Drove across Lake Pontchartrain on the longest continuous bridge over water in the world - 24 miles. It was a little bumpy as the trailer crossed each pavement seam, but it was fun to see the city skyline looming in the distance and gradually growing larger. Our campground was a half-mile from Bourbon Street. 

As soon as we were situated in our site, we walked to a restaurant for a late afternoon lunch. The restaurant featured Cajun bloody marys. The food was really good - grilled redfish with crawfish sauce, chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice, mustard greens. Yum! Then we walked across Decatur Street to the River Walk. We enjoyed drinks at the spacious interior courtyard at Pat O'Briens.

Live music started early. We bounced back and forth between a really good metal band that played all the classics and a jazz bar at the Bourbon O Hotel. Amazing talent playing  for no cover charge - just tips. Drinks were understandably expensive, though. Wednesday night was not very crowded or rowdy. There was plenty of room on the dance floor.

We drove across eastern Texas and a piece of Lousiana before crossing the Mississippi River into Natchez. Being in Louisiana reminded Hank of his favorite song from junior high school, "Amos Moses",  released by Jerry Reed in 1970. 

Another Harvest Host site - an antebellum mansion called "Auburn" was our camp site for the night. Our tour was led by a retired volunteer, Clark, a native of Gettysburg, PA. We learned that the house was built im 1811 by Lyman Harding, an attorney from New York, who became the first attorney general of Mississippi. After Harding, who was childless, died, the home was owned by several generations of wealthy Duncan's from Philiadelphia. The Duncans owned and operated several plantations in the area. Because these Duncans were wealthy and educated at Yale, Hank suspects they were descended from loyalist, lowland Duncans, rather than close relatives of his Scots Irish ancestors who settled in the mountains of western Virginia in the 18th century.

After touring  Auburn, we drove 15 minutes to the home of Kenny and Karen Jo Smith. Karen is one of Hank's oldest friends, dating back to freshman year in high school. The Smith's live on a private, sloped, 3-acre lot, 2 miles down a one-lane county road from the highway. They have a guest house, a shop and large honey bee yard on their land, which borders a pond.  The dogs loved roaming around the property as we walked.

The dogs rested in the Smith's air conditioned home while the four of us travelled to a restaurant in the historic "Under-the-Hill" neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi River.  This colorful neighborhood was once a rough and tumble sailors waterfront, but is now the home of two nice restaurants and a classic tavern that claims to have been continuously operating since the earliest days of Natchez. Judging from the photos and artifacts that fill its walls, it's easy to believe that claim.

Riverboats still moor on the waterfront, but now, they are mostly steel-hulled and diesel powered, though some of them are replicas of the classic sternwheels. We watched a beautiful sunset over the river as we enjoyed our dinner of catfish tacos and steak salad. It cooled off nicely in the evening. No air conditioning needed!

​More rolling green hills on today's drive. Texas has good freeways! We had a bit of a navigation issue, which resulted in us circling Gladewater before getting directed via phone to the home of John Rodriguez, son of Ralph and Jean, Hank's aunt and uncle by marriage. Ralph and Jean were also the organizers and hosts of Hank's mother's first reunion with her seven children, three of whom had been estranged prior to the reunion. 

This year will be the 30th anniversary of these reunions. Hank's mother Nettie died one week after the sixth reunion. Those reunions were always the highlight of her year. Her children have carried on with this annual events almost every year since. This year's landmark event is on our itinerary June 25th in Radford, Va.

John and his wife Cathy have a shady, 9-acre ranch in Gladewater, where they live with two horses, two donkeys, four dogs and three cats. After a chicken dinner and strawberry shortcake dessert, John helped us fire up our generator for the first time, so we could cool the trailer and get a good nights sleep. The generator ran until 3:30 am, when it ran out of fuel. It was Angie's best night of sleep on the trip to date.

​We celebrated Mothers Day at Grace Church in Solado. We drove an hour to Austin to see some live blues in the backyard of Oakwood BBQ and Beer Garden. It was a casual, shady venue that was kid- and dog-friendly. Saw one of the best lead guitarists I had ever seen. The band leader, Larry Harris, was a great storyteller, who explained the origin of each of his original songs. 

Angie and I had to move our feet to such great music, so we started dancing on the bare dirt yard. Larry called us his "Oakwood dancers". We spoke to him at set break. He had met Stevie Ray Vaughn, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt.  He gave us a free CD. Our bartender, Josh, was from Portland, OR. He explained to us that no one in Texas recycles.

To exercise and cool the dogs off, we drove to the Lady Bird Trail along the river near the University of Texas. Hundreds of students were floating and paddling in the river. We saw one group of several dozen of them all moored together in the center of the river. I think Madeline would like this school!

Drove well-maintained freeways most of the way from Lubbock to Solado. We were surprised to find rolling green hills, reminiscent of Pennsylvania. And it was only 96 degrees! Stayed at an Army Corps of Engineers campsite on the shores of Lake Belton - a flood control lake on the Lampassas River.

The campground was only five minutes away from the home of my oldest brother Douglas' oldest son, Doug. Doug and his lovely wife, Jamie, were gracious hosts in their new home. We enjoyed margaritas and a bottle of the blanc de noirs from Phesant Ridge Winery where we stayed the previous night. We watched the Kentucky Derby on a big screen on their patio. What an exciting race! Then we drove to charming downtown Temple for a Sushi dinner. Jamie flew out early the next day for a business trip to New York to meet with prospective buyers of her company's business.

The gates to the park opened at 8 am and we were the second vehicle through. Very sparse traffic. Learned how the petrified stumps are formed.

• The process of petrification happens underground, when wood is buried by sediment and deprived of oxygen, thereby preserving it. Then, water containing minerals flows through the sediment, depositing minerals in the cells. As the cells the decay, the remaining minerals form a mold made of stone.

                - deeproot.com
The stumps were everywhere, with way cool colors in the rings.

But the coolest part of the park is the ruins and petroglyphs left behind by native peoples who lived there for 13,000 years. The ruins of Puerco Pueblo (named after the adjacent river) are a square, 100-unit complex of small apartments around a large central plaza. Underground sweat rooms dotted the plaza.

Among the petroglyphs, archaeologists discovered a slit cut through rocks that, when aligned with the sun at the summer solstice, illuminates a spiral mark on the underlying rock. The natives studied the heavens - which is appropriate in a spot that has been designated as one of the top "dark sky" locations in the US.

Back on the road, we wasted an hour and a half finding a place refuel and eat in Gallup, NM, then discovered a rare, green lawn dog park in Grants, NM. The dogs loved playing fetch on the soft, cool surface for about 40 minutes. Tonic for their souls!

We camped at Kirtland Air Force Base, which is open to retired vets, with full hook-ups. Happy to report that the air conditioner works as well as the furnace in the trailer! It cooled down quickly overnight, though, so we didn't need it long. 

​Woke up at 2:30 to the smell of dog poo. Charlie got diarrhea. Not too big of a mess in the trailer. Caught it early enough to let her out - an exercise we repeated about every hour until we left and even during the 250-mile drive. Her thick, coarse fur made clean-up a chore every time.

The roads were not crowded but the drive was sad through the desolate, Navajo reservation. There was a 24-mile section where the road surface was wavy, causing excessive bounce in our rig. I had to slow to 50 or 55 mph for a while. Some of the scenes were reminiscent of Hollywood road trips. What vast space, punctuated by tall mesas and deep canyons. Such an alien landscape for a Northwesterner.

Between the dog hygiene and the drive, it was no wonder that Angie and I were a bit on edge when we arrived at Mather Campground. It was the most snappy we had been with each other. Luckily there is a laundry to clean up dog blankets and nine days of human laundry. Our campsite is large and level, with some good shade. There is a shared water pump right next to it. 

Angie's luck continues on a hot streak. After winning a permit for Angels Landing yesterday, she was able to secure a rare, first-come, first-served campsite here. There are only two of the 300 sites that are available on this basis, the others having been booked many months ago.
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Plan B was dispersed camping in the desert outside the park. We may still have to move there tomorrow. We find out at 9 am, whether we get to keep the site for another night.

We won a lottery permit to hike Angel's Landing! It's a 5.5-mile round trip hike with about 1,500 foot elevation gain to the top. The last 500 feet and 3/4 mile is very steep - There are heavy, chain-link hand rails. Foot holds are worn into the sandstone. Some of the pitches are so steep that I used the chain as a climbing rope while pushing with my feet on the side of the slope for resistance. There was one part where you hold the chain chest high while traversing a steep slope. There are parts so steep that you don't want to pass someone without the security of a hand hold on the chain. At those spots, traffic uphill and downhill has to yield in turn.

The Park Service paved the first third or so of the trail, where it is two lanes wide. On the steeper slopes they poured the concrete over a matrix of steel rectangles. Imagine filling an ice tray at an angle. I can't help but wonder about the timing of it all. How long of a section can you pour at a time? How long do you wait for the bottom concrete section to setup so it can hold the weight from above?

They widened and leveled some turnarounds by building stacked stone retaining walls and filling in the space. The views of the narrow canyon got better and better as you climbed. At the top, you feIt like you were on the top of the world. It was the best hiking trail ever - by light years!

The trail switches back and forth across a sheer face that has numerous climbing routes. We saw several groups working their way up the sheer face. Angie was eye-level with one group today. They say it is a two-day climb, so climbers tie themselves off in hammocks for the night at some point. 
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By 1:00 pm,  we were back in camp. We decided to ride our bikes 1.5 miles into town for a cold beer in an air conditioned sports bar-. Grabbed some lunch while we were there. Then we rode home and climbed in the truck to drive 30 minutes to the dog boarder's home. We had a joyful reunion with the dogs, who wanted to snuggle a lot and hang out in the campsite with us. We finished with a 1.5 mile walk on a level river walk with the dogs. Tomorrow it's off to the Grand Canyon!