OVER THE HILL AND COAST 2 COAST BIG ADVENTURE

 Day 7 Today we traveled from Grants,  New Mexico to Joplin MO. a total of 833 miles. We stopped for lunch at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas for one of their famous steaks. They give you a free 72 ounce steak dinner if you can down the entire meal in less than an hour. The record time is held by a woman in 4 minutes 18 seconds.  We saw a lot of windmills and cows today.

 Day 8 Today we traveled from Joplin Missouri to Columbus, Ohio, a total of 693 miles. We tried all day yesterday to get solar eclipse glasses because we were going to be entering the totality zone at the right time. We had no luck, everyone was sold out. we started calling stores at 6 AM this morning and finally found a Staples in Rolla, Missouri that had a few dozen. They agreed to hold 3 pairs for Karl until we arrived 2 hours later. When we got there they had our glasses waiting for us (the last 3 pairs in the store). After the purchase we walked back to the truck and the ladies in the car next to us asked if we got the glasses in the Staples. They were in there before us and were supposed to have some saved for them but they didn't get theirs. We are guessing that they didn't leave a name for holding them or the lady in the store just liked Karl's voice better. We drove as fast as we could to get to little gas station in Montrose, Illinois for the viewing. It was quite...

 Day 6 We woke up to a white wonderland this morning. Then drove through snow, sleet, and fog the entire way to the Grand Canyon. As we walked up to the rim of the canyon the fog lifted and the sun came out. It started snowing again until we got to the 2nd stop along the rim and then the sun came out again. Today we traveled 466 miles from Flagstaff AZ to Grant NM  We made side trips to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon  And The Petrified Forest. Got a few pictures of  some animals native to the area, Raven, Antelope, and Elk, We also saw some mule deer and a coyote, but we didn't get to see the roadrunner.                           And a few pictures along the way

 Day 5 We travelled from El Centro, CA to Flagstaff, Arizona today. That would be quite an accomplishment for 3 old guys, huh? I guess we should explain. Complications have caused us to return home earlier than we had hoped. So, we rented a pickup truck in Imperial, CA yesterday, loaded the bikes and gear into the truck and are heading back to Maryland and Pennsylvania. We will still be posting pictures and experiences along the way until we reach home.  Stopped at Hugh T Osborne Lookout Park to see the sand dunes and watch a few offroad vehicles driving through the dunes. Had a very tasty Cod lunch at Times 3 Family Restaurant in Quartzsite, AZ and dinner at Chick Fil A tonight.  We drove through a snowstorm near Flagstaff, AZ.  We are hoping to finish tomorrow in Albuquerque, NM.