Starting our summit climb at midnight, there was a lot of adrenaline. This turned out to be the most challenging physical experience that either one of us has ever had.
Our expectations for Memphis were high and the city didn’t disappoint. We were there for a grand total of 24 hours, but we packed a lot of action into our short window of time.
On our eastward journey, we drove 6 hours out of our way for one reason: NASCAR! The Kansas Speedway was hosting one of the 24 NASCAR events held each year.
This place is apparently a “hard-nosed cattle town,” but it seemed like a trucker stop to us. It’s home to the largest canyon in the state of Texas, the Palo Duro Canyon, which is 2nd in size only to the Grand Canyon. We’re glad we stopped here, but we were happy to keep on going.
We spent two days here and really enjoyed exploring downtown and the Plaza. It was Adam’s first time to Santa Fe, and while Annie had been there prior to visit her brother James, she really hadn’t gotten a chance to do much exploring.
We visited all 5 of Utah’s Mighty Five National Parks. Originally, Utah wasn’t even on our itinerary, but after bumping into a friend by chance, we redirected our driving route to bring us through this beautiful state.
One of the primary missions of our cross-country trip was to experience places unlike home. For this reason, we were really looking forward to our stay in Salt Lake City. We were excited to see some incredible landscapes and learn more about the Mormon lifestyle.
Feeling great and full of energy. Annie was worried that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, because she’s not a frequent tent sleeper, but she passed out.
We spent 5 days on a remote island off the east coast of Phuket in Phang Nga Bay. We experienced real the real Thai island living. Life is slow. There are few cars. The oceans are beautiful. And everyone is all smiles.