Day 7

We woke up at 5:30 AM to drive to the Canyon for sunrise but unfortunantly all of the roads were iced over. So we decided to go back to sleep and head out when the sun came up. We got to the Grand Canyon around 10:00 AM - although there was still some fog, we were able to see some of the Canyon. So we walked around and took a few photos and then got on the road. We decided to head back out to the Grand Canyon next Spring to camp and hike so we will see it then.

We got on the road and headed West towards the Hoover Dam. We crossed into Nevada and drove over the new Dam - which honestly neither of us realized we were driving over. The drive to the Dam and after had to be one of the prettiest views of the trip.

We crossed into California and decided to skip Death Valley this trip. We were both tired and just wanted to get home. So we drove straight through to San Diego and arrived around 8 PM last night.

Thanks everyone for following our adventure! We will update the blog here and there with stories from Recon's adventure here on the West Coast.

Love,
Austin, Amanda & Recon

Day 6

We left 70s yesterday and arrived today in the mid 30s. We left Phoenix and headed straight for the Sedona Red Rocks - Unfortunantly it was snowing and 32 out so we didn't stop. We weren't able to see much either because of the rain/snow but here are a few photos from the window of the car:

We continued towards Williams, AZ and did an early check in to our hotel. We had Taco Bell for lunch and then hit the road for the Grand Canyon. The Canyon is only about an hour from our hotel. We got up there around 3 PM - it was still snowing. We got to the Canyon and we could only see about 40 feet in front of us. We were pretty bummed - so we walked around a little bit and then got back in the car.

We decided to get back up there tomorrow morning and try again. So we're heading up for Sunrise hoping to see something!

On our way back to Williams we found Kiabob National Park to throw the frisbee for Recon.

Tomorrow is Grand Canyon for sunrise ... and finishing the day w/ our new home. In between is full of fun adventures!

XoXo

Day 5

Before we get into everything about today ... I forgot something exciting from last nights adventure to Tuscon! On our way we, along with everyone else on 10 West got stopped by US Customer and Boarder. The conversation w/ the patrol went:

Patrol: Are you both American citizens?
Austin: Yes
Patrol: Where are you coming from?
Austin: Ft. Worth
Patrol: Have a nice day ..

So he didn't ask for identification or anything! It was an interesting experience :)

We woke up with the sun shining and an awesome 75 degrees.We got on the road a little later today ... around 11:00 AM. We headed back East to go to Tombstone. It is a pretty cool town ... we got to walk around for a little over an hour. Recon was welcome in the town and although most shops allow dogs - we didn't do any shopping.

We got back in the car and headed West back towards Tucson. We stopped at a state park called Colassal Cave State Park. We spent about 30 minutes exploring and letting Recon run around off leash.

On our way back to the high way we took some pictures of the sunset and a train :) Enjoy!

We got back on the road and arrived in Phoenix around 7 PM. We grabbed a bite to eat and a beer at the restaurant in the hotel.

So a very simple day ... but tomorrow is the Grand Canyon!

XoXo

Day 4

Well today was by far our longest driving day - our itinerary had us going from Dallas to El Paso which is about 630 miles. We woke up and hit the road around 9 AM driving straight until we stopped for lunch at 12:30 at Subway. As we pulled out of the hotel we saw the Dallas Cowboys Stadium.

Texas was a pretty easy drive as the speed limit was 80 mph ... but man was it boring. Not much to look at and by the time we got to lunch it was in the 70s. Yesterday we were leaving the cold of Memphis ... it's crazy!

We stopped about 3:30 at Monahans Sandhill State Park - which sounds relatively easy but here is the best part. We had let the gas get fairly low in the car, and by low I mean about 10 miles until empty ... we were about 9 miles to the park. So naturally we think that there is a gas station near this park ... as we pull into the lot the car hits 0 - no gas station in sight. Uh oh! I ask the Park Ranger the closest station and he said about 5 miles. So we get back on the highway and hope that we can make it. Which of course (well obviously) we did.

The state park was a blast! Recon had such a great time running up and down the dunes. We bought a frisbee for Recon which he chased over and over.

And Texas Recon ....

Just for you Dad ... Check out the speed :)

We pulled out of there abouut 5 PM and headed straight for El Paso. Arriving in El Paso around 8 PM ... we decided the hotel that was booked was NOT in the best neighborhood. As we got closer to El Paso there was a mile of light in the distance... i googled what was near and it was "Juarez, Mexico". I think a mixture of the hotel being bad and the fact we were 1 mile from the "gateway to juarez" (we saw a sign I swear ...) - so we decided not to stay in El Paso.

About 300 extra miles, two states later and arriving about 1 AM Mountain Time ... we found ourselves staying the night in Tucson, Arizona. I guess it wouldn't be a real roadtrip without some random fun! So we did close to 1,000 miles in one day.

And now ... time for sleep!

Day 3

About 1,200 miles into the trip  ...

We woke up this morning and headed straight for Arkansas (stopping at Starbucks first of course) - to our suprise it was pretty close! We drove across the Mississippi River and crossed into Arkansas early this morning.

We drove for about 4 hours before finding a nice State Park called DeGray State park. We spent an hour here exploring and letting Recon get his energy out. We are pretty lucky that he sleeps while we drive. We constantly find ourselves looking behind us to make sure he is still there :)

We finally crossed into Texas which to our surprise doesn't have a "Welcome to Texas" sign - we were bummed. But there is a restaurant called "furr's" :D

We checked into our hotel and went to find some Texas Steaks. We ended up going about a mile away to Texas Land & Cattle for dinner. It was delicious! Austin had a local beer called a Shiner. He thought it was "okay" - kind of reminded him of Natty!

Now time for bed as we have a 600+ mile drive tomorrow morning. Happy 5th Birthday to Cameron!