Day 3,May13th:Lawton,Oklahoma to Flagstaff,Arizona-850 miles

This was another long day of traveling.  We drove through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and finally Arizona.  The landscape really varied on this trip making it a much more interesting ride. In Texas we marveled at the vast 'nothingness'...no houses,, no people, and I think we counted 3 cars which passed us for one stretch. We did make one stop in 'scenic' Amarillo...more about that below in the pictures! The weather was also acting up and we hit some pretty intense storms as we were driving through New Mexico.  The rains were coming fast and furious and you could see the waters  cut mini canyons in the land.  At one point we saw 2 cars off in ditches and snow in the median...this same storm must have produced hail in this particular area, which looked like little piles of snow in the grass.  Once again, our hearts were so grateful for the Lord's protection as at times the visibility was pretty minimal. We had a gas scare when in the middle of nowhere(no exaggeration!)in the pitch black our gas light went on...earlier in the evening we had taken an impromptu jaunt through the Petrified Forest and the opportunities for refueling in this part of Arizona are few and far between! Once again, the Lord was merciful..after attempting to refuel at one station only to find out it was already closed, we were able to locate another one  using the GPS just a few miles away-we called this time to be sure it was still open so as not to waste any gas enroute Mark drove with his flashers on at a reduced speed and thankfully we made it to the gas station... we finally arrived at the Ramada Inn East after another 15 or so hour day...we have 2 a -joining rooms...I am thankful it is a huge step up from camping but this place does have its quirks which my older boys in jest wrote down ...the window is broken, it stinks(literally!) there is no lock on the bathroom door but the room is equipped with a bottle opener mounted on the bathroom door frame-you get the picture:)...but we'll make do and make a memory!! Enjoy the pictures!!

We saw lots and lots of this...I honestly can't remember if it was Oklahoma, Texas or the early part of New Mexico?!

Finally in Texas!!!We were desperate for a bathroom and not happy to find this sign posted on the only potential rest area for miles!!!

 

This was also at the rest area ...there were signs everywhere-even on the beautifully paved paths ..and on the little playground area...YIKES!  Thankfully we made it to a rest area some miles down the road~

 

Cadillac ranch in Amarillo Texas...these cars are literally in the middle of no-where...people bring spray paint  and leave their  mark on the world....we did not come prepared...the kids were not too disappointed as they didn't want to waste anymore time here!!

 

This was right up there with the dead armadillo sightings...they humored me for the picture but were not impressed!

 

During this long stretch we watched the storm blow in...and soon we were in the midst of intense driving rains~ 

We saw loads of trains passing through...

Add We took an unplanned jaunt into the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park.  We have a park pass so we can visit as many National Parks as we want with no entrance fees...we are so glad we took this little 'detour'...it reminded us a bit of the Badlands...the colors were so beautiful.

                                               Our resident artist hard at work:)

                                          The landscape is so varied within this park~

 We took another loop and saw tons of Petrified wood chunks just randomly scattered around....

                                 This is another piece of petrified wood with crazy colors~

                                            The crazy lockless door but equipped with beer bottle opener...priorities you know!

The evening concluded with a pillow fight orchestrated by Philip...they are waiting to ambush Odesco as he emerges from the bathroom. I'm shocked we did not have anyone calling the front desk to complain about the noise level in our rooms!