Quality Inn Richfield

... to get there quickly, so what could go wrong, right?<br><br>So after we finally got Chris (Apples) out of the first ditch, we thought again that we would be good to go for the rest of the way. The small road had turned into a dirt road, see, and then it climbed into areas where it had snowed. We all slid some, but chris's car being both the only automatic and the one with worn tires made for a bad combination ...

... stuck out here for a long time before you were found by a rescue party. But, my cell phone has reception here which is more than I can say at home. I went over a slight rise and spread out in front of me was a huge, wide, flat, sand-colored, smooth as a glass lake, expanse surrounded by mountains. It looks as though there is water in the middle but I'm sure that's a mirage, and that this valley is dry, dry, dry! It's so impressive though -- beautiful ...

... of Fish Lake made for quite a beautiful landscape, as you can see from the pictures. The area is part of the National Forest land, and once beyond the lake area, there are many forest roads leading to solitude and beautiful camping areas. And lots of free range cattle! Mike chauffeured us in his SUV around the area, through the mud and snow, to get a look at the ...

Today deciding that we'd had enough laziness (not really) we went for a hike. Nice enough until I made the decision to go up this huge steep hill. We walked along while I wondered how I'd get back down that huge hill. After another series of small hills we figuered we'd hit the other side of the mountain and we'd be able to come back around on flat terrain...No. The ...

... at least we could survive until our next meal (which ended up being a Denny's in Salina at like 10PM, because we refused to eat Burger King, and I swear to you all there was nothing else for 100's of miles any direction). We almost ran out of fuel on a 100 mile stretch of open road , without service areas. We ran on empty (with the fuel light on) for almost 60 miles, literally driving 50 miles an hour and coasting down hills. Thankfully, we came upon a ...

A few more bus jobs for Neil, more laundry and blogging for Mel. Another nice dip in the pool for Mel, first one of the trip for Neil, then just chilling out really! <br><br>Distance travelled: 0 miles <br><br>Total distance travelled: 3103 miles <br><br>Days on road: 32 <br><br>States visited: 6 <br><br>National Parks visited: 6

... change (yes they even do that) we found a camp-site that we can park up at for a few days. It's a KOA, which are usually quite expensive, but they had a special mid-week offer on and we got three nights for the price of two. <br><br>After settling Mel in with the laptop and wi-fi, Neil went back into town to get all the bits he needed ...

... chance we'd found the track that cut between two highway roads and leads to Clear Lake - one of the marshes round here. It went on and on dead straight with desert scrub either side and not one car did we see. MJ got out at one point and experienced the complete wilderness somewhat like visiting the moon I should think - it was about 95F and amazingly quiet. Quite by chance we came across the Lake and then a little further on spotted this long Union ...

... and he had to call it quits in Grand Junction. He is going to meet us in San Francisco.....he is none too pleased, especially since he made it all the way to CO....this is a great excuse to do this trip all over again. Once we get somewhere with a good connection, I will get the pics uploaded and a few videos.... See you in Nevada!

... famous Monument Valley mesas and Navajo reservation country. Again, check the map and you will see that we are only a few hours from Durango, Colorado (hello to Michelle: how is the day care center working out?) A few weeks ago Marshall decided she was tired of the usual cooking fare, which is always good for me. In the past week, we have had a chicken dish with leeks, a curry lamb dish-you get the idea. Just as we left Arkansas we ...