Driving Back to Washington

In August we drove back from San Francisco. We didn't meander as much as usual and we stuck mostly to highway 40 but we still saw some nice things.

We spent our first night camping near the ocean at Limekiln State Park in Big Sur. It was very pleasant. In the morning we took Sophie on a hike to see a waterfall.

We stopped in San Simeon to say hello to the elephant seals (or sea elephants as we like to call them). Unfortunately Sophie slept through the event.

We stopped in Ojai in Ventura County to visit my brother, John, and our friend, Dave Wright, and stayed in Dave's spectacular and completely unspoiled spa/retreat house. Sophie loved playing in the pool.

In Arizona we stopped at Walnut Canyon National Monument and the Petrified Forest National Park where Sophie enjoyed walking Celeste. 

In New Mexico we went to El Morro National Monument which was an essential watering hole for people traveling through the desert before the automobile. There is ancient graffiti on the sandstone bluffs carved by Pueblo Indians, Spanish conquistadors, and American settlers.

In Texas, we stopped at Palo Duro Canyon, scene of the last battle of the Red River War between the U. S. Army and the Kiowa, Comanche, southern Cheyenne, and southern Arapaho Indian tribes, that finally forced the Southwest Plains Indians onto reservations.


One of the Comanche leaders, the remarkable Quanah Parker, is the subject of the blood-curdling but excellent book, Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne. He was the son of Cynthia Parker who was the model for Natalie Wood's character in John Ford's The Searchers.

Route 40 often follows the old Route 66. Occasionally we got off and saw great old buildings like this one in Texas:

Sophie was a great traveler, spending most of her time sleeping or "reading."

We stayed mostly in mostly inexpensive motels, but in Memphis we splurged and stayed at the Peabody Hotel. It is a grand old southern hotel with a twist. The fountain in the lobby is inhabited during the day by mallard ducks. Each morning the Duckmaster leads the ducks down from the Royal Duck Palace on the rooftop. It is a pretty incredible scene when those elevator doors snap open. Sophie witnessed it with amazement and joy.

In the first 30 seconds of the following video you can see the ducks march out of the elevator and Sophie's astonished reaction. After that you need a high tolerance for nothing happening. 

On our way out of town we filled our bellies with pulled pork, ribs, and fried catfish at Leonard's famous BBQ.