Filed under: New Mexico
Roswell as everyone knows is famous for UFO sightings for which there are many themed shops.
Alien Shop
Ariana with an alien
We continued onto the Roswell UFO museum
UFO museum
The museum told of the Roswell incident in which either a UFO or a weather balloon crashed in Roswell depending on what you believe.
After the museum we went to the cinema and watched Shrek 4 in 3D!!!!
At night we went to a bar/restaurant called Farley’s where we had a couple of drinks and dinner. I got a beer called Alien Amber and another called dark side of the moon which was Guiness and Bluemoon (a lager similar to miller) in the same glass but they didn’t mix.
Tomorrow we’re of to a campground called Spider Rock where we’re staying in a North American Indian hut called a Hogan. The hogans have an interior fire to keep warm and the natural insulation of the ground but not much else.
Saying that though the campground should have Wifi so we should still be able to blog!!
Filed under: New Mexico
Today we went to the Bottomless Lake State Park. The temperature was 30 degrees as we climbed the dry sandy hills surrounding the lakes contained within the park.
Climbing the ridge
One of the lakes
a bird on the rocks
After the park we went to the Billy he Kid museum. This museum contain information and artefacts pertaining to Billy the Kid. The museum had items such as his gun as well as wanted posters and paintings.
Billy the Kid museum
On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at Wal-Mart.
Roswell Wal-Mart
We finished off the night with some Mexican food from a near by restaurant.
Filed under: New Mexico
Well folks, we arrived to Roswell today safely after an 8+ hour drive (with speeds in excess of 90mph!). It was a long drive through what appears at first to be barren TX and NM countryside, but is beautiful when you realise that what appears to be flat greenish-tan land is actually made up of varying greens, purples, reds, yellows, and browns. 🙂 But it was a LONG drive.
That, however, made the wonderfully hot jacuzzi feel soooooo relaxing, even with the five young boys splashing in the pool next to us! 🙂
There will be no photos put up tonight – we switched time zones again (now 2 hours behind EST and 7 hours behind the UK), and had a lovely dinner out and am now ready for bed. But I have one last story I’d like to share….
We went to see Robin Hood last night (totally amazing, not the story we expected, but well worth seeing) and had a moment that made me (Ariana) realise how lucky I am with David. I thought I’d share it, because it makes me quite happy and I think you’ll all say “awwww…” 😉
We got a popcorn and soda to share, and at one point we reached for the soda at the same time. We both pulled our hands back so the other could have the first sip, so I motioned to David to drink first. So what does he do? He picks up the soda and holds it up for me to drink from the straw first. 🙂 (Awwwww) 🙂 Isn’t that sweet? lol
Sleep well, everyone.
Filed under: Texas
We arrived in Fort Worth on Tuesday briefly passing through Arkansas on the way.
Welcome to Arkansas
We arrived late on the first day so just had an early night.
The next day we went into the historical area of town where we went to the Cowgirls museum. Which contained information about women over the last couple of hundred years who raised cattle as well as rode horses and even bulls.
After that we went watch the cattle being driven through the Fort Worth stockyards by cowboys.
Then to finish the night we went to Billy Bob’s Texas which was huge indoor area which contained bars, a restaurant, pool tables,dance floor with a live band playing line dancing music as well as an indoor bull riding rink.
Ariana playing pool
On the final day we went to six flags amusement park a huge place with a variety of adrenaline fuelled rides. We went on a water slide first of all which was fairly tame but extremely wet. Next we went onto the Tony Hawkes roller coaster which is named after the skateboarder. The ride involver a rotating platform which travelled at great speed around the track. We also went on a few more rides including a Batman theme roller coaster but the most terrifying ride was the Superman ride which went up vertically 35 stories then dropped!
Rides we went on –
Aquaman Splashdown – Make a splash in this out-of-this-world water adventure. Jump in our boat, soar high in the sky and then take an exhilarating plunge into the drink. 42″ min. to ride alone, 36″ with adult. No lap children.
Aquaman Ride
Batman Ride
Superman Tower of Power
The Runaway Mine Train – Ride the world’s first tubular steel roller coaster. Six Flags’ Runaway Mine Train is the attraction that changed the thrill ride rules forever.
Filed under: Tennessee
Uhhhhhhhh…… (That was Ariana’s big hungover groan – Dave is currently sleeping.)
We decided to celebrate our last night in Memphis on Beale Street, and celebrate we did! Frankly, I don’t think I’ve celebrated that hard…ever! (Ugh.) However, Memphis has been quite good to us. The food was incredible, the music was rockin’, and the romance… well, we got engaged! LOL How exciting is that?!?
For our last night here, we took a few photos of places we’d gone the first night, including The Superior Bar & Restaurant where I did karaoke and where David proposed to me on the 20th. Here are the places we enjoyed that first night:
First Stop on the 20th: Ground Zero
Next Stop on the 20th: Beale St Tap Room
Best Stop on the 20th: Superior Bar & Restaurant (And it was!)
Because last night was Sunday and we went out later than last time (we had to pack & do laundry), there was a lot less music happening when we got out there. In fact, many of the bands were finishing up! So after Dave had his:
we made our way back to The Superior Bar & Restaurant for more karaoke and (though we didn’t know it then) to make a new friend!
This is the exact spot where he proposed 3 nights prior!
This is our new friend Tracie. We had so much fun hanging out, singing karaoke, and dancing! And after she bought David a jagerbomb… he joined me singing “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns ‘N’ Roses (videos will be appearing soon on facebook – if he lets me post them… ;-)).
After closing down the karaoke bar, Tracie led us to an after hours club for dancing. We had such a blast!!!! 🙂
I nearly forgot!!
We got in around 4am this morning, and when the alarm went off for us to go get our free hotel breakfast at 8:30, we were both still drunk. (Well, he was drunk, I was all sorts of nauseated….) After changing the alarm to 9:30, then hitting snooze… we decided it was NOT a good day to drive, so we turned off the alarm and called the desk to stay another day. (Which was good because there was a massive thunderstorm with crazy winds and hail that would’ve been treacherous to drive through!)
So here we are, hanging out in our hotel and watching the always-on-TV: Law & Order. LOL At least our hotel (Marriott Residence Inn) does free dinners Monday through Thursday!! 🙂
The Recovery Room (Dave & Iris)
As for our plans for the rest of the trip, we’re on our way to Fort Worth Texas tomorrow, and then on the 27th we’ll head to Roswell, NM, and Sedona, AZ sometime after that.
Filed under: Tennessee
Today was just as hot if not hotter than yesterday!
We ended up going to Memphis zoo which housed a number of impressive animals. Everything from Komodo dragons to Vampire bats.
The zoo also had a sea lion which could perform tricks such as balancing a ball on it’s nose and hand stands.
Next we saw the Polar bears at feeding time where the keeper would toss fish into the water for the bears lunch.
A Polar Bear at feeding time
After that we had our dinner at BB Kings restaurant which had a live blues band and some tasty cat fish and pulled pork…..also had great BB King blues beer.
Now we’re going out to Beale street for our last night in Memphis for a couple of drinks.
Comment added by Ariana:
The zoo was amazing. I think the best exhibit was the 
Animals of the Night. It was inside two sets of doors (to keep out light pollution) and they had reversed the day/night cycle so during our daytime the animals would think it was night which means we could see them while they’re most active. It was very, very cool!
After that, we went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel which is where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated. It was an impressive museum, but also sad, as it brings you up to the room next to King’s so you can look out to the spot where he was shot. There is a wreath there that marks the spot, and is always maintained.
Also… David put up some lovely photos of the zoo animals, but he skipped some of the cutest animals we saw!! These are pasted below for your viewing pleasure. 🙂
And finally, the most beautiful animals we saw in the Memphis Zoo:
Filed under: Tennessee
Today the temperature was a boiling 33 degree Celsius perfect weather to be indoors in the air conditioning.
We went on a tour of Elvis’ Graceland mansion which also included a look at his car collection as well as his two private jets.
Afterward we headed to Corkys for ribs, pulled pork and chicken. We even took a pound of pulled pork and chicken back for later.
Filed under: Tennessee
We arrived in Memphis Tennessee yesterday evening. We drove through Nashville but couldn’t stop there due to recent flooding from the Tennessee river. The rain was lashing down but died down before we arrived in Memphis. Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee with a population of 650,100 and is most famous for Blues music and barbecue as well being the home of Elvis’ Graceland.
Beale street is the main area with bars lining the majority of both sides of the road. At night the street is closed of to traffic being block by Memphis city patrol cars. The bars all have live bands playing blues and rock ‘n’ roll music while the alcohol flows freely. Most bars had take away windows so you could have a beer whilst walking done the street.
The near by park had a view of the General W.K Wilson Jr. Bridge which is nicknamed the Dolly Parton bridge, look at the picture to see why.
General W.K Wilson Jr. Bridge
Today we took a bus tour around town, the first stop was Sun recording studio which was used by musicians such as Elvis and Johnny Cash.
The next stop was the Peabody Hotel foyer where they have a twice daily duck march. About five ducks walk down a red carpet and then hop into the water fountain. The ritual began as a practical joke around 70 years and continues to this day.
After lunch we had a quick look at Graceland which we plan to visit tomorrow.
Lat night was also eventful for an unrelated reason in that we took a step forward in our relationship and got engaged. Ariana then went on to sing karaoke, she sung, “I can love you better.” We celebrated with a nip of whiskey in one of the bars and then went home a little drunk but very happy.
Filed under: Tennessee
Just arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee the home of Jack Daniels. It was a 8 hour drive from Fredericksburg.
Tennessee welcomes you
Knoxville is the third largest city in Tennessee and has an estimated population of 183,546.
Ariana’s dog Iris is traveling with us, but was a bit bored in the car so had a couple of JD and Cokes.
Iris after a few too many
We’re staying at a Best Western tonight and leaving for Memphis tomorrow morning. We arrived late so haven’t really seen much apart from a baloney sandwich and a whiskey.
Filed under: Virginia
We’re leaving Fredericksburg tomorrow to start our tour of America…….destination not yet known!
dANDaUSA's Blog 