Vacation 2009 - Traveling West

On July 10, John and I left on our first vacation together. (DC didn't really count because work had to come first.) I took off at noon on Friday, July 10, to finish getting my stuff ready for our trip. By 5:00, the car was loaded with all the important stuff (including bicycles), an early supper had been eaten, and we were ready to go. On Friday night we drove until we were about an hour west of Oklahoma City, spending the night in Clinton.
John at the Oklahoma Welcome Center on Friday night.

We were on the road fairly early on Saturday, but had a long day ahead of us - goal - Holbrook, AZ, by bedtime. We took lots of photos as we traveled across the rest of Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, all of New Mexico and into eastern Arizona. There was so much to see and we really didn't have time to make all the stops that we encountered along the way - like just what is "Roman Nose State Park" and why are those cars buried in the ground like that? Temps varied back and forth from over 100 to the low 70's as elevation changed and we drove in and out of rain.
The Texas Panhandle is the perfect place for a wind farm (look closely in the distance.)

And then there are rocks - lots of rocks...

New Mexico along I-40 West

A rainy sunset in Arizona

Trip to DC

John and I were very blessed to have the opportunity to attend the same conference in Washington DC - the National Education Computing Conference. We left town on Saturday, June 27, after having to be at the airport at 4:15 AM. We had separate flights going and coming but the arrival and departure times meshed really well. We were at our hotel in DC by lunchtime on Saturday and didn't have to leave until Thursday afternoon. We had a crazy busy week - doing all of the conference sessions, visiting many vendor booths, and then sightseeing every other possible moment. Being a history buff, it is impossible to choose one favorite part but certainly, the Lincoln Memorial and the National Archives with the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were pretty awesome. Between the 2 of us, there are literally hundreds of photos, but here are a few of my favorites.

John - outside our hotel on Saturday


Library of Congress on Tuesday evening Lincoln Memorial at night