Rhew The Nation -- The Trip Home

Welcome to the final post on the Rhew The Nation trip. We went on our adventure nearly 5 months ago, but it has provided great material for blog posts all this time! I hope you enjoyed traveling with me and Deek across the country and back again! We visited some *amazing* places, and I'm so grateful we got the opportunity to do it!

When we left off, Deek and I were headed to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Now, we'd intended to go to Oklahoma all along, but all the way back in Missouri (at the start of the trip), we changed the town we'd stop in Oklahoma. Why? Well, we have fallen in love with the Stoney Creek Hotel chain, and we discovered they'd opened a brand new one in Broken Arrow!

From the Stoney Creek in Missouri

We discovered Stoney Creek by accident when we were moving across the country. I always book through the Expedia app, and this place popped up as inexpensive and pet-friendly. Now we've stayed in some pretty yucky pet-friendly places, but this one smelled good and was *super* clean. They'd just opened when we stayed there last time, but even after being open for a while, it was still super clean and smelled good. So, we redirected our trip a little to end up at the brand spankin' new one in Broken Arrow. It did not disappoint!

The Stoney Creek in Broken Arrow.

Clearly, they have a theme.

Deek and I couldn't stop whispering, "Great white buffalo." LOL!

When we went to check-in, we informed the front desk that we'd stayed at the one in Missouri and rerouted our trip just to come to the one in Broken Arrow. And you know what they did? They comped us a suite to say "thank you!" A suite! And the suite was AMAZING!! 

The giant bell at check-in.

Amazing statues!

The jet tub in the suite's bathroom! Wowsa!!

The shower is behind that door, and it was massive!

Deek in the giant, super cozy bed.

This is one of my most favorite pictures from the trip!

Now, I'm a born and bred Southern girl, but there are a lot of places in the South I haven't been. In fact, despite our numerous cross-country trips, I still haven't been to states like Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Now that I think about it, other than a few New England states, these are some of the only ones I've not yet been to. But on this trip, we crossed another state off our list--Arkansas.

Um... I'm afraid for what this sign implies about other bathrooms.

The *whole* time we were in the Southwest, it didn't get above 90.

Leave it to the South to show how heat is really done. LOL!

Oh, and it's humid...

On to Tennessee

As a good little Southern girl, of course I've been to Tennessee--many times, in fact. Deek and I have driven through Nashville on cross-country trips but never actually stopped to look around (Deek and I are planning on taking an official trip there soon though). So when we drove through Nashville this time, we decided to stop at one cool thing and eat a one locally recommended restaurant. 

Now, I *love* Percy Jackson. Truth be told, I loathed the movies, but I love the books. And I am fascinated by all things Greek Mythology related. So...Deek took me to the Nashville Parthenon as our one cool place to go!

I love Percy Jackson so much, I brought one of his books as a read aloud on our trip!

Majestic!

Smooching in front of the Parthenon!

Look at that detail!

After Nashville, we drove through the same other states we always drive through to get back home. And then, we were home! <3 

The trip was amazing! I love traveling with Deek, and I love exploring the many facets of this country. If you haven't had a chance to drive across the country, I encourage you to do it. You'll be amazed by the stuff you see! 

For instance, I had no idea so much of our country is unpopulated. I mean like completely without a soul for miles and miles and miles (particularly on the eastern side of the western states and in the southwest). I never would have known that if we hadn't made these trips. There are just some things you can't see from an airplane or train window. Sometimes you have to get out there and experience it firsthand.

No one and nothing for fifty plus miles!

Thanks so much for accompanying me and Deek on this grand adventure! Now it's time for anniversaries, birthdays, and the holidays! WOOT! 

Daydreaming about more adventures with my best friend! :)

Rhew The Nation -- The Southwest -- Roswell, NM

Obviously, our southwestern portion of the trip had a theme--cowboys and aliens. LOL! So, naturally after we left Tombstone, we headed to Roswell, New Mexico. We spent so much time in Tombstone that we didn't roll into Roswell until pretty late that night, so we saved our exploring for the next day.

Join us as we visit with aliens!!

Yep, Gus was back in the stroller. 

But he could come into the museum in it, so winning!

Gus doesn't know what to think of his new babysitter! LOL!

Weekend at Bernie's, alien edition.

This is one of my most favorite pics. LOL!

Honestly y'all, I expected a *lot* more out of Roswell. I've heard about Roswell my whole life, and I was so stoked to go. If you're known for aliens, I feel like you should embrace that mess and go all out alien. But Roswell didn't really. There were a few museums and shops, but overall, it looked like most other towns. As we alway do, we made it fun, but we were disappointed in Roswell.

Then we headed to Texas. Wow, Texas freakin' rocks! We drove through lots of scrubby brush nothingness in New Mexico, and then all of a sudden--I'm talking as soon as we crossed the state lines--we saw green, lush farmlands in Texas. The difference was like night and day. We are absolutely planning another trip to Texas because we only grazed the tip this time. We want to see all the awesomeness Texas has to offer. Of course, we jammed out to the obligatory "God Blessed Texas" by Little Texas once we entered the state. 

Lawd have mercy.

They sure did have a purty rest stop!

And soon after that, we were in Oklahoma, our destination for that evening.

Next time, I'll tell you about the awesome surprise that is Broken Arrow, Oklahoma! Until next time, adventure on!

Rhew The Nation -- The Southwest -- Tombstone, AZ

Welcome back to Rhew The Nation! Today, I get to talk about one of my most favorite parts of the trip. I thought I'd like Vegas much more than I did, but I didn't know what to expect with the next part of the trip. Let me just say it was even better than I imagined!

Bye, Nevada! Hello, Arizona!

A little backstory: Tombstone is one of my most favorite movies EVER! My dad and I have seen it at least forty times. Every time it came on TV, we'd watched it. It didn't matter if it was a school night or whatever, my dad would let me stay up until the wee hours so we could enjoy the movie together again. When we see each other now, he always quotes a line from this movie to me. It's just our "thing."

Also, in high school and college, I did a lot of research and history papers specifically on Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. I'm fascinated by their friendship.

And, my whole life, I've had a huge crush on Val Kilmer. In fact, my friends joke that I am skilled at turning any conversation around to be about Val Kilmer. Though I'm not biased (yeah, right), I think his best role was Doc Holliday. I mean, he knocked it out of the park!! 

So, my wonderful, sweet, thoughtful husband rearranged the whole second half of our trip so he could take me to Tombstone, Arizona!! He knows how much I love the movie and the history, and he knows how much I love the story of Doc Holliday (and Val Kilmer). 

On the way to Tombstone, we stopped in Phoenix at an In and Out Burgers (my first time eating there), but they weren't very in and out. Deek went inside to order, and I stayed outside with the dog. While out there, I saw the cops chase down a guy who was trying to steal something from a local store. Needless to say, I was ready to get out of there. The bunless burgers were pretty good though.

Unamused with how *not* in and out In and Out was.

On the super cool side of things, Tombstone is pretty close to the Mexican border. So, while we were driving that evening, we watched this massive thunderstorm off to the side. And it was *in* Mexico! I thought it was so amazing to get to see a storm in another freakin' country!!

And then we arrived in the place I'd been longing to see...Tombstone, AZ! It was like they knew I was coming because the hotel put us in the Doc Holliday building! <3 <3

YAY! The Doc Holliday building!

Plus, our bathroom doors were saloon doors! YAS!

Gus is tuckered out from his long day.

The next morning, we got up bright and early to see everything there was to see in Tombstone, AZ! Let me start by saying for as pet un-friendly as Vegas was, Tombstone was the opposite. They *love* pets in Tombstone. The only thing Gus couldn't come to was the reenactment because they're afraid the gunshots will alarm animals, which is reasonable. But little Gus was treated like a king. He was allowed in the restaurants, and he even got to enjoy a little doggie ice cream!

The hotel offered free home-cooked, made-to-order breakfast! 

And it was goooood!

Deek took me to an OK Corral reenactment, and we got to meet the actors after the show!

I may have fangirled over this sign!

Lunch at the Crystal Palace

He looked more Neo than Wyatt Earp. LOL!

DOC HOLLIDAY! <3

Gus enjoying his doggie ice cream.

Yes, our dog is in a stroller. LOL! Here's the story on that...When we said we were going to the Southwest, everyone said we needed to get a dog stroller for Gus because the heat in the Southwest would make the streets so hot they'd burn Guster's feet. 

Well, here's the irony: 90 was the highest temp we saw throughout the *whole* Southwest. It's hotter than that where we live in the South. In fact, we didn't encounter real heat until we got to Arkansas. But anyhoo, we did our due diligence and put Gus in a stroller to protect his little paws. ;) 

If you've ever seen the movie Tombstone, you'll recognize this from the opening!

This is in the Boothill Graveyard. 

You can bring your dog, but you have to carry him/her because of scorpions. I kid you not.

My husband is completely and totally the BEST! I had an *amazing, amazing* time in Tombstone. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. I got to walk the same streets that Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday once did. I got to stand in the Birdcage Theater and eat at the Crystal Palace. And Deek made all that happen for me.

I am beyond thankful to my sweetheart, and I'm so grateful I got to be a part of living history. If you ever get the change to visit Tombstone, go! It totally exceeded my expectations!