After leaving San Diego we started our journey towards home, which has mainly been I-10 East! Our first planned stop was to visit Suguaro National Park in Arizona. The park is very large and has 2 main sections, we decided to go the west side as it is more "RV friendly". Once in the parking area and a quick trip to the visitor center to buy postcards, Bob unhooked the jeep and we used that to tour around the park, take a hike, and picnic at one of their nice pull out areas. Postcards have been purchased at every main stop and I have had fun writing and sending each of the girls one from all the different locations. The park was beautiful and very unique. Defiantly worth a stop if you are in the area.
The next place we visited.....with some long days of driving involved was White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Another amazing place to visit. You are literally out in the middle of nowhere and all of the sudden there is this HUGH area with miles and miles of white sand dunes! By far this was Scooby's favorite stop as he ran and ran until he was so tired and then he just started digging and digging in the sand. So cute to watch and he slept the rest of the day while we were driving.
I finally got up my nerve to drive this rig! We picked a LONG and straight section of road (not hard to find in this area) and off I went while Bob got a much needed rest! I was pretty nervous, but all was ok..... I did dread every time I looked in the rear view mirror to see an 18-wheeler closing in on me. They really give you quite the "push" of air when going by.
Our next stop was in San Antonio, TX. I had always wanted to see the Riverwalk area in downtown and was not disappointed. We hit it on a Monday night and pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas with lights everywhere. We enjoyed a great meal at one of the many restaurants that line the river. After dinner we walked over to see The Alamo. Much smaller than I envisioned but still pretty and worth seeing. We brushed up on our TX history by reading the info about The Alamo over dinner.
It was about here in our journey that we really started noticing how COLD the temperatures were back home and how nice and warm we were in Texas. We started questioning why we were rushing back to such cold weather! After confirming Elizabeth and Tylers arrival date for Christmas at our house, we decided to head south. We ended up at Corpus Christi, TX at a beautiful KOA resort right on the bay!!
We originally planned to stay 3 nights and we are now on night 5 with 2 more booked! We have been enjoying 75 degree days, wearing shorts and eating dinners outside our RV. Today we took a drive over to Port Aransas and had a BBQ lunch right on the beach. Scooby again had an amazing day of running up and down the beach chasing birds.
Our plan is now to leave the 15th and be home on the 18th. A couple of stops along the way, including one in Amite, LA where all my cousins live and where my mom grew up! I have been Christmas shopping along the way and spent the morning playing Christmas music over my phone and wrapping presents.
I will say it has been HARD to get in the Christmas spirit when sitting in the sun reading a good book! A few RV holiday decorations have helped.
Both Bob and I are actually feeling sad this amazing road trip is almost over but really looking forward to spending Christmas in our house, seeing our daughter and her fiancé, catching up with all our friends and......sleeping in a KING size bed! ;)