View high resolution

Yellowstone canyon. If you haven’t been to Yellowstone, you should go.

View high resolution

The Badlands’ Wall in South Dakota.

View high resolution

NYC. Now it’s time to turn around and head back home. Four weeks really flew by and the road trip is nearly over. Next stop: Buffalo and some delicious wings. Also some waterfall.

View high resolution

Magnolia Plantation outside of Charleston, SC. Neat plantation though the original home was destroyed so now there’s a newer post Civil War home. Also has some slave shacks from the 1850’s, one of the few plantations in the area to still have them. The gardens were magnificent and had thousands of different plants. The photo is from our walk in the garden.

View high resolution

Bahai Honda state park in the Florida Keys. That’s the view from the campsite. Kind of pricey around $43 but you cant beat the view and the beach access. Time to get some key lime pie now.

View high resolution

How to have a miserable time in Florida:
Step 1: Drop phone, crack screen.
Step 2: Come when the forecast is thunderstorms for the next week.
Step 3: Try to go swimming during storms.
Step 4: Live in denial that Florida is big and it takes a while to drive to the cities you want to go to.

How to (attempt to) recover from bad experiences:
Step 1: Phone still works
Step 2: At least it’s in the 80’s in the thunderstorms.
Step 3: Park rangers let you into parks for free especially when they see the weather (one told us that we should say we just wanted to see the campgrounds… Got us in for free).
Step 4: On those miles of road realize that they have bears in Florida then find out they are Florida black bears and have been taken off the threaten species list in 2011. Yay conservation!

Picture is of a storm over the white sand dunes of St. George island state park.

View high resolution

Lunch at Black’s BBQ in Lockhart, TX. A bit touristy but one of the oldest BBQ joints in TX and it once catered a White House function for LBJ. The sausage (I got the jalepeno and cheese one) was excellent and that giant beef rib on top was also good. Even if you don’t go to Lockhart for Black’s, there’s plenty of other choices in Texas’ official BBQ capital.

View high resolution

Sunset over Brantley state park in SE New Mexico. Tomorrow, Carlsbad Caverns then Texas and more importantly Texas BBQ.

View high resolution

Monument valley in Utah but right next to the Arizona border. Sure the mesas and buttes were spectacular, and I imagine they would be even better at sunset, but it was a lot smaller then what I had in mind. The drive north of the valley was worthwhile and definitely had that southwest desert vibe.

View high resolution

On the road in Mojave. The weather was great—not too hot and sunny. Totally worth the detour on the way to Vegas.