After leaving the Louisiana Bayou we headed west into Texas stopping in Houston and Austin. In a feat of herculean late-night driving, we spent just one night in Texas! In New Mexico, we stopped in Clovis, Santa Fe and Albuquerque driving through miles of gorgeous rocky desert and wide open skies (I had hoped to see a thunderstorm on this part of the drive but it was acres of sunshine in every direction). I would love to spend a week driving and exploring the Southwest, but on this trip we had places to go!

From Albuquerque, Highway 40 took through the Ponderosa Pine forests and into Flagstaff, Arizona. Heading North from Flagstaff, we spent the day driving the North Rim of the Grand Canyon– stopping every four minutes for jaw-dropping views of the canyon.

From the Grand Canyon, we drove northwest into the penultimate state of the trip, Nevada! Cheap hotels were the draw of Las Vegas, so we spent the night off the strip but the money we saved on the hotel was lost on the cab rides between the hotel and places we wanted to be. From glittering Las Vegas we entered the Golden State, after six weeks and twenty states! We will spend a few days in Big Bear, CA playing in the snow and then finish our drive out to the Pacific coast.