We made it to North Carolina! Since the last post we traveled through Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, then NC.. It was great trip. Definitely the highlight of the last few days was Memphis. We stopped in to visit Graceland on Monday morning and got some real Memphis bbq. Graceland is incredible. I recommend anyone and everyone should see it.. it will set you back $27 to see the "mansion" and another $40 to see the cars, airplanes, extensive collection of jumpsuits and "army Elvis".. we just did the mansion tour, but it's something we won't forget. It's like a time capsule of American culture in the 60s and 70s. Enjoy the pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
love, Anne & Rich

Day 4 & 5

Thursday night we spent the night with Lindsay, Alex, and Kate outside of LA. We got to their house a lot earlier than we expected and it was SO nice to see them and catch up. Baby Kate is doing wonderfully and it was great to see her in person for the first time. We had brunch in Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl, with Lindsay before hitting the road again, our destination was Grand Canyon, AZ.

In & Out Burger was worth the stop before leaving CA.. thanks for the suggestion, Matt & Iris!!

We arrived at the Bright Angel Lodge on the rim of the Grand Canyon around 7:30pm pacific time.. we found out that Arizona is now on Mountain time, so 8:30pm their time. Driving to the Grand Canyon at night was really amazing, no light pollution and stars for miles & miles.

We got up early on Saturday morning and hiked a small portion of the rim trail. The Grand Canyon is breathtaking, especially early in the morning around sunrise.

We left the Grand Canyon and headed to Flagstaff, AZ, to meet my cousin, Katie, and her family. They live in Prescott and drove all the way to Flagstaff to see us.. We were so glad to see Katie & Adam and meet their kids for the first time, Brooklyn, Kale & Banner. We had a great time and enjoyed spending the afternoon in sunny Flagstaff.. Thanks for the brownies, guys!!

We left Flagstaff and drove to Tucumcar, NM. That's a long, straight drive along I-40, mostly small towns until Albuquerque, NM.. Today we'd like to make it to Tennessee. Lots of driving ahead.

Day 2 & 3

Well what can you say about Day 2 and 3 of the Journey East in a few words. Well after about 800 miles or so we still are together. The California Coast is nice but rural. There are a lot of little logging communities all along the way. We saw what had to be the biggest "hippie" community in America in Wittle, CA. Stopped by a winery, good stuff after a long day. San Francisco was fun, big, conjested, a ton of interesting people, not moving there anytime soon but nice place to visit. The drive over the bay bridge was interesting especially being on the bottom deck. Anne is talking to her sister, Sarah, while I am playing pictures of the 89 Earthquake in my mind...glad that is over. Drive down to LA was quality. Nothing exciting. Stayed at Anne's friends from Peace College's house and visited with her husband and new baby. Fun times. Got to go, details later.

Moving Day

Tuesday was a long day.. it took the movers two solid days to pack and load our stuff. The van pulled away from NE 43rd Ave around 4pm on Tuesday. We had a few last minute things to take care of (including a stop by Belmont Station, Rich's favorite beer store) then headed out of town.

We are sad to leave Portland. Our last week was hard with lots of goodbyes. We are going to miss all our wonderful friends and neighbors. Maybe they will visit us in North Carolina...we hope so!

We made it to Grants Pass, OR, late Tuesday night. After a good night's sleep we were ready to hit the road again early Wednesday morning.

Cross country trip

We'll be posting our progress as we drive across the country from Portland, OR to Greensboro, NC. The trip starts on Tuesday... stay tuned!