Saturday 15 October 2011

carlsbad caverns and white sands monument

carlsbad caverns entrance

inside the cavern

natural entrance

bronte at natural entrance

just inside the natural entrance

white sands national monument

on a sand dune

see our silhouette on the left

mountains at sunset

beautiful

being silly

just amazing

tiny critter foot prints?????
Friday 14th October 2011
Today we started out in Carlsbad and we had two things planned to do.  One was to visit the Carlsbad Caverns about 60kms south of the town and the other was to visit White Sands National Monument some 300km away.
We drove to the caves and the scenery was very beautiful on the way.  We were planning on doing an organised tour which started at 10am.  We got there at around 9.45am and raced in the doors and were able to still get on the tour.  A 750 feet elevator ride down and we were in the cavern ready to go.  The cavern was amazing, it was the most beautiful and biggest of caves that I have ever been in.  We spent about 3 hours inside the cave and then we decided to go back to the top and walk to the natural entrance of the cave and complete the mile walk back into the cave to the elevators.  The walk was awesome and it was well worth it.  I am glad we walked from the entrance to inside rather than starting in and walking back out.  750 feet decline is okay going down but would have sucked big time coming out.  From there it was back into the car and about a 300km drive to White Sands.
We arrived at White Sands at 5.00pm with 3 hours before closing.  It has a 16 mile loop track that you drive through the sand dunes with pull outs along the way.  We had planned the time great, sunset was at 6.30pm and that is when you get some of the best photos.  The sand is so so white that it is almost unreal.  We went for a walk on the dunes and took some silly photos and just took in the ambiance of the sunset.  There was quite a few people there doing the same as us.
Just a short drive then to Ruidoso which is where we had booked our motel.  Had Denny's for dinner which was right next door to the motel.  The food was delicious and went down well.
Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe which will be our last night before we go to Las Vegas.

Friday 14 October 2011

fort smith to carlsbad nm

Wednesday 12th October 2011
Today we travelled from Fort Smith to Amarillo Texas.  This was a 750km drive and was what we needed to complete to get us back to Las Vegas by Monday.  Nothing really exciting along the way just national highways.

Thursday 13th October 2011
Today we are travelling to Roswell in New Mexico and then on to Carlsbad to go and visit the Carlsbad Caverns on Friday.  We stopped off in Roswell and went to the UFO museum.  The museum is pretty old and has lots of information on UFO sighting and the crash landing of the first UFO in the region back in 1947 and the conspiracy that surround it.  The town is very cute and they have martian stuff and UFO stuff all around the town to decorate it.

roswell ufo museum

spaceship and martians

walmarts entrance

ufo water!

kfc martian


We continued on to our accommodation and checked in.  Went out to Ihop for dinner and then back to the room for some rest.  Tomorrow we head to the cavern and White Sands Monument.

Thursday 13 October 2011

mud island

water crossing to mud island

mud island

on the monorail

the monorail
Tuesday 11th October 2011
Today we leave Memphis and travel to Fort Smith in Arkansas.  Before leaving Memphis we wanted to head into the city and use the monorail to cross over the water of the Mississippi to mud island.  The monorail is a suspended one where it is hanging rather than running on a rail.  Once across to the island we had a walk around and checked out the area.  They have made a scale model of the Mississippi river on the ground in the concrete.  The model is amazing to see and has all the bridges, and towns that follow the river also on the concrete.  There was a large group of school kids that appeared to be doing a field trip on the island trying to answer a list of questions using the model as reference.  From there we went back into town and past the Lorraine Motel which is where Martin Luther King was shot.  It was then on the road for a 500km trip to Fort Smith.
Once at Fort Smith I gave the car a quick wash as it was covered in bugs and then we went out for dinner at Denny's.  The food at Denny's was very nice but very filling.  Tomorrow we head for Amarillo Texas which is a long drive, about 8 hours.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

graceland

elvis

at graceland

out the front of elvis' house

bronte next to the lion statue

fan detector before boarding airplane

elvis' plane "lisa marie"

the pink cadillac
 Monday 10th October 2011
Our second night in Memphis we stayed in a different motel. We booked the Days Inn at Graceland and it to was awesome. We checked in at 11.00am parked the car in there car park and then walked the 100 metres or so to Graceland. It all worked out very well.
We arrived at the visitor centre and paid for our tickets.  The entry price included, Graceland being the house and garden area, the Elvis planes and the Elvis car collection.  It also included entry into another 3 or 4 areas that had clothing, records and awards etc.  It stated on the net that the tour would/should take about 2 hours to complete.  Well 4 hours later we were still there, it was incredible the amount of information there was to see and read.  I'm no Elvis fan by a long stretch but it was exceptional. 
The second part of our day was to go to the Peabody Hotel and see the famous Peabody ducks.  It is truly amazing that they have a duck march at 11.00am and 5.00pm every day.  At 11 the ducks come from there palace on the roof, down the elevator and across the red carpet to the fountain in the lobby where they stay until 5.  At 5.00pm the Duck master takes them back across the red carpet and into the elevator and back to their palace on the roof.  They were so cute to watch and its amazing that they do this every day.  This tradition has been going since 1940 and will continue as its part of the hotels history which they want to keep.  Check out this following link. http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody-ducks/
We then had a walk around the city for a while and down to Beale St and got some dinner at Hardrock Cafe.  It was then a drive back to the motel for a good night sleep.  Tomorrow we head for Fort Smith Arkansas.

peabody ducks elevator

coming out of the fountain

walking the red carpet

in the elevator

pensacola

pensacola beach

me on the pensacola jetty

the sand is so white

the jetty
Sunday 9th October 2011
Today we travelled to Pensacola Beach to check it out.  To get to the beach you have to travel over 2 causeways from the mainland.  Once there the beach was beautiful, the sand was so white and clean.  There were a number of people on the beach and surfing as the temp was a nice 28 degrees.  We walked out the Pensacola Beach jetty which was mostly used to fish from.  It was a little windy at the beach but still it was nice, sunny and warm.  We had a stroll around and then drove east along Gulf Boulevard until we got to another causeway to get back to the mainland.  We spent about 3 hours having a drive around and then hit the road for Memphis.  It was about a 750km drive to Memphis but we now need to start to head back to LA.  I wonder if we will see Elvis in Memphis?
Got to Memphis at 9.30pm and checked into our room.  We are going to hit Graceland tomorrow along with all the rest of the tourists there, I'm sure it's going to be busy.

Sunday 9 October 2011

alligators and airboats

alligator about 1.2 metres long

our airboat

alligator near our airboat

swimming past us

swamps

very different scenery

baby alligator, 2 years old

blue claw crab
Saturday 8th October 2011
Today we were leaving New Orleans to travel to Pensacola Florida.  Before we were leaving we were doing an airboat tour in the swamp area south of the city.  We booked in for a 12.00pm tour as it was about an hour drive from the motel.
We actually booked a 16 seat airboat as the 6 seat ones were half as much again.  When we arrived they bumped us to a smaller boat as they had a group of 15 that wanted to stay together.  So we ended up with a bit more personal tour.  There was an alligator on display at the office area and he was pretty chilled.
The aiboat ride went for 1hour 40 minutes and took us all around the swamp area looking for gators.  We stopped in one spot and the driver turned off the engine.  There was a small alligator about 4 years old apparently that swum up to our boat.  The driver had a bag of white marshmallows that he threw into the water.  The alligator loved the marshmallows, he swum around the boat and you could have almost touched him if you wanted.
We travelled a bit further and stopped at another spot.  the driver pulled out a small alligator that he had on board for us to all have a hold.  He was really chilled and was quite excepting of human contact.  He was one of 6 rescued when the mother alligator abandoned her young.
We went out to the lake area and stopped at a crab net.  The driver pulled the net in and yes it contained a blue claw crab.  Bronte held the crab and no one else on the boat wanted to.
After the tour we travelled back to the city and then crossed the causeway across Lake Pontchartrain.  The causeway is 24 miles straight across the lake and was kind of weird.  2.5 hours later and after crossing Mississippi, Alabama and into Florida we arrived at Pensacola.  Went out for dinner at Cracker Barrel which is meant to be famous for home cooked meals.  The food was very nice and we left there with full bellies.  Tomorrow we head to Memphis to see Graceland.


causeway 24 miles long
mississippi welcome centre

Saturday 8 October 2011

new orleans

view of city skyline from our room

armstrong park

jazz national park

french quarters street

cute house in french quarter

pub in french quarters

more houses

bronte on the city levee

jackson square

bourbon street forest gump chair

some of the cyclone katrina affected homes

new levee

water mark at arrow heads (yellowish line)

french quarters horse tie up point
Friday 7th October 2011
Today we decided to do a city tour which was a bus trip for two hours that basically took us to all the main parts of New Orleans that you would want to see.  We had a bit of a late start to the day and by the time we left the motel it was almost 11.00am.  We walked to the shop where the tours ran from and went to go on the 12.00pm tour.  The tour was full and the next available one was 4.00pm.  We signed up for that one and then went and got some lunch.  From there we walked to Louis Armstrong Park which was having some major renovations done to it and most of the gardens were not open.  We walked back through the French Quarters taking in all the Spanish architecture that lined all of these streets.  There were so many really cute and very beautiful houses.  Made our way back towards the river and along the levee that protects the city.  As we walked along Decatur Street we walked past Jackson Park which was this really cute and nice park.  There were a few market stalls around the out skits of the park.  By this time it was time to go to the tour.  The tour bus took us to places affected by Cyclone Katrina in the lower 9th ward, French Quarters, Garden Districts, Lake Ponchatrain, St Louis cemetery 3 and many other places of interest.  The tour was very informative and was worth the money.
Once off the bus we walked around the city and found a pub called Flannigans where we decided to eat dinner.  The food was fantastic.  I had a burger with the lot and Bronte had a Nacho salad which also was yummy.  We also had some buffalo wings as a starter.  After a few drinks we walked back to the motel where we watched some TV before going to bed.
Tomorrow we head to Pensacola Florida which is the most east we are going to travel.

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