Heading back to Kentucky (day 2&3)

So, when we woke up on Saturday morning, the first thing we found out was that the dealership the truck had been sent to was closed until Monday morning! It seemed like we would be stranded in New Mexico for a couple more days. Luckily, Lenas dad was actually able to fix the problem himself! We were on the road by 10 am and completely determined to drive straight through!
I took the first shift, and drove us out of New Mexico, through Texas, through Oklahoma and into Missouri. Once again we saw some amazing sights. We even stopped at a rest stop on Rt. 66 that had poster paper all over the walls of the bathroom, asking people to write about there trips! Of course we added ours on there! There were lots of cool little places like that on the way, but in an effort to get ourselves home as soon as possible, we only stopped at a few of them.
At one point as I was driving, I looked down at my GPS and realized that it said I was going 111 miles an hour and heading straight for water! Good thing I had enough sense to stay on the highway, lol.
At about midnight, we got into Missouri and I had just about had enough of driving, so Lenas dad took over. I slept off and on until about 7 and then took over again to finish the last 2 hours of our journey. I just have to say, that while lenas dad and I took turns sleeping throughout the day and night, Lena stayed awake the whole time! 26 hours to be exact, keeping me company as I drove throughout the day and keeping her dad awake as he drove throughout the night! Lena is officially a road trip rock star!!
So, at about 11 on Sunday morning, we arrived safely at home in Kentucky. Now, its time to sleep the rest of the day away and dream of what adventures we will have tomorrow.
Till the
-Rhonda and Lena

Heading Back to Kentucky ( day 1)

Well, we decided to add a picture of the view from our hotel, which was just amazing, with a huge mountain in the distance. It kind of says a lot about the beauty we encountered everywhere on our trip. Every morning we were lucky enough to look out the window and see that great big mountain.
Today we said goodbye to Arizona, which was bittersweet. On the bitter side, we had an amazing time and got to spend some time with Lenas family as well as see some sights we couldn't have imagined. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone, and even harder because we just don't know when we will see them again.
On the sweet side, it was 115 degrees when we pulled out of town, and none of us were sad to leave the dry, hot weather behind. So, off we went, heading in the direction that we thought would bring us right back to Kentucky. We even planned to drive it straight through with Lenas dad and Rhonda taking turns behind the wheel. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...
About 150 miles into our trip, we realized that we were going the wrong way! there was a little misunderstanding about our exact plans for the drive home and by the time we realized that, we had added about three hours to our journey. So, we looked at a map and decided on a route to get us back on track.
Some words of advice, if you ever have the opportunity to travel on Rt. 60 in Arizona, do it! As a matter of fact, do it twice, because once might not even be enough to appreciate the beauty you will see on this drive. We came across a canyon that went on for hours. It took us a lot more time to get back on track than we expected, but it was worth every minute of it to experience what we did. We posted a couple of pictures, but they just don't do it justice.
So, the plan was that I would drive all day and lenas dad would drive all night. So at about 9:30, after 12 hours on the road, we pulled into a rest stop in New Mexico. All was well, lenas dad put some gas in the truck while we browsed around the store. Then we walked outside, jumped in the truck, put the keys in the ignition and.... nothing happened. So, there we were, at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere with a truck that wouldn't start! It was frightening for a moment, especially when all the lights at the store we were just in went out and the doors were locked.
But alls well that ends well. We did have to have the truck towed, but it was super close to a hotel that just happened to have one room left for us. To look on the bright side, we ended up staying on old Rt.66, which was just super cool.
So, we went to bed hoping we would have any easy fix and be on our way in the morning!
To be continued...
_Rhonda and Lena

Hola Mexico!

Ok, so we didn't actually go into Mexico, but we did drive down to the little town of Nogales, which is right on the border! It was an awesome experience and we really wished we had passports, because it would have been so cool just to walk over. But, we still had a great time walking around. We even had a burrito from a little shop there and it was amazing!! We also saw the huge fence that separates Mexico and the US in that particular town. We were excited to see cigarettes for $32 a carton, but then we realized that we would have to walk over to Mexico if we bought them.
After that, we headed back to Sierra Vista, but on the way we found a lake. Yeah, that might not sound like a big deal, but there is no water anywhere in arizona right now! So, we put our toes in the water for a few minutes and then headed on our way. We also came across a shrine that was built right into the side of a mountain.
After our adventure, we decided to head over to the Mexican restaurant, La Casita, for dinner. That place has some amazing food! We then went over to Lena's aunts house to visit for a while and we were able to watch the sun set behind the mountains. It is actually the view from her front deck!
Then, we headed back to the hotel to get everything packed up and ready for our trip back to Kentucky.
Another amazing day!
-Rhonda and Lena

What a view...

So, we are a couple of days behind on the blog, because we have been go go go in Arizona! So, back to Wednesday. We had a really great day on Wednesday. We started our day by going to the cemetery at Fort Huachuca so that Lena and her dad and her cousin could visit her uncles grave. It was the first time Lena got to visit since he passed away, which was 9 years ago, so it was a little emotional. But, overall it was a good visit to a beautiful resting place.
After our visit, everyone decided to relieve a little tension by trying to find tarantula holes in the ground. Lena and her dad and her cousin thought it would be a great idea to pour some water down one of the holes to try and flush one out. Lucky me, it didn't work, but they had fun trying!
After that we headed towards the mountain. We made a pit stop, where lena got to hold a cute little snake. The mountain was unbelievable, it took us forever to drive all the way to the top. When we got there, the view was so amazing! We could literally see the entire town of Sierra Vista (and probably more).
We ended our day hanging out with two little cuties and having some pizza from dominos. Which was super cool because we all got to build our pizzas online!
Loving Arizona!
-Rhonda and Lena

Bisbee

Yesterday, we headed over to Bisbee, a town about 30 minutes away. It is an awesome little 'hippy town' (as everyone here told us) where some of the houses are actually built right into the mountain side. Unfortunately, many of the shops were closed, because here, summer is the off season. But we were able to find a few that were open, and in one of them we bought a bumper sticker that says "Bisbee AZ, its like Mayberry on acid". Freakin awesome.
On our drive there, we came across an enormous hole in the ground, which we learned was actually a copper mine. On our way back from Bisbee, we came across a ghost town, which was pretty awesome. We were going to walk around some of its trails but we didn't have any water with us, so we decided to just take a couple of pictures and be on our way. We learned really quickly that you don't go anywhere in Arizona without water.
After that, we spent some time by the pool at the hotel and ended our evening at Golden Corral with Lenas dad for dinner. Lena was super excited to find out that they have cotton candy! Another great day in the desert.
-Rhonda and Lena

The Wild Wild West!

Well our first day in Arizona was awesome! We started our day by heading out to Tombstone. It was so crazy to think that we were walking in the same places where people like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, and Billy the Kid walked over a hundred years ago. Even though the main street is now paved and many stores sport souviners that represent the movies more than the original town, it is still a piece of history that was thrilling to experience.
We got a real understanding of "hot but not humid" while walking the streets. As the actors walked in their traditional western wear, we marvled at how hot they must be. We saw men with jeans, vests, long sleeved shirts and dusters and women with corsets, petty coats and long skirts. it makes you think about the town motto, "the town too tough to die..." and realize how tough the people who lived there without airconditioning and running water must have been.
We did some shopping, and then had lunch in a saloon called Big Nosed Kates. After lunch we did a tour of The Birdcage Theater, which is supposed to be haunted. After that we hopped in the car and headed down the road to Boot Hill Cemetery. It was beautiful, in a desert kind of way, but we weren't able to stay too long, because it was so hot. So, we got back in the car and remembered how grateful we were for airconditioning and bottles of ice cold water!
In the evening, we went to a little mexican restaurant called La Casita and had dinner with some of Lenas family. Maybe its because we are so close to the border here, but the food was amazing! It was a great end to a great day. Hopefully, tomorrow's adventures will be as exciting as todays!
Till then...
- Rhonda and Lena

Road trip day 2!

What a day! We started out brite and early in Oklahoma, and in a short time we crossed over into Texas, and before we knew it we were in New Mexico. It was awesome to watch the landscape gradually change as we went further and further west. In New Mexico, we found the coolest rest stop, it actually had a casino! We played for a little while and then got back on the road. We also came across a cool little place called fox cave, where there is a little gift shop literally carved into the side of a mountain!
We kept trucking and finally made it to Arizona just as the sun began to set. I have to say, the sights literally took my breath away quite a few times.
Now, we are off to start our first day of adventures in Arizona and we will be sure to post lots of pics as soon. As we can. Take care friends.
-Rhonda and Lena