We have returned…

…almost unscathed. I say almost because Mo’s foot (which she injured while trying to capture a photo of Mission Dolores in San Francisco) has turned out to be slightly more than sprained. To be more specific:  It’s broken. … And requires surgery. So it’s not been exactly an easy landing on our return to “reality”, … Read more

Yes, we’re still out here…

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech. ” Mark Twain Okay…so we haven’t exactly kept up with the promise to update the site regularly. My excuse is two-fold. Number  One – technical difficulties.  In spite of the considerable effort and skills of our Trip Engineer , AKA Troy, … Read more

Camp, Sweet, California Camp

We drove down out of Arizona’s Black Mountains and into California. Hooray! Even though the scenery hadn’t changed much as we drove past the Mojave National Preserve and through Eastern California, we knew we were almost there. Something else had changed, too. For the first time in more than a week, we found ourselves in … Read more

Life is a Highway

The residents of Seligman, AZ, and other tiny towns that dot the map along Route 66 are a lot like the residents of Radiator Springs in Disney’s movie, Cars. They are dedicated to renovating and revising old tourist stops in hopes that if they build it we come. These are places where ghosts of prosperity walk the streets in poignant anticipation of whatever comes next.

Isn’t it Grand?

Initially, I had dreamed about a mule trip into the Grand Canyon, Brady-Bunch style, but with 2 coasts to see and just 31 days to do, Bobby and Cindy getting lost would certainly put a kink in our itinerary. We had places to be, darn it!

Shhhh…..

The sun was just starting to rise, but the rest of the Cawley clan was fast asleep. So I sneaked out into the quiet morning for a few moments alone, and I snapped some pictures. There was a peaceful calm, that took my breath away. And nothing was moving…except me and the sun and a … Read more

Time travel takes a lot out of you

So do temperatures over 110 degrees (yes, even with no humidity). So by the time we had crossed the awesome loneliness of the local landscape into Monument Valley, we were greatly diminished as a group. So much so, that we feared Goulding’s Lodge, which sat as an oasis in endless miles of red sand and … Read more