We've traded in coniferous trees and high-alpine lakes in the Pacific Northwest high country for barren landscapes and prickly cacti in the Southwest. We had forgotten how HOT it is in the Southwest, even though it is approaching "fall," but we're still hiking!
Lately, we've had local "guides" on our hikes. In New Mexico, we hit the Piedra Lisa Trail in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness with one of our BP contributors who will be presenting alongside us later this month.
In Texas, my blog buddy Misti/Ridley, a fellow AT thru hiker, and her father took us to search for fossilized dinosaur tracks along the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park. And we found some, both meat-eating theropods and plant-eating sauropods!
Other than hiking and trying to stay cool, we are in the home stretch of our tour. Seems hard to believe!! But considering we've driven 22,000 miles this summer thus far, seems more believable.
Right now, we are calling an RV park in Fort Worth, TX, home. This is the first time we have stayed for an extended period of time at an RV park with electrical and water hookups, but we knew we couldn't just bounce around TX staying for free at rest stops or Wal-Mart parking lots like we usually do, being that the temps only drop to high 70s at night. Doesn't hurt that there is an In & Out Burger right across the street from our RV park and the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is taking place 2 nights at a local museum within walking distance ...
We have 2 more stops in Texas, 1 in Albuquerque, 1 in Vegas (J is looking most forward to this naturally), 1 in Berkeley and the grand finale in Denver!
Labels: Backpacker, Outdoor Recreation, Road Trips, Speaking Events
