CROSS-COUNTRY ROADTRIP, part 2

 

Going back in time today (not even quite two months, but it seems longer).  Here's a collage to set the mood:

 

ROAD-TRIP!!

Yes, finishing up our cross-country road-trip from Oregon to Florida.        The pictures above are all from the car window shots  (some are from the first part of the trip, before our stop in Colorado.)    The one at the top left was on the back of a  truck that we had to follow for miles  in spite of the instruction not to do so!   It doesn't take a lot to make me laugh when we're road-tripping, but I thought that was funny.     We were waiting for a pilot car to take us through a construction zone convoy and this truck was right in front of us the whole time, while we waited and while we drove the gauntlet.       

You can scroll back  a few posts to see more about the first part of our journey and about our stay in Colorado, where we spent the most time with the nicest people and where we saw the best Fall scenery.  The collage below  shows the difference in terrain between Colorado and neighboring New Mexico.   

 

 

We like to stay off the freeways as much as possible and for almost the entire trip we were able to do that.  We like to think about the people who live in the small  towns we pass through and wonder what their lives are like.   The terrain and landscapes along the way are different and every town is unique in some way — not at all like off-the-freeway stops which are the same everywhere.  

Once out of Colorado we spent a couple of nights in western New Mexico without unhooking the tiny trailer — The first night we stayed in Bloomfield New Mexico which is near or perhaps on the Apache Reservation.   We have explored this history-rich area on previous trips.   

 

Then we spent a few days near Socorro NM, hoping to see the Autumn flyover of snow geese and cranes.    We have been there to see this twice in previous years but sadly this time we were too early and barely saw a bird.      

 

 

There was good sky-watching and good eating.  Even though we cooked almost all of our meals in the trailer, we did venture out to a nearby restaurant that is famous for its green chile burgers, because it wouldn't be a visit to the area without that.  

  Without the birds  though there really isn't a whole lot to see  so we moved on down the road.   

  

 

But we took a little New Mexico with us!   Green Chile sauce was the most common condiment in grocery stores here.   I include this unpaid advertising because it shows how much you can learn about an area by shopping for groceries.  For us that's one of the fun parts of RV travel.   

Mostly as a memory aid for myself, I am including the names of all of the places where we spent a night on this trip.   We spent two more nights in New Mexico after leaving Socorro.  We travel in a leisurely fashion!  In New Mexico, we stayed in Bloomfield, Pie Town, Socorro, Fort Sumnter, and Clovis.  

 

We drove right through Texas (well this part of it anyway ) with our only stop being to grab a few pictures  of this small town's signs which I loved.   We were driving through cotton country.   This was the only state we drove in without spending at least one night (and without spending any money at all).   We were in Oklahoma by our first night after New Mexico. 

 

By the Lake RV Park Ardmore Oklahoma 

We stopped for groceries  at  the Choctaw Country Market in Clayton Oklahoma.    We had been driving through the Choctaw Reservation which we found so interesting.   At the top the receipt from the store says "Halito ((Hi).  I'm Ashley" … and at the bottom "Yakoke (Thank you) for Shopping With Us."    So now we know two words in the Choctaw language.     Tribal Nations are sovereign governments, so as we traveled without leaving the United States, we had actually also been in a couple of different Nations within the last few days.   (The Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma and Apache Nation in New Mexico).  

In Oklahoma, we stayed in Altus, Ardmore, and Clayton.

 

Eastern Bluebird

We spent a couple of nights in Arkansas and I finally got a picture of a bird!    I really took very few pictures on this whole part of the trip — partly because we were still on a scenery high from our Colorado Autumn (and nothing is as picture-worthy) and partly because after Socorro we didn't spend a lot of time exploring outside of the RV Parks where we stayed.  

In Arkansas, we stayed at Mena and Lake Village. 

Mena Arkansas

 I'm not sure what  the RV Park manager meant to convey with the Truth sign on this decorated pickup but by this point in the trip, our truth was that we were eager to get back to the Canal Cottage.  We had three more days on the road after Arkansas, but we arrived home with four more days of October to spare.     

We stayed in Marion Mississippi, Dothan Alabama, and Alachua near the center of Florida

 

It was good to be home.

We are thankful that we both enjoy traveling by RV and that we have the time to travel in a leisurely fashion.  We were happy to find good RV Parks all along the way (no bad experiences at all), and grateful that people we saw in those parks and almost everywhere we stopped to buy food and fuel were following Covid-safe common-sense precautions.    (And grateful that the same thing is true here at home in Florida).  

 

Thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS;