We just got back from a family road trip that spanned 11 states in 10 days, took us over 2,700 miles and introduced us to such delights as the tame prairie dogs in the Badlands of South Dakota, the picturesque Garden of the Gods and the thrill of spray-painting grafitti on cars in Amarillo's Cadillac Ranch! Add to that Mt. Rushmore, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Sandias of New Mexico, the awesome kitchy-ness of Catoosa, Oklahoma's Blue Whale and more... and you have a sample of our hot-n-humid, wild-n-wonderful summer vacation ;).
Aside from my hungry prairie dog friend above, here are a few other shots I really liked:
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Beautiful Bear Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park. We walked all the way around it and every picture we took seemed prettier than the last.
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| Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. |
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| One of the ten cars at the famous Cadillac Ranch...I left a pink note to say I was there! |
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Oklahoma is home to the National Route 66 Museum -- another fun stop on our journey.
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The new novel I have coming out this fall --
The Road to You -- is a coming-of-age romantic mystery that involves a trek down the Route 66 of the late 1970s. So, truly, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap some photos on that famous ribbon of highway, and I'll be sharing many more of them in the next few months!! Hope you'll fasten your seatbelts and get ready to go on a road trip with me... ;-)
Have any of you been down Route 66 or visited any of the other places I mentioned above? Are you driving/flying anywhere special this summer? If so, happy travels!
11 comments:
Beautiful pictures! We were on Route 66 in Arizona, and it was fun driving on it.
LOVE the title of your upcoming book! What fun to write a romantic mystery. I'm already eager to read it!
Edie,
Thank you!! I spent 3 years working on this new book...so I've really got my fingers crossed that readers will like it ;). It was a thrill to write!!
As for Rt. 66, I need to go back so I can do the second half of NM, AZ and CA!! I know it's just gorgous out there!
xox
Gorgeous pictures, Marilyn! And I'm so EXCITED to hear that there will be a new book coming out soon. Yay for more books from you!!! Like Edie, I'll be very anxious to read it.
I'm so glad you had a great time on your vacation! I've not done much traveling and never been west of Chicago. Maybe someday! And I'm super excited you have a new book coming out (hopefully) soon. I'm sure I'll love it. Your descriptions are so vivid that it'll be the next best thing to going on a roadtrip myself. ;)
Pamala, thank you! I can't take full credit for the pictures, though -- it's easy to take good ones when the scenery is so spectacular ;). And thanks for your enthusiasm about the new book. I'm very excited about it!
Monica!!! Thanks for stopping by to say hi to me here :-). And YAY! I'm so glad you're looking forward to the new story!! It'll be out in early October, and I'm kind of excited now that I know you haven't been west of Chicago... The characters are in WI and MN at the start, but then they go from Chicago all the way west to the coast. I hope I did the settings justice for you!
My seatbelt is fastened! :D
I can't wait for another MB book! Woot! So excited for you (and me). There are a few Route 66 spots here in Cali that I've traveled near, but I'm excited to take the journey with your characters! I can't wait to read about what they're listening to on the radio. ;)
I'm glad you had a great trip! *hugs*
Oh, Marilyn, your trip sounds so delightful. Like Monica, I have not been to any of those places, something I am hoping to remedy in the coming years. ;) I will be looking forward to seeing more pictures from your beautiful vacation, and for reading about the famous & historic Route66 in your new book. Reading about the places you describe is almost as good as being there, and always gives me a great desire to go wherever it is you are describing. Thanks! :)
No vacations for us this summer. Had to cancel my two little trips so we could move back to Ohio! Woot!
Robin,
Thank you!! I remember we'd emailed a bit about Route 66 a while back because it was mentioned in one of your stories ;). I would love to see the most western section of it, esp. CA!! One of these days, I hope... And welcome back to you, too, after your big RWA trip!
Jakki,
You know I am SO EXCITED for you about this move to Ohio!!!! YAY! And thanks so much for all of your sweet comments about my stories :). I did my best to describe these new places well, and I've really got my fingers crossed that everyone will like the romance and mystery of this book...
Hugs to you all!!
What a great vacation you've had, Marilyn! It's very nice to see first hand the places that appear in your stories...
Yay for the new book!
xoxoxo
Wow! That looks like it was an amazing trip! I love your photos of it, too. How funny that they even had a spot specifically for Photo Ops. :-)
Vesper, thank you so much!!
And, yes, that was the real excitement for me on the Route 66 leg of the journey... I'd written about a bunch of places, having only researched them but not seen them myself. It was awesomely fun to get to experience the reality :). Sending big xoxox's to you!!
Caryn, LOL!! Well, whether they had set aside a spot for photos or I just got better at finding them, I'm not sure ;). I took -- quite literally -- about 1,000 pictures on this trip so, IMO, *everything* was a photo op!!!
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