Wow.  So far this has been the only time we have had enough free time and internet connection to blog.  We have been going non-stop since we left over a week ago.  I will try to catch everyone up on the adventures we have had so far.  We decided that the best move for everyone involved was to leave Maximus at home.  I think he will be happier, we will be happier, and everyone else will be (except maybe my parents...).  Most places have strict pet regulations and so far it has been the better choice.  We sure do miss him though!

First was Wakarusa, the music festival in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.  After leaving around 6:30am from Signal Mountain, TN, we headed west for around a 10 hour ride.  The last few hours went by so slowly, especially since Arkansas might be the most boring state I have driven through in a while.  All the natives drive under the speed limit and take up both lanes of the highway. Once we finally arrived, we were relieved at the cool weather we experienced.  Being up high in the mountains helped to maintain a cool breeze everyday (way better than the scorching heat I experienced at Bonnaroo a few summers ago).  We even got a few rain showers everyday to help cool us off.  Unfortunately, the last day brought in some nasty storms and tornado warnings.  We decided to skip out on a few of the bands we really wanted to see because we had already seen them before.  With that, we packed up camp and heading down south towards our next stop in New Orleans.

After a quick nap in a Wal-Mart parking lot, we continued down to NOLA Monday morning.  We stopped in at the visitor center and got directions for looking at the beautiful garden district.  I have always heard how dirty and dangerous it was down there, but the garden district changed that.  There were huge mansions from the 1800s with perfectly manicured lawns and houses.  After the garden district tour we headed to our hotel in the French Quarter.  I loved this area with the old Spanish style streets and buildings decorated with iron fences.  We spend the rest of our time wandering around bourbon street and many of the other side streets looking for awesome cajun food.  At one place we ran into Chef Donald, one of the few contestants being selected for the next Hell's Kitchen TV show.  He was extremely nice and gave us ideas on the best places to eat.  In return, we gave him some citrine rocks from Brazil that a hippie gave us at Wakarusa.  Citrine contains powers of healing and protects against negative energy while giving good luck to those that possess it.  We hope it helps Chef Donald in auditioning for Hell's Kitchen.  NOLA had some of the friendliest and helpful people we have met so far and I definitely want to spend some more time back there.  We left early the next morning heading to Albuquerque, NM.

I will finish catching up later tonight, but for now we are off hiking the Grand Canyon!

Danny and Sara