Day 15 - Bex is 21!

This morning we got up and started getting ready. Mrs. Donna made the best cinnamon raisin toast ever. After breakfast we said our goodbyes, loaded up the truck again, & took off. We did a little browsing in a few shops to waste some time. Check-in at our hotel wasn't until 3:00pm so we grabbed some lunch, browsed a little more, & then punched Hotel Palomar into the GPS. The Hotel was beautiful!

When we checked in there was a surprise for Beka at the front desk....Did I mention she has 2 amazing sisters? ;)

Then it was time to make ourselves beautiful for dinner and dancing....We also had a short photo session....

Katie & January arrived....late....as expected....and whisked us off to dinner. We had reservations at "Shout". They have any kind of food you could possibly want...sushi, seafood, steaks, and brick oven pizza. It was delicious, but weird. Our waiter..tress called everyone "Boo" which was entertaining, some huge manly looking guy told Katie her shorts were "presh" (which i'm assuming means precious), and some girl told us if we came back later it would be more "crowded-er". We decided we didn't want to be there when it got "crowded-er" so we left.

Later we went to Havana...which January kept calling "Havana Nights". She convinced me that was the name of the place, so when I said it to the front desk guy i'm sure he thought I was really dumb. Thanks for that January. Havana is a latin dance club, but they play regular music too. We danced until January & Jennifer thought their feet were gonna fall off, and then called it a night. It was an amazing weekend & the perfect end to our Wild West Tour!!

Days 12,13, & 14 - Hollywood with a Touch of Twang!

I left a piece of my heart in Nashville. I absolutely loved that town! I wanted to go home, get Brad, and immediately take another vacay back to Nashville! When we pulled into town I could hardly contain my excitement. Bek & Jenn aren't quite as "southern" as I am so of course I caught some crap ;), but i'm ok with that. We went down to Jack's BBQ to get some lunch....I've read some southern chick lit that talks about Jack's so I just had to go! It wasn't quite what I expected, but oh my word was it ever delicious!!

After lunch we went to hunt our campground. I loved our cabin in Nashville. It had a bathroom in it, and we didn't have to trudge to a bathhouse for every little thing. We checked in, and decided to be lazy :) We ordered out pizza for dinner, and then got our beauty sleep. There was a whole "country" town waiting for me so I had to rest up. The next morning we got up and found a Cracker Barrel. There's not a breakfast on this earth that beats their "Eggs-in-a-basket". It's heaven! Soooo it was breakfast then shopping. I picked up a few gifts for some friends, tried on insanely expensive cowboy boots, bought a little black dress, and then had an ice cream cone..What? It was really hot outside! After shopping we went back to the cabin to get ready for dinner. I was so excited :)

We had dinner at the Wildhorse Saloon. Beka & I shared fried pickles & BBQ..mmm...mmm...good! The Wildhorse has this HUGE wood dance floor, and if you know anything about me, you know I LOVE to dance. I had been teasing Beka all night about how if they play "Giddy on Up" (our clogging recital dance) I was dragging her up there. Secretly I had a pretty good idea that an all male band wouldn't play anything by Laura Bell Bundy ;) ....However,...when the band took a break, and they crunk up the juke box wouldn't you know the first song to come on was none other that "Giddy on Up"! Beka and I cleared the dance floor when we started puttin' on our little clogging show...It was so much fun!! After dinner it was bedtime.

Friday was Beka's birthday! We found the most amazing little artisan restaurant so we decided thats where birthday breakfast would take place. The name of it is Marche, and it was divine. i had croissant frech toast with bacon, and a blackberry panicotti. Beka had a breakfast sandwich that came with a salad....which was weird, but she said it was yummy. Jenn had french toast as well and loved it :) ...I can hardly wait to go back to Nashville!!

Aftter Nashville we were headed to Atlanta for Beka's 21st Birthday weekend. We arrived a little earlier than expected so we wasted some time at the mall, and then met Katie's parents (Darryl & Donna) at Marietta Square. I'll have to put Darryl & Donna in a post of their own because they deserve it :) Marietta Square was out of a movie! There was a band in the park, little shops all around, people dancing, pizza,...I loved it. After the park we went back to Darryl & Donna's house and met J, P, Jona-bear, & Melba! It was so good to see all of them, but there was a fluffy pillow calling my name ;)

Day 11 - Eastbound & Down, Loadin' up & Truckin'

Last night we stayed in Amarillo. We didn't really see much of anything because we got to our cabin, ordered take-out, and crashed. Today has been nothing but hours & hours of driving. We don't really mind that though. We were on a mission to get back so we could spend a few days in Nashville. We cleared Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, & stayed in Memphis, TN. I'm not a huge Elvis fan (although I do like that "Clambake" movie), but I guess those of you who are will appreciate the fact that we camped next door to Graceland :) ...Here are the highlights of our day ;)

OK, don't let this little picture below fool you..

Driving "friendly" is most certainly NOT the "Texas Way".

In fact, I'm pretty sure I know why cowboys ride horses...driving an actual vehicle makes them a litte testy apparently!

Open Range...That fence is keeping them out...not in

Carrie Underwood's home town :)

Day 10 - Santa Fe, New Meh-hi-co!

Today was soooo much fun!! We got up and headed into Santa Fe. It is the coolest little town! All of the buildings in town are the adobe style architecture, and they are beautiful. We found a place to park and went to find Loretto Chapel (our first stop). If you don't know the story behind Loretto Chapel you can find it here (www.lorettochapel.com/staircase.html). The staircase in the chapel is truly awesome. Here are some pictures...

After touring the chapel we were dying to get some shopping done, and of course EAT. Jennifer couldn't believe how Beka & I thought of nothing but food. It's crazy, but true! I'm always looking for new & different places to eat. We decided on the Blue Corn Cafe. We were in New Mexico so authentic Mexican seemed appropriate. It was so yummy....I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in guacamole. We also had salsa, queso, refried beans, rice, & calabacitas. After lunch we wandered around town a little while longer, and then hit the road...Next stop, Amarillo.

Day 9 - Breathtaking Moments

This morning we woke up, and sprinted out of that dang hotel room with no A/C. We dropped by the lodge for a quick bite before we went to catch the shuttle bus. Half of the South Rim is closed to private vehicles, so the bus is the only way we could tour that end. We only got in trouble by the bus driver one time, and I think that speaks well of our behavior ;) The only thing I can really say is....you have to see it to believe it!! So here are the pictures....

Don't worry guys....No Hunting ;) It's a National Park!

After we finished the tour of the Grand Canyon, we headed East across Arizona. We went through the Hopi Indian Reservation, and I could not believe what I saw. I'm not sure what these people choose for themselves or how important materialistic things are to them, but what I do know is that this place looks like a third world country. There were little shanty houses built with tarps and plywood. No nice vehicles....if there was a vehicle at all! There were no pretty yards with landscaping, no swimming pools, no swingsets, nothing!! We went for miles and miles before we saw a store, and it was a tiny gas station. It is the poorest place I have ever seen in the United States, and i've seen a lot.

Today was full of breathtaking moments...for completely opposite reasons. Funny how things happen...I will remember this day, and these people forever.

Day 8 - Wild Flames & Grand Canyons

We left BJ's house around 10:00. The plan was to head back up to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and then East to New Mexico. First we got held up in a 2 hour traffic jam because of a back wreck, and then we were detoured 3 times because of a WILDFIRE! I mean seriously....a wildfire on our exit? What are the chances? We finally managed to get around that mess, only to find that another traffic jam was waiting on us...this time because someone can't keep their watermelon truck on the road. State troopers, truck drivers, Firemen, everyone was picking up watermelons. Shortly after the watermelon catastrophe we arrived in Sedona. I LOVE that town. We stopped to do some shopping and grab a bite to eat. A restaurant named Open Range (http://www.openrangesedona.com/) was our choice for lunch, and it was AMAZING. Beka & I shared fried zucchini & a beef brisket sandwich...delicious! We left Sedona & finally made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, but the sun was setting so we started looking for a place to camp. Just so you know...there is NOWHERE reasonable to stay near the Grand Canyon, and when I say near...I mean within 60 miles or so. RIDICULOUS!! We end up staying in a "less expensive" ($100) room in the park. So when we get to our room we realize that "less expensive" translates to "No Air Conditioning!!!". Yeah, believe it!. They gave the daughter of an A/C man a room with no A/C. "GAHHHHHH" is an understatement. I would've traded the TV & mini fridge for a window unit any day! Here's to tomorrow....may it out-do today by a long shot!

Day 7 - Love Muffin...& i'm not talking about Brad ;)

It was time to leave Moab. It was bittersweet...I was ready to start heading back east, but I was so sad to leave those red rocks. On the way out we wanted to grab some breakfast & had some shopping to do. We wandered into a little place called the Love Muffin Cafe. What....a discovery! They are organic & have everything from omelets to muffins. So good. I vote we get one in Live Oak....Immediately :) After breakfast & shopping we moved on to our next destination...Four Corners!! Here we come!!

Ok not so much...I mean we did drive all the way out to Four Corners, but look what we found when we got all the way out there.

Then it was back on the road headed south to BJ's house. She lives right outside of Phoenix, Arizona in the prettiest subdivision. Her house is beautiful and we so appreciated her hospitality. We went to the best Italian place for dinner, and finally got to do some laundry! YAY!!! Then off to bed....because tomorrow holds LOTS of surprises!!!

Day 6 - Trust me, we know where we are!

I have been getting up sooo early...Utah time is hard getting used to. So once again I was up at the crack of dawn. When everyone got up and around we went to breakfast at the jailhouse cafe. If there's one thing I realized about these western folks it's that they may not have sweet tea, but they can dang sure cook some bacon. Oh my gosh...It was sooo good! After breakfast we headed up to Arches National Park. I hadn't been up to Delicate Arch in several years so I was looking forward the the hike. The hike climbs 480ft in a mile & a half, but it's so worth it! Delicate Arch is one of the most amazing things i've seen.

After the hike we grabbed some lunch, and headed back out in the jeep

Our second day of jeeping wasn't quite as eventful as the first...It was way more hilarious. We did some fun trails & eventually came across a group of bikers. They were sooo lost..we had a map of the trails, so they looked at it and figured out what they needed to do. We were talking back and forth with them...just casual conversation when some guy on a four wheeler pulls up and starts shouting...."Everyone know where their at?"
ummm yes psycho we're holding a map....

"Ok is everyone ok? Is anyone lost?"

No crazy...as previously stated we ALL know where we are!

"Ok just checking to see if everyone knows where they are"

YES!! We know where we are, and we know we want to be away from you...go away! GOSH!

It was so funny...I was like did he seriously just ask us 20 times if we were lost?? Whatever....So we continue...We take a few more trails, and then we decided to stop at a tunnel through the rocks. We go through the tunnel, and who is standing there?...None other than Mr. "Does everyone know where their at?".

OMG do we seriously have to find ourselves AGAIN??? Leave us alone. We know where we are!! He goes on to tell Daddy that he's a tour guide, and blah blah blah...It was so bad & Daddy was literally standing there patronizing him. Tour guide had NO idea he was being made fun of. It was ridiculous. Here are some tunnel pictures. It was sooo cool as we were walking through...literally cool...like it was air conditioned. A good break from the heat :)

After jeeping we went and ate at Sunset Grill. Their food is always so good! They bring in different chefs from all over the world, and they never disappoint.

When we finished eating Daddy drove us up to a lake in the La Sal Mountains. It's beautiful up there. Thick woods & gorgeous white trees. It's like an enchanted forest. The only thing is that people camp all in the woods, and it's weird. Not the camping, but the people. We would drive by, and it was like they were all scared they were gonna get caught. A bunch of creeper hippies if you ask me. I certainly wouldn't wanna be left alone up there no matter how pretty it is. Here are some pictures. The sunset was gorgeous.

Daddy carved Beka's name in this tree years ago...We found it!

Day 5 - Playin' it safe is so overrated ;)

I woke up, finally in Utah, & ready to get out in the jeep. We grabbed a quick bite from Mickey D's, stocked up on water and food, and went to meet Momma & Daddy. We spent the WHOLE day out jeepin' in the canyonlands. Not many places I would rather be :)

So i'm not sure how many of you grasp the whole jeeping concept. It's not like your driving down a dirt road...You're in the middle of nowhere, red rock cliffs surrounding you, and you hope your on the road....because if not, good luck finding your way out. Sometimes the climbs are so steep you can't see the other side where you're supposed to come down....Normal procedure would be to get out, and go check the other side of the climb to actually make sure there's more road. Let's face it though...when has anyone with the last name of Touchton ever been normal? So here we are climbing, climbing, climbing....ok top of the climb...headed down. Front right tire touching rock? check....Back left tire touching rock? check....Other two tires touching anything?...ummmm no & NO!!!!! OH MY GOSH....teetering!! Literally teetering back and forth with a good 10 foot drop on the left side....Have I mentioned I WAS SITTING ON THE LEFT SIDE???!!!! I was having a breakdown on the inside...breathe in, panic, breathe out, tears, panic....but on the outside I was being very very very still. I trust my daddy completely....until he says "HMMM".....Ok, that is SO not what I want to hear at a time like this.

I courageously offer my idea..."SHOULD WE GET OUT?!"

How we were gonna get out? I don't know.

Why that would be a good idea? Not sure I have an answer to that either.

However....If my Daddy was worried....I wanted OUT!

All of a sudden he throws it into reverse, gives it some gas, & thank you Jesus!!!...It backed out & Daddy says "Man, I really didn't think it was gonna back out of that one."...Good to know Daddy. Thanks for saving that bit of encouragement until after that little near death experience.

I know the pictures don't do our adventures justice, but here's a little taste...

After Jeepin' we went to Zax pizza & then headed home to rest up for Utah day 2!

...and now we'll take a moment to recognize our sponsors

The Wild Wild West Tour is brought to you by John Wayne. He loves me! I mean look at his expression...It's love i'm sure ;)