Ooooo-klahoma where the winds come blowin' na-na na!

If I had one word to describe Oklahoma, it would not be windy, or green, 

or flat - it would be bugs. I have never in all the places I've lived, seen so many bugs! It started with the giant, jet-black tarantulas crossing the country road we were on as we headed to camp, and ended with the giant cockroach chasing me in the bathroom - not to mention the millions of strange creatures on the in-between, bites on my arms and legs and the screaming that was involved. 

In spite of the bugs, we had great fun, entertaining trips into the itty-bitty town just down the street from camp, lots of super friendly people, 

and fantastic hikes. 

On our hikes, much of the time my head was down so as not to trip over the rocky and cluttered pathways, and I found myself experiencing more than just seeing what was around me. The hot wet air and cooling breeze on my skin, sharp twigs and branches that poked and scraped at my legs. Bugs whizzing by my head and ears, calling birds and insects. And the beautiful green smells of the forest. 

But when we did stop there was much beauty to behold.   

Alex sniffed out a turtle.

We ate our lunch in a beautiful spot by the stream.

We stopped to feel the stillness of the ponds.

We climbed through very big boulders,

And loved the vistas at the end of the trails.

Looking for the Lighthouse

I kept feeling like I was missing things this week! I missed getting the camera out in time to catch the roadrunner - instead I got this picture of an empty dirt road.

We went to Santa Fe for a day excursion, and somehow missed the charm of downtown. I expected to find cool places to shop and lots of great architecture and history. Does anyone know if that exists? Seriously - I couldn't find it! 

On our way to Amarillo, we passed an honest-to-goodness ghost town. I missed it. Flying down the freeway at 80 miles an hour, I realized what I was seeing halfway through the town. And then it was gone. I suppose ghost towns are like that.  

I had been looking forward the entire day to seeing the sunset glowing on the red cliffs of Palo Duro - we missed that by just a few minutes.

 And yet with the things I missed came so many things I didn't miss! We didn't miss the turn-off for one of the coolest route 66 spots ever.

I didn't miss stealing a kiss from my hubby :)

Or the flat plains of Texas that went on for miles and miles - I suppose I would have to be knocked out cold to have missed those though...

We laid in our tent that night and enjoyed an amazing thunderstorm, and when we woke up in the morning we found this in our campground. I made David go sneak a picture of it! I've always wanted one of those silver bullet campers, but I suppose if I couldn't have one of those, this would suffice. Note the attention to every detail of all things Texas on this John Wayne one-of-a-kind.

Lastly, because of the thunderstorm, the air was cool enough for us to take a beautiful 6-mile hike that brought us this amazing view of the canyon,

And the lighthouse at the end of the trail.

On Our Way

Ok, so first of all, did whoever it was that created state borders decide on the California/Arizona border by where the saguaro's begin growing?! I've never seen a live saguaro in my whole life and as soon as we crossed the border we were in an entire forest of them! 

As David can attest, I get quite excited about little things like that, so there was a lot of oooing and ahhhing for a good thirty minutes as I pointed out saguaro after saguaro. He was obliging and continued to respond with the appropriate enthusiasm for me long after most anyone would find necessary - he's a good hubby like that :) 

And of course, as soon as opportunity presented itself, we had to stop and take a picture of myself and my new found love.

The rugged mountains were also quite unexpected.

As is most always the case, plans never seem to go as planned, and as we watched the weather and drove through the scorching 110˚ heat, we knew that our 'Lost Dutchman' campground, with great trails and plenty of folklore, would have to be abandoned for the more practical and much less glamorous KOA cabin with AC. It turned out to be cute and mostly cool, and exactly what we needed :) 

We celebrated our arrival with a delicious dinner of salmon and 

corn-on-the-cob.

After three successful events for David, and with the advice of a girl who grew up on the reservation, we took the long way to Albuquerque. We were immediately rewarded with sights of nature that took our breath away, and considering that we may never pass this way again, it was well worth the twenty mile dirt - and sometimes treacherous - road we found ourselves on for part of the journey.

This giant flower bloomed only on the dirt road section, and at times dotted the rocky hills all around us.

We made it to camp in the beautiful - and much cooler - white mountains of northeast Arizona... 

where we again celebrated with a satisfying dinner. I wonder if I'll still be as excited as I am now about cooking dinner over the fire when we're done with this whole thing ;)

One of the things that I had really been looking forward to since we began planning this journey was visiting the petrified forest. Let me just say, it was nothing like I expected. It sits in the middle of the fields of a high desert grasslands at seven thousand feet. David and I kept feeling like we were on that barren stretch of highway 80 from Lyman to Green River that looks like you've somehow, magically landed on Mars. The petrified wood did not disappoint though,

and we did find a flower.

We had planned on backpacking into the forest and staying the night there, but alas, the heat and wind were so strong, our plans had to again be discarded. We arrived in Albuquerque, following the heat wave, and have plopped down in another KOA with air conditioning. This one has an air conditioner that seems to rattle excessively loud though, which makes it hard to imagine that we are out in nature.

So we got up early today to try and beat the heat and take a hike through the petroglyphs monument park. We didn't beat the heat, and the trail was like the sand of a beach - without the ocean crashing nearby. We saw the tracks of all kinds of critters - things with little feet and long tails that dragged in the sand, tiny feet that made thousands of tiny prints, and a slithering snake track.

Note the rattle on the tail of this petroglyph. Eeeek!