases, these people made their homes in vertical stories; much like a modern style apartment building. The Anasazi people must have had a great deal of vision in their lives to create such structures. As their population grew, they began farming the mesa above their homes to produce more food. Without warning, they vanished.

I'm sure that I will make mention of this again in the "post trip post"; but, I really have to hand it to the Department of the Interior and National Park Service. Every park we have been into contained very well-kept grounds, great maps, and very good park rangers. What a great way to spend some time with your family!!! We purchased a national parks pass for $80 before we left on the trip. That pass has got us into every park along the way. Many park entrance fees are $25+. The pass has paid for itself and then some in just a little over two weeks.

We left Mesa Verde late in the evening (after 6:00 PM) and headed to Durango, CO for the evening. I think everyone else did the same thing. It took over an hour to finally find a room for the night - what a roach hotel is the Spanish Trails Suites!!! Yes, it was as bad, if not worse, than the name implies. I don't believe that I've ever spent the night in a more "questionable" establishment.

This morning, we left Durango, CO with our eyes on going southeast through New Mexico. Our next aiming point is San Antonio, Texas. We went to an internet cafe in Durango this morning for coffee and wireless. There we got online, found, and booked a room for tonight in Roswell, NM. Yes, the home of the aliens! I missed the annual Alien Festival by only three days! Oh well, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

..........Arches National Park, Utah










..........Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado.

.........this sign is a warning at a rest area in New Mexico. "Snakes, why did it have to be snakes?" I get out of the car, and I'm constantly scanning the ground for these little beauties.

..........Navajo National Monument, Arizona and Monument Valley Arizona/Utah.

Following our visit to the Grand Canyon, we spent the night in Page, Arizona. The next morning, we drove a short distance to the Navajo National Monument. We walked a one-mile trail there to see a small cliff dwelling and several nice overlooks. This park had a great example of the Southwestern pigmy forest. They are made up of small Pinyon pines and Juniper. The small amount of rainfall and high amount of heat have kept them small and stocky.

After leaving the Navajo National Monument, we turned toward Monument Valley. Now, if you've ever watched some of the great western movies of the 1940's and 1950's, you've seen Monument Valley. John Wayne made many of his westerns there. Other films made there include Easy Rider, How The West Was Won, and one segment of Forrest Gump, just to name a few. Monument Valley is in both Arizona and Utah.

.........Navajo National Monument Park.

.........Monument Valley.

.......this is the Director's Chair used by John Ford when he filmed the greatest western picture of all time (in my opinion), The Searchers. This outstanding movie was filmed in 1956, and stars John Wayne. If you haven't seen it - see it now before it's too late!!!

This is the actual building used by John Wayne's character, Col. Nathan Brittles, in another fantastic John Ford western, Tie A Yellow Ribbon. This is another "must see" movie for you. After Monument Valley, we made our way to Moab, Utah for the evening. Arches National Park is next.