We left Amarillo and headed west towards Albuquerque. It wasn't an easy trek though. We had to travel through a heavy snow storm. We were praying I-40 wouldn't close but alas it did. We were only 50 miles from Albuquerque. We checked into a motel in a small town called Moriarty, NM. We unpacked the car, set up Bella's bed and as soon as we did all that I-40 reopened. So we decided to pack the car back up, check back out of the hotel and head to our much nicer hotel in Albuquerque. We made it!!
The next morning we hung around Old town Albuquerque and looked at the sites. We saw the oldest and longest working churches. It was built in the 1700's and hasn't closed since. There were cannons from the Civil War for Nicolas to play on and a pretty gazebo. We stopped in an Indian art shop and bought Bella a Navajo bracelet. She has the same design on her bracelet as her Grandma as on a ring.
It seemed as though yesterday was by far the longest leg of the trip thus far. It probably wasn't but it sure seemed long. We stopped at Church Rock off right outside of Gallup, NM. We did stop at the Petrified Forest but only to change a diaper. At that point we were all tired and wanted to just get to Flagstaff. We finally made it around 5:00pm. We are staying at the historic Little America. This hotel is a true step back into time. It's like going straight back to the 1950's. It's been fun for all of us. We met Nick's Dad and his wife at LaFonda Mexican restaurant for dinner and then came back to the hotel and we all passed out.
We are heading out today for Las Vegas. We plan on showing Nicolas a few places in and around Flagstaff and then head out to a friend's house for lunch. We will then head back to I-40 and go to Vegas to visit Alex, Nick's oldest brother.
More to come......

We made it to Texas today but not before visiting a few sites in Oklahoma.
The first stop was the Oklahoma bombing memorial. While I remember this happening I was a Junior in high school. I was in tears after going through the museum. It was very well done. Words can't even begin to do this museum or the event justice. I left the museum with more questions than when I entered but I feel in this case it happenes with most visitors.
After leaving there we had a hearty meal at Cracker Barel, our new favorite food stop.
We then drove to The battlefield of the Wishita. It was the first big battle for Custer and helped him become famous or infamous, you decide. This raid was on Black Kettle and his Cheyenne village. The reasoning was a few of Black Kettle men had been involved in the killings of white men, woman and children settlers. Black Kettle assured the army he would find who did these acts and turn them over to the US authorities. It never happened or it didn't happen the way Custer wanted it done.
A raid was planned and Custer was to head it. Many Natives were lost, the last number being 140. Many Americans were killed as well. One was Louis Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton's grandson. It is said Pres Hamilton never forgave Custer for "killing" his grandson.
The site is so amazing. The red rock on the hills scattered along the river. Had we visited during warmer weather visitors can hike out to the battlefield. I did get some great pictures of all the sites today. They will be uploaded soon when I'm on a computer.
This way it will keep you coming back to check on the status of the pictures.
Tomorrow we head west to New Mexico and hopefully make it to Albuquerque.
We don't have anything planned to stop and see but I'm sure we will find fun, interesting and educational stops. We always do!

Today we spent a little time in St. Louis, MO. We got in late last night so we only had a few hours to be tourists. We decided we wanted to go to the top of the arch. Wow was that incredible. The arches real name is the gateway to the west Thanks to the Louisiana Purchase. The West was not "discovered" or should I say explored by the non natives yet. So St Louis was the starting off point point for settlers who were heading towards their own Manifest Destiny in the West. I will download the pictures tomorrow of the arch, but I wanted to at least get a little in tonight about that experience.
We then headed off to Pappy's smokehouse. It was on the show Man Vs. Food on the Food Network. My My MY what great meat. They only make a certain amount everyday. So if they run out they run out. It was the best smoked pork I've ever had. Wow!!!! Bella enjoyed the pork as well as the sweet potato fries, baked beans and apple sauce. That girl eats. Nicolas on the other hand, not so much. We left there in a food coma and headed to our next destination, Tulsa, OK. We arrived here around 9:00 pm. We are all exhausted but Nick and I wanted to get downstairs to the casino for a little fun. Nick ended up having all the fun. He won a total of $225.00. He was so excited. We ate at Toby Keith's restaurant and Nick got a fried bologna sandwich. I didn't want to pull a Nicolas so I tried it but man was it disgusting. Nick really enjoyed it though. To each his own. I'm off to bed and tomorrow we will head to Amarillo, TX. I will get more pictures downloaded and talk more about the trek across country!