Headed home!

After Alabama, we were antsy to sleep in our own beds....homeward bound for sure!

Georgia came up pretty quickly!

Cool mural in the visitor's center. 

We stopped at the original Chik-fil-a!

After a not too bad drive, we were in FLORIDA!!!

Alabama...a Visit Long Awaited.

When we left Dallas, we headed into rolling hills. 

Soon we were in the land of the bayous, Louisiana. It was very green, and of course, humid.
We knew we would go through Monroe, and all of a sudden, Vickie was like, "That's why this name sounds familiar! This is where Duck Commander is! My family loves that show!"

So guess where we stopped for a break and lunch? :-)
It was quite the spot:

We went over from the warehouse/ gift shop to Willie's Duck Diner... "Where Saying Grace is Encouraged!"

I couldn't resist trying the "Swamp Basket" which contained Cajun fried duck strips, gator, crayfish, and shrimp. 

It was soooooo good, and I had to finish it later! I also enjoyed their cornbread muffins and hush puppies. Topped it off with some sweet tea. Vickie had a po boy which was over 8 in long! She enjoyed the sweet tea and other yummies, too! We were set for dinner after that meal had leftovers.

Soon the hills started rolling again, and we crossed the mighty Mississippi River! 

It was like two bridges...it is very wide at that crossing. The welcome center is also the site of the Vicksburg siege in 1863 (Civil War).

Mississippi isn't very wide at Interstate 20, so after dodging some crazy truck drivers, we were soon in our destination for the next two nights, Alabama!

Vickie offered to drive me to spend the night with my sister, Amanda, rather than us driving up the next day, so we were really thankful and excited to have more time to visit. That was really thoughtful of her.

So we drove up to where my sister lives, Vickie dropped me off, and then she went to enjoy our lovely hotel, which had all kinds of amenities.

Here's a picture of my sister, Amanda, and I:

To Dallas...and beyond!

Geri again.
So I woke up bright and early on Sunday, even though I was up late having chats with Amanda some, because I went to visit First Baptist Church of Dallas with my local friend from my JU days, Sarah.
It was really good to catch up, though too brief, and I loved seeing her play her flute at church!
We visited their cafe, which sells sweet tea, music to my southern ears y'all, and coffee, which I actually drank.

Then I visited their contemporary service with Sadie, Sarah's friend, and met other friends of theirs. It was a really good time worshiping God together.
Then Amanda and Vickie picked me up and we headed back to the house to rustle up some grub (we were in Texas). :-)
Later, Amanda and I went on an errand to Barnes and Noble, and got to catch up some more. Then we picked up Vickie, and went to a local pizza place called Urban Crust. I almost sent them with my order, but I'm glad I didn't because.... Urban Crust was having a huge 5 year anniversary party!!!!!
We ate all kinds of appetizers (many of which I had ogled on the menu previously) like stuffed mushrooms, all kinds of specialty cheeses, artichoke hearts, and lots more. We tried all kinds of tasty pizzas which were being carried around the whole three floors of the restaurant. And there were even little dessert tarts which were light and delicious. We left content and tired, and thankful for our free dinner.
Eventually we got to bed, because the next morning, we were bound for northern Alabama, where my sister lives. I was getting excited and nervous about seeing her after fourteen years. :-)

Route 66 Heading East!

Geri here.
After we left Phoenix, we headed north to Flagstaff, AZ, one of the many wonderful towns/cities along the Historic Route 66!
We saw many, many towns along what used to be 66, and we drove the actual road in Albuquerque and Tucumcari, NM, and Amarillo, TX. We also drove through a ghost town in Texas called Glenrio. Rumor has it one person does still live there.
We stopped for gas near Winslow, AZ. Cute!

So much history right along the interstate!

We stopped at a tourist trap... I mean destination, near the painted desert. 

We got petrified wood. It's so cool looking! 

I also met some new friends.....erm, well, sorta.

Then we went to the Petrified Forest National Park. We only went to the Painted Desert, because of time, but it was really awesome! 

We also saw the restored Painted Desert Inn, which was a stop on Historic Route 66.

And, before we left, I took a virtual tour of the petrified forest part of the park while Vickie explored the gift shop and picked up some lunch.
I was glad we got to make this unexpected stop.

On we went, and soon we were seeing plateaus of stone, some with caves. Then we entered New Mexico. 

We were in Pueblo dwelling territory. We stopped at the welcome center briefly, which is run by the Navajo.
A little while later, we came into Albuquerque. We stopped for gas, and drove for a bit along the Historic Route 66. You could tell, too!

The next functioning relic we saw was Clines Corners. They advertised for miles before we ever passed by.

Then we were getting close to our stop for the night in Tucumcari, NM.

Just at dusk, in time to see the awesome neon, we pulled off the interstate. It was like traveling back in time. 

We ate at Del's Restaurant, a local yummy diner, and then it was time to rest in the fully restored Blue Swallow Motel. 

The current owners have really made it accurate to its heyday, and cozy at the same time. We took so many pictures! 

Here is the room. It even had a working rotary telephone! Crazy.

They even had an old National Geographic, and an old auto newspaper in the room. Check out these ads:

The garages were even painted with Cars characters. Appropriate, right?

They had yummy muffins and coffee in the lobby the next morning, and we met the owners' pooches. 

We enjoyed chatting with them (the people, not the dog).

And then we were headed on toward Dallas! We were on Route 66 roughly for the first part of Texas. We stopped in the ghost town of Glenrio, exit 0. Four lanes, and no one in sight. A little cool; a little creepy.

We saw the Cadillac Ranch as we whizzed through Amarillo, TX. 

Soon, we waved good bye to Route 66. Hoping I will be back one day to see all that is left, and to see the end. I dug up this old picture from about ten years ago, when I saw the start of 66 in Chicago, Illinois.

We drove further east, through lots of farmland, rolling hills, and charming Texas towns. I felt like we were truly back in the South. The humidity was welcome to my dry, dry skin.

A few hours later, we were welcomed to Dallas by my dear friend and old roomie, Amanda. It was really good to see her after years! We were excited to meet her Aunt Sharon, too. We found Central Market, a foodie's paradise grocery store. It was pretty exciting to Vickie and I!

We found some fruit from Cameroon, yum! 

Tamarillo (we call it tree tomato), mango, and guava.