New Mexico

When the planning for New Mexico began, we had already agreed on two things:

1) We had to spend time in the home of Breaking Bad Albuquerque
2) This was the best opportunity to camp in a dark sight and enjoy the night sky

Yet again there is a lot we are missing out on but hopefully we have chosen the highlights

State:	New Mexico
Towns of Interest:	Albuquerque Roswell Las Vegas (not visiting) Santa Fe Carlsbad (best place to stay of visiting the NP)
National Parks:	Carlsbad Caverns National Park
State Parks of Interest:	City of Rocks State Park - not visiting
Places of Interest:	Santa Fe Santa Fe Plaza Original Trading Post Santa Fe Southern Railway (trip to Lamy, stop for lunch and return - 3-4 hours) Roswell White Sands International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell The Very Large Array Four Corners Shiprock Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Hatch (Chile Capital of the World) - not visiting Carlsbad Caverns National Park Kings Palace Tour Dolls Theater The Big Room (self tour) Underground Lunch Room Bat Cave Albuquerque Visit the Candy Lady (Produced Meth in Breaking Bad) Sandia Peak Tramway (15 min ride to viewing platform) Old Town Plaza Breaking Bad Tour American International Rattlesnake Museum Turquoise Museum Tent Rocks New Mexico Mining Museum (Grants)
Routes of Interest:	Albuquerque to Santa Fe - The Turquoise Trial (52 miles down highwy 14)
Where to Stay:	Cosmic Campground (1 night) Albuquerque (3 nights) - stay near Old Town Plaza Hotel Albuquerque (£101 per night) Roswell (1 night) Days Inn (£54 per night) Budget Inn (£48 per night) Towneplace Suite (£87 per night)

Las Vegas

We have had a number of discussions recently on whether we should visit Las Vegas on this trip. We have both been to Vegas a number of times and whilst we love the madness of the place, the road trip is about finding new places. 

Whilst reading about New Mexico I found a town also called Las Vegas. It doesn't have the glamour or glitz of its Nevada cousin, it does have the same name and should have a town sign which will confuse the hell out of people when its uploaded to this blog! 

The Mule or not to Mule...

When I read about mule trips in the Grand Canyon in the DK Arizona & Grand Canyon book, I instantly added it to the list. We have done sight seeing trips before on horse / mule back in Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Iceland and really enjoyed them, it allows you to see parts of the landscape inaccessible on foot or by car and I find it a really peaceful experience. It might be less peaceful for Lee who always lets his mule eat along the way and then has a fight to ensure he doesn't end up drifting off to the biggest clump of grass.

There are a two options for mule rides that I have been looking into (NB: there is a third option - a 2 night stay in Phantom Ranch but we really don't have the time to do this so I haven't considered it any further):

1. Canyon Vistas Rim Ride
• A four-mile ride along the rim of the canyon along the East Rim Trial. It lasts 2 hours and there can be up to 20 riders in each group. 
• The cost of the ride is $135.08 per person, including tax but you do receive a souvenir water bottle!
2. Overnight Rides to Phantom Ranch
• A ride over the course of 2 days which includes a 10.5 mile / 5.5 hour trip down into the Grand Canyon, a stay in Phantom Ranch and then a 7.8 mile / 5.5 hour journey back up to the top
• The cost of the ride for two people is $961.24 and includes lunches, breakfast, dinner and accommodation

There are only 10 people per day able to do the second option due to a limitation in the accommodation and the number of mules available to travel into the Canyon and it books up 13 months in advanced so we can't leave it until the last minute to book! 

So the question is - is the cost and the 2 day impact to our plan worth the experience of option 2 and if not, is it worth doing option 1 on this trip or do we save it for another holiday..... decisions decisions 

Arizona - The Grand Canyon State

Having been to Arizona a number of times, I expected this state to be an easy one to plan for. I was wrong. There is so much to see and do, deciding what to cover in our road trip ended up being really difficult.

After hours of reading and searching, the plan now looks like this:

Las Vegas -> Grand Canyon (South Rim) -> Flagstaff -> Sedona -> Phoenix -> California

Unfortunately with this plan, there are some key areas we are going to have to miss out including:

• Petrified Forest 
• Holbrook and the Wigwam hotels (a previous fav of ours) 
• Saguaro National Park
• Oatman's Historic Main Street 
• Grand Canyon North Rim 
• Grand Canyon Railway - a holiday in itself! 

So here's the map: 

And here's the plan: 

State:	Arizona
Towns of Interest:	Flagstaff Sedona Phoenix Scottsdale Jerome (Largest Ghost Town in America)
National Parks:	Saguaro National Park (Not visiting) Petrified Forest National Park (Not visiting) Grand Canyon National Park
State Parks of Interest:	Slide Rock State Park
Places of Interest:	Utah Border Antelope Canyon Four Corners Lake Powell Flagstaff Lowell Observatory Downtown Snowbowl Sky Ride Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Sedona Cathedral Rock Hikes (esp Sunset and Sunrise) Oak Creek Canyon WIlliams (Route 66 themed restaurants, shops and motels) Grand Canyon Caverns (45 minute tour) Phoenix Downtown Phoenix Scottsdale (2nd & Indian School Road, Downtown, Marshall Way, Old Town, Fifth Avenue) Mystery Castle Challenger Space Center Grand Canyon - South Rim Mule Trip 10 Mile Trail Havasu Fails, Beaver Falls, Havasu Creek, Mooney Falls Grandview Drive Desert View Drive Bright Angel Trail Yavapai Point Hermit Road Shuttle (Free) Grand Canyon Village Grand Canyon Skywalk
Routes of Interest:	Red Rock Scenic Byway (SR 179) (Sedona)
Where to Stay:	Grand Canyon Mather Campground (only campground available in the National Park - must pre book) - $50 per night Flagstaff Embassy Suites by Hilton (previously stayed in) Sedona Cedars Resort - £135 Sedona Motel - £105 Star Motel - $100 NB: staying outside Sedona is cheaper and there are campsites Phoenix Springhill Suites By Marriott Phoenix Downtown - $129 Super 8 Phoenix Downtown - $80 Econo Lodge & Suites - £35

AZ

Arizona - It's a state we've done lots in in the past, so Sam is trying to hunt out hidden gems we've missed.

Planning for Arkansas

The last few weeks has been spent researching Arkansas. Original we thought this was drive through state and hadn't expected to stay more than a few days. We were very wrong! 

State:	Arkansas
Towns of Interest:	Eureka Springs (North West) Mountain View (North Central) Fayetteville (North West) Little Rock (Central) Hot Springs (South West)
National Parks:	Hot Springs (pre dates Yellowstone by 40 years)
State Parks of Interest:	Petit Jean State park Queen Wilhelmina State Park
Places of Interest:	North Central Buffalo National River (first National River) Blanchard Springs Caverns - do a Cave Tour (three to choose from) Ozark Folk Center North West Ozark Mountains Lots of quirky buildings and odd things in Eureka Springs (Trolley Bus to see) Fayetteville Ale Trail (Request Book online to fill in) Beaver Lake South West Hot Springs National Park Crater of Diamonds State Park (only diamond mine open to the publc in the world) Central Life Size Selfie Post Cards at The Clinton Presidential Center, Junction Bridge and Big Dam Bridge (Little Rock) Old Mill, North Little Rock (Last building still standing from Gone with the Wind) Submarine Tour (WWII Sub) in North Little Rock
Routes of Interest:	Car: ~ Route 16 ~ Route 9 ~ Boston Moutain Scenic Loop / US 71 and I49 ~ Arkansas Scenic 7 Byway ~ Crowley's Ridge Parkway National Scenic Byway ~ Great River Road National Scenic Byway ~ Ozar Highlands Scenic Byway ~ Talimen National Scenic Byway ~ Mulberry River Road Scenic Byway / AR 215 Cycling: ~ North West / Razorback Greenway ~ Delta / Mississippi River Trial (inc Big Dam Bridge) ~ Southwest / Ouachita Mountains Water Trial
Where to Stay:	Eureka Springs The Lodge (£55) The Trails Inn (£42) Quality Inn (£54) Regency Inn (£51) kettlecampground (Tipee $28, Tent site $18, Cabin $58) lakeleatherwoodcitypark (Tent site $12, Cabin $75) Fayetteville Super 8 Fayetteville ($58) Motel 6 Fayetteville ($41) Comfort Inn and Suites Fayetteville ($80) Best Western Windsor Suites Fayetteville ($84) Camping at fayettevillervresort (from $40 for a cottage) Buffalo National River National Park Camp Grounds (Free to $16) Mountain View courtsquarervpark (Cabin for $20 but pre book) - very close to downtown whitewaterrvpark (Tent sites $23) - close to downtown whiteoakstationcampground (Tent sites $20, cabin $80) Hilton Garden Inn Mountain View ($95) Little Rock / North Little Rock Little Rock Marriott ($100) Courtyard Little Rock Downtown ($93) La Quinta Inn & Suites Downtown ($77) Hot Springs National Park Camping ($10)
Whats On:	Springfest 2nd April (2016) Traditional Music Experience June 3rd - 5th (2016) Fayetteville Roots Festival Late August
Useful Links:	http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/ozarks-arkansas-road-trip/ http://www.arkansas.com/ http://fayettevillealetrail.com/

Visa - Update

Well, Sam and I had our interview at the US Embassy in London on Monday. What a day to stand for an hour and a half in the rain, brolly-less, outside the Embassy!

Once we were in, there was the initial submission which we only had to wait 20 minutes or so for. "That was quick!" we thought. Foolish.

It was another hours' wait until we got sent to the queue for the interview part of the process. Which then involved another half-hours' wait to get to see a very nice lady for the actual interview. She was quite thorough in her questions about why we wanted the visa, what we planned to do, why in 2018, how we would fund it, why would we come back to the UK, and so forth.

Once she saw all the various paperwork and costings we had prepared, she warmed up quite a bit, gave us a little grin and granted our visa! Woop!

Celebrations at the Rainforest Cafe with Kirsty and Sophia ensued :)

Overview map

I managed to export the current Furkot plan and get it into Google Earth to create this cool - but daunting - overview map:

And we're sorry, Kentucky, we will definitely tweak this to include you!

State by State Planning - Florida

Planning for the first leg of the trip is in full swing. Plan is to arrive in Miami airport, head down to the Keys and then up the west side of Florida and into Atlanta. Already we have too many nights staying over in places, going to need to make some tough decisions if we're to fit everything in!

State:	Florida
Towns of Interest:	Miami Key West Fort Myers St Augustine Tampa Sarasota
National Parks:	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
State Parks of Interest:	Weeki Wachee Springs State Park
Places of Interest:	Sanibel and Captiva Island Rock Springs at Kellys Park (Tubing) Ichetucknee Springs State Park (Tubing amd Hiking) Cocoa Beach St. Augustine Distillery Company South Beach (Miami) Key Biscayne Keys The Turtle Hospital (Marathon) Bahia Honda State Park National Key Deer Refuge Southernmost Point
Routes of Interest:	Highway 17
Where to Stay:	Miami Airport - 2 Nights - TBC Big Pine Key - 1 Night - Camping at Bahia Honda Key West - 2 Nights - Camping at Bahia Honda Fort Myers - 2 Nights - TBC Tampa - 1 Night - TBC Ichetucknee Springs - 2 Nights - Camping at Ichetucknee Springs Total = 10 Nights
Whats On:
Useful Links:	http://www.floridasprings.org/visit/map/kelly-park-rock-springs-run/ http://www.orlandodatenightguide.com/2014/11/hiking-tubing-kelly-park/ http://www.turtlehospital.org/ https://www.floridastateparks.org/park-activities/Bahia-Honda#Camping http://floridastateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/bahia-honda-sp/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=FL&parkId=281005