Nevada

Friday afternoon we drove north to Las Vegas, stopping at Lake Mead National Recreation Area on our way. The visitor center there had a cool map of the lake, which was formed when the Hoover Dam was built on the Colorado River.

We also stopped at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument north of Vegas, but currently there isn't much there. It's currently an open field, and shares a visitor center with Lake Mead NRA.

We continued north, and stopped in Tonopah Friday night. Saturday we had lunch in Reno, and arrived back in Bend Saturday evening.

Arizona

We left Texas and continued west through New Mexico until we came to Petrified Forest National Park. We had visited this park in January of 2007, but only the northern part. 

This time we turned and drove south to the Rainbow Museum, where we checked out the exhibits and watched a film about the park. From there we drove west to Flagstaff, where we stayed Thursday night.

Friday morning night we visited Walnut Canyon National Monument. This park preserves the landscape where native people built homes in the cliffs of the canyon and farmed along the rim. We checked out the exhibits at the visitor center and watched the film about canyon, then walked a short trail out to the canyon’s edge.

Texas

Once we entered Texas, we swung down to Waco. Wednesday morning we drove around the downtown and visited the Magnolia Market. A former grain and cotton plant was transformed into a shopping complex a few years ago by owners Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper.

We then visited Waco Mammoth National Monument. This is located west of town near the Bosque River. The fossils of a large number of Mammoth were discovered there.

Wednesday night we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Dallas. This was the 14th HRC I have visited. We then continued driving west to Amarillo, where we stopped for the night.

Westward

Monday morning, we stopped at Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon, Georgia. This site preserves Native American mounds. We then drove across Alabama and Mississippi and stopped in Vicksburg for the night.

Tuesday morning we visited Vicksburg National Military Park. Vicksburg was important in the Civil War because it could be used to control traffic on the Mississippi river.

In the afternoon we visited Poverty Point National Monument in northern Louisiana, which is also about the Native American mound-builders.

South Carolina

On Saturday we left Disney World and headed up to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the night. We stayed at Disney's resort there, in a villa in a building by the pool.

We walked along the beach near the Beach House Sunday morning.

Leaving Hilton Head, we headed northwest to near Columbia and picked up Lily, our new Sheltie, then headed west on our sixth trip across the U.S.

Grandstand

On Thursday we moved into a villa at Saratoga Springs. We stayed in the Grandstand area, which is nice because it's close to the main pool and boat dock to Disney Springs and is the first stop on the bus route, so it's easy to get a seat on the bus in the morning when heading to the park, and you're first off coming back when you're tired from being in the park all day. It's also got a nice quiet pool. 

At the Studios, the old Pizza Planet restaurant had been changed into PizzeRizzo, and themed to the Muppets, which is appropriate because it's across from the Muppet 3D movie. 

At Epcot, the Food & Wine Festival ended, and the holiday decorations went up. I enjoyed checking out the exhibit about Shanghai Disney in the China pavilion. 

Wilderness Lodge

On Sunday, we moved to a Wilderness Lodge DVC one bedroom villa. From our balcony we could see the progress they were making on building the new DVC cabins along the lakeshore.

That night we attended a Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom. Jennifer enjoyed meeting special characters, and we all enjoyed the holiday decorations and snacks. 

We enjoyed walking around the resort. Near the pool they are building a new restaurant. They are also adding another pool.

This morning we went to Animal Kingdom, where work continued on the new Pandora area. 

And Disney World Yet Again

Last Friday, Susan and I flew out to Disney World again. On Saturday we went to Epcot, where Jennifer enjoyed the fall Dapper Day. 

We also checked out the Food & Wine Festival offerings, including the Festival Center, in the old Wonders of Life pavilion. There were several dioramas inside made of chocolate that were really cool. We ate lunch at Le Cellier in Canada, which was very good. 

The first couple of nights we stayed at Pop Century. This morning we drove down to Celebration to see where Bryan worked, and had lunch nearby.