After six weeks with our families in the Phoenix area, Cory and I had to hit the road again. Once bitten by that travel bug, we now can't resist the lure of seeing new places and meeting new friends. We decided to see this great country of ours by traveling Interstate 10 from Phoenix all the way to Florida. We're driving Cory's red Corvette and staying in hotels and motels on our way across New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. I use http://www.booking.com to book our hotels each night and they haven't let me down yet. 

 We slept our first night in Las Cruces, NM, and visited the historic Old Mesilla town square and the Basilica of San Albino . Did you know Billy the Kid was tried here in the old courthouse and sentenced to hang in 1881? This was really the "Old West" where outlaws and settlers lived and played in the buildings around the plaza.

Moving on, we drove across the widest part of Texas passing so many big rigs that I couldn't help but wonder about the men and women who drive these huge trucks and live most of their lives on the road. They were courteous drivers, and we certainly tried to stay out of their way as they went about their jobs moving loads across our country. We made it to San Antonio in time to watch the college football playoff game in a little German bar on the Riverwalk. Go Bucks! We stayed at the Crockett Hotel where we had a view of the Alamo out our window. The Crockett Hotel was built in 1909 on the grounds of the Alamo, where Davy Crockett and a band of Texan settlers defended the area from Mexican forces during a bloody 13 day siege in Feb-March 1836 . It's a lovely hotel and right in the middle of San Antonio so we walked to the Riverwalk and other areas of downtown to explore. We walked through the Alamo and learned the history of this historic monument. Then, we strolled the historic King Williams neighborhood and toured the Villa Finale, the restored home of Walter Mathis who was responsible for much of the restoration of the King William neighborhood. Mathis was quite a collector and over 12,000 items are in the home arranged on the tables and in cabinets.

The highlight of our trip to San Antonio was visiting Fran and Len King, friends we met on our NCL Epic cruise in November last year. We had dinner together, and the next day they took us on a driving tour of their San Antonio. We saw some beautiful old homes, the synagogue, and ate amazing "real Texas BBQ" at Rudy's. If ever in San Antonio, you must eat BBQ at Rudy's! It was the best I've ever tasted and the creamed corn is not be missed . They told us there is a Rudy's now in Chandler, AZ, so all my Arizona friends must try it. You'll love it. We visited with Fran and Len at their home, played with their dog, and had a wonderful day with our friends. We promised to stay with them on our way back through San Antonio in a few more weeks.

We left Texas driving through Houston on our way to Louisiana and our next stop in Baton Rouge. We've seen the scenery change throughout our drive, from desert cactus, to rocky mountains and the dry hills of San Antonio. The trees became larger and roadside greener as we left Texas. The most remarkable change in scenery was when we crossed the state line into Louisiana and drove over the swamps on the elevated highway. We're in the capitol city of Louisiana today and plan to visit the tallest state capitol building and maybe the campus of LSU. We'll keep you posted!