We spent a week in Moab, Utah, where we toured Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. Please see photos and videos. It was a phenomenal stay. And hot. Most days were 90 or above! After Moab, we drove south, still in Utah, and landed in the south west corner of the state, somewhat near St. George, and stayed just outside of Panguitch, which is nicely located about halfway between Bryce and Zion National Parks. Another phenomenal stay, incredible views, and experiences, and the weather remained hot!

From Bryce/Zion, we drove about another 270 miles, around and through Grand Canyon, to arrive at our stay at Raptor Ranch RV park, just about 20 miles south of the National Park entrance at the south rim. Another week stay here was phenomenal weather, still warm, and of course, Grand Canyon is not to be missed! I probably overdid the videos here, please see the video page with lots of views from the various viewpoint around the Canyon South rim. As we moved into the first week of October, the traffic at the park was pretty low, and we never had a wait over 20 minutes to get into the park. I even got our drone out a few times one day (pretty much on the sly!), and I'm pretty proud of those shots. Of all the overlooks on the south rim, I thought that Yavapai Point, just inside the south rim entrance, has the most phenomenal views. Surely, a full 180-degree (or more) span of this obvious natural wonder could capture any visitor's awe!

From Grand Canyon in Northern Arizona, we backtrack a bit north and east to spend another week at Monument Valley. One can see great landmarks from the main roads, but the ONLY way to really see the area is to take a paid tour, using four-wheel-drive vehicles, all on native Navajo reservation Land. I thought I would just take the trike up there for a test run on the course, and thank goodness they don't allow any entrance to motorcycles or anything other than four wheeled vehicles. And without four-wheel-drive, the deep, deep dry sand across virtually ALL roads on the tour would be impossible. Please see some pictures and videos out there too -- The $40 or $50 price was worth the effort and time, and our driver was phenomenal, of course!

We left Monument Valley on October 9, and headed the usual 300 miles or a little less to Albuquerque, where we timed our visit to coincide with their annual balloon festival. Please see videos and photos here too, as this was a phenomenal visit! For the record, THE BEST way to experience this is to ride any of the shuttle buses from about four locations around the city. Passage and parking anywhere near the HUGE field where the festival is held is nearly impossible to deal with. But the shuttle busses get you within 100 feet of ALL the activities! There is an evening show where the balloons do NOT lift off because of the dark, but there were around 200 balloons that inflate, set off their fiery color, and was a great view. Arrive anytime after 4 o'clock in the afternoon and wait for Sunset! I went down for The Morning Show also, and one needs to be up at about 2:30 in the morning to catch the 4 o'clock bus to be there before sunrise. There's a phenomenal drone show while it's still dark, and opening ceremonies around 6:30 are enjoyed by thousands and thousands and thousands of spectators on the huge field where all the balloons launch. Put it on your calendar! Always during the first and second week of October.

From Albuquerque, where we left on October 14, not much of excitement to report. We spent a week in Amarillo, where the main attraction we found is Cadillac Ranch. If you've never been there, it's definitely worth a half hour visit! Please see pictures and maybe a video or two around Amarillo. We left on October 21 and the next site that was 250 to 300 miles away was Sunset Texas. Warm, and not much to report near Sunset. These are all just reasonably small cities now that have KOA campsites which we've come to like because they're usually clean and have fenced dog parks!

We left Sunset Texas, on October 28th, and continue to head toward Florida, and landed in Shreveport Louisiana for another week. Again, not much to report here, just a large enough city to have a KOA and around 300 miles closer to Tampa Florida. We spent a week around Shreveport, and then traveled another 300 miles to McComb Mississippi, where we are as I type these keystrokes. We’ll leave here on November 10th, still on target to be in Tampa Florida on November 23.