Just when you thought it was safe to head west… Arghh! The Roberts’ are doin’ it – again! Sad but true, as I write these thoughts we are but miles from the California border, sitting on BLM (Bureau Land Management) lands in Quartzite, AZ.

But I get ahead of myself. We started our journey west by making a stop on the Florida Panhandle at the Canopener, an Airstream-oriented rally amongst friends (I posted previously about this a bit) at Topsail State Park.

On Sunday we left Santa Rosa Beach and drove as far as the Cracker-Barrel Restaurant in Port Charles, LA. Had dinner in their restaurant and then spent the night in their parking lot. Gotta love this country. And Cracker-Barrel.

Monday we spent on the road and made it as far as Sonora, TX where we camped at the campground at the Caverns of Sonora. Yes, we splurged and paid $25 for a campsite. Living the dream. But spending $25 didn’t prevent our water line from freezing. Minor irritant. And no, we didn’t tour the caverns. Did I mention I am claustrophobic? So no cool cavern pictures.

We repeated driving most of the day on Tuesday (did I mention how freaking big Texas is??) and we ended up at Indian Bread Rocks (BLM) near Bowie, AZ. This stop was SO cool! We got in just as the sun was setting and the colors on the Dos Cabezas Mountains were fabulous. And at night the stars, the Milky Way and a crescent moon lighted up the skies.

Come morning a truck and horse trailer pulls up and out come three cowboys, all ready to do a roundup. They use these BLM land to graze their cattle. Wednesday morning they mounted up on their horses to drive their cattle from these grazing grounds to their pens where the little ones will be branded and the biggest ones will be trucked off to an auction.

So all told we will have spent $25 in campground fees getting from Santa Rosa Beach in Florida to Bakersfield, CA. Of course, I won’t mention the diesel costs. But we spent from a low of $1.91 to a high of about $2,25 per gallon on this trip. All things being equal, not bad. Note to anyone traveling out west: When your fuel gauge gets below ½ full, refuel. In many places you can drive a quarter tank before getting to the next gas station, and you don’t want to run out of fuel out here.

Tomorrow we will complete our initial leg by ending up in Bakersfield, CA where we will spend a day, charge up, pick oranges, do laundry and some shopping before we head for a week to Death Valley. More later!