Armadillos and cowboys

Greetings from Santa Rosa, New Mexico - we are now operating on Mountain Time: 7 hours behind those of you in the UK. We made an error in a previous post - Florida was actually state number 22 in 21 days! Since leaving Brandon, Florida on Monday morning we've been through Alabama, Mississipi, Louisiana, Texas and today New Mexico. The milometer currently sits at 7,200 as we settle down on the first of 7 or 8 nights camping across some of the wonderful National Parks the south west has to offer.

Monday morning we set out from Florida on what turned out to be our longest day drive so far - just over 570 miles with the aid of an extra hour shifting from Eastern to Central Time. Along the way we stopped to see USS Alabama and not a lot else! On arrival at Shepard State Park, Mississippi, in the throws of a Gulf sunset, we drove round what was a completely empty campsite - sure, there were RVs parked in the electric site area, but by now we do not consider these people worthy of the title 'campers'. We tend to aim for the primitive sites without electricity or water - because we don't need them and because they're cheaper! As expected, we were visited by the racoons, but it was very humid outside so we didn't humour them long - it was still above 80F when I collapsed into my tent - despite sleeping naked as the day we were born (in separate tents I hasten to add) the heat was pretty intense.

Tuesday we awoke to what can only be described as epic tent condensation. It had been a hot night. Thankfully, the campsite had a cold outside shower. We headed toward New Orleans via the coast through little beautiful white-sandy-beach towns. Why they felt the need to populate these resorts with casinos I'm not sure. There was a tiny feeling of guilt as we strolled the white beaches knowing that any oil damage either to economy or directly to wildlife was in part due to our very being as Brits from the land of BP. In to Louisiana and we headed for the tourist area of New Orleans called the French Quarter. Bourbon Street is well worth avoiding should you want to remain unshocked. Other streets wore their Spanish heritage on their sleeve and were an enjoyable walk. We visited the French Market, Mississippi River, St Louis Cathedral, Cafe Du Monde and the old US Mint and just enjoyed ambling around the streets.

Back on the road and we headed north finding a campsite in Louisiana which was similarly deserted. Our nearest neighbours were the friendly armadillos. Another hot night was on the cards so we made good use of cold showers. Duncan awoke in the night to the muffled shuffling of feet outside his tent. With the quite staggeringly bright moonlight casting shadows wide across the site, it was clear for him to see that it was an armadillo sniffing him out.

Wednesday we crossed into Texas and arrived in Arlington, just outside of Dallas where we were entertained by little Riley Jane and her toy bricks. We ventured into downtown Dallas in throws of nightfall with the Men In Black title music upping our secret agent mood, as we aimed for a non descript car park where we were to meet Lisa, a friend from the previous weekends wedding. We ate good mexican food that nigtht, toured downtown and stood on the spots where JFK was shot, whilst avoiding oncoming traffic!

Thursday we visited Fort Worth and the historic stockyards, did some cowboy things and marvled at the size of horns on the longhorns. We continued north to Oklahoma and the state capital Norman. I've seen a few batchelor pads in my time, but this housed 5 guys with a massive lounge and roof deck for watching sunsets, thunder storms and in the words of Josiah, ninjas.

Friday was an out of the car day and we headed in to Oklahoma City. As a first hand recommendation from the Governor of Oklahoma's daughter we went to the OK City Bombing Memorial and museum. It was a pretty moving experience as the museum led us through the timeline of 19 April 1995. Then a quick tour round Bricktown, the charity shops of OK City and then Oklahoma University where Josiah studied. A pig BBQ restaurant filled us up as we went searching for a car wash so we can begin the process of selling the car online for our arrival in Seattle in late October. We also took in a high school 'football' game and headed to a party where I confused many people with my accent but obviously made a good impression as I left with 3 good cds for our journey!

And so we reach today - Saturday 25th September - our 29th day of the roadtrip - almost halfway. We headed west today back through Texas partly along the old historic Route 66. Sadly most of the Texas 66 is covered over by Interstate concrete but we managed to find our way to Amarillo! Almost as soon as we passed into New Mexico, the landscape changed. Wide open views with steps and valley floors and bizarre rock outcrops dotting the horizon. This was the landscape my geography teacher at high school talked so enthusiastically about when we studied water supply in the arid south west of America. Never did I ever think I'd be camping here! It also feeds the imagination of cowboys and indians which makes our very kindly donated cd book about 2 cowboy brothers all the more believable.

Looking back over the first half, I personally wish I had been able to spend more time with our friends along the way. With the prospect of hopefully being employed sometime soon and therefore settling down a bit, I can't say when I'll next get to see these people or America. Looking forward though, the landscapes and national parks we will encounter will be amazing and add much to the adventure tag of this whole experience. Here's to the next 29 days!