CarinAZTrip

Great Bead Roundup

Planned Stops Travel Plans Driving Directions MS Streets & Trips

For her fall vacation this year, Carin has planned a long and winding road to Arizona and back. During this trip she has 52 scheduled stops (and probably many unscheduled ones). You can see all her planned stops via the Planned Stops link.

From this trip on, all of our trips are planned out using Microsoft Streets & Trips software, see link on this page. This software is GREAT! We also have the GPS locator and the European version of the software (See the German trip for more info)

She will take 13 days between October 15th and October 27th to travel by car from her home in Dawsonville, GA to Sean's Uncle's home in Tucson AZ. Along the way she will make many shopping stops and even go to the Grand Canyon for a full day. Carin has never done anything like this before and is looking forward with great anticipation to this adventure. Sean has spent many evenings planning the stops and the route, as well as making, canceling, and remaking the many reservations needed along the way. Originally she was taking a southerly route to AZ, but with the hurricanes and such she has been rerouted through Oklahoma etc. You can see the route on the Travel plans link below. We actually found that the northern route was only slightly longer then the southern and middle Texas routes.

I will post updates here as she moves across the country.

Day 1 (Saturday) - Started out early and no major issues. The laptop with the GPS came in handy to show her when she got off course. Made it to Arkansas quite easily and arrived earlier then expected. She had a little trouble in Memphis due to construction but she just followed the truckers and arrived without incident.

Day 2 - Again, started out early. Nothing to do today but drive to Amarillo. She saw her first tumbling tumbleweed roll across the highway in Oklahoma. Got to Amarillo before 3:00 local time. Carin didn't like the hotel were she had a reservation, so she called in and got a room at another comfort inn that was just down the highway. It was a new hotel with lots of restaurants and a shopping mall nearby. Did some shopping at the mall and relaxed.

Day 3 - Driving from Amarillo to Las Cruces. Unlike Bugs Bunny, she did take that left turn at Albuquerque. Had 7 stops scheduled, one was closed so she made it to 6. Got to Las Cruces early. Went to wal-mart and to eat then into the room to rest.

Day 4 - Started out early again... just driving from Las Cruces to Tucson. Got pulled over by the border patrol, all cars were being checked. Also had to wave down a trucker due to his tire/brakes being on fire. Found out 911 don't know where a cell phone is. Carin and the truck driver threw water on it to put it out. No scheduled stops today. She is just now getting into Tucson, 11:33am EDT. Talked to her around 8PM EDT and all is well, she is settled in and looking forward to her days in Tucson.

Day 5-7 - Carin is going hiking with Sean's uncle Mike. That should be interesting...... Stay tuned. Carin hiked 4+ miles, hit a few bead stores, overall a good day. Carin spent the rest of her time in Tucson doing what she does best... shopping. Did lots of that as well as just hanging out.

Day 8 - Up and gone early, this is the busiest day for shopping of the whole trip. Hit almost every bead store on the list for today, including what Carin thought was the biggest bead store she has ever seen. Also the Bead Museum. Lots of traffic and the roads in Phoenix are all torn up. She had to make a couple of life line calls to Sean to help get her back to where she was supposed to be. Got to the hotel and rested up for her day in the Grand Canyon tomorrow.

Day 9 (Sunday) - Today is Grand Canyon day. Up and out early.... Got to the canyon by about 7:00am. Felt like she had the whole canyon to herself. Saw the sunrise and everything was just gorgeous. Took lots of pictures and did lots of hiking. Spent over 5 hours there, but by noon it was so crowded you could barely move. Time to go back to the hotel, and get some lunch on the way. Loved the big ditch.

Day 10 - Starting back home, leaving Williams, AZ and going back to Amarillo today. Going to stay in the same hotel in Amarillo she stayed in on the way over. Didn't like what she saw in Vega, TX. Got a few stops in store today. The first couple of stores were busts, but in old town Albuquerque she found things. Stopped at a dairy queen for lunch... they were out of ice cream. A dairy queen out of Ice Cream...what's up with that? It was a long day today. But now she is at least back on Central time, closer to eastern...

Day 11 - Amarillo to Clarksville. Pretty uneventful except all the trucks on the highway....

Day 12 - Headed to Graceland today. Got there about noon, and spent 3 hours looking for Elvis. Got the VIP pass so she got the royal treatment. Had a shuttle bus all to herself. Had a very enjoyable time. Got into a horrible traffic jam within 10 miles of her hotel. Took over an hour and a half to go the last 10 miles. Got there finally.

Day 13 - Traveling home....just a couple of stops near Nashville.