Working Our Way Home

The Gray clan has made it as far as Austin, TX. We're spending a couple of days here to visit some great friends and recharge our batteries before making the final push back to MS.

On Wednesday, we hit the high spots of Roswell, NM (of which there aren't too many...) including the International Alien Museum and a couple of alien inspired gift shops. At the Alien Museum, they had a huge map of the US and the rest of the world so you could put a push pin in your hometown. The maps were covered with pins, but there wasn't a pin on Madison, MS, so we proudly pushed one in. We did notice that someone from my hometown of Macon, MS had apparently visited, since there was a pin stuck in Macon. It's a really small world...

After a couple of hours in Roswell, we headed on south to Carlsbad Caverns. Carlsbad is really in the middle of nowhere, but worth the trip. We spent several hours there, walking in through the natural entrance, then touring all of the major features. I've been to Mammoth Cave before, but it just doesn't compare. Carlsbad is amazing.

After Carlsbad, we headed on south towards Fort Stockton, TX for the night. Along the way, we kept noticing things scurrying across the road. We finally realized that they were tarantulas - scary! We slowed down and let the kids check out one up close. I had no idea tarantulas were so plentiful in the wild... We finally found our way to Fort Stockton (and back to the Central Time Zone) around 8pm and checked into the Best Western there. The hotel was a bit creepy and old, but the only thing we could get at the last minute. Fort Stockton's also the only decent size town for miles in either direction. We hunkered down and managed to make it through the night, but were up early, showered and on the road by 8am on Thursday.

After a quick breakfast at Sonic, we headed on towards Austin. We made a stop in Fredricksburg, TX for lunch - a really neat town with lots of shops and restaurants on main street. We pressed on to Austin, and arrived at our destination late afternoon. The kids got a chance to swim, then we all headed over to the Hula Hut for an awesome casual dinner overlooking Town Lake in Austin.

Everyone slept like a champ last night, and everyone is enjoying a little personal space today.

We should be on the road early tomorrow, with a goal of rolling into Madison late tomorrow night.

Then Grays