Today we set all kinds of records, leaving the campground by 10:00 and driving a whopping 350 miles!! If you have been following this blog or read any of our 2009 USA Road Trip blog you know that we rarely break the 300-mile mark during a day. But we made a reservation in Albuquerque at the KOA and that kept us pushing. Pepé seems to lose it right around 200 miles, so the poor little guy had a rough day. But he hung in there and landed at a nice spot with a great big dog run so I think he forgave us in the end.
Before we left the campground this morning, we took some great video of those blue herons flying back and forth above us and nesting in those trees along the creek where we were camped. If you read those posts earlier, check back in a couple of days and I'll try to remember how to upload that to the blog page. It is worth seeing though.
The climb out of Sedona was spectacular. 89A North follows Oak Creek Canyon uphill to where it intersects with Interstate-17 in Flagstaff. After grabbing a cup of coffee at Starbucks in Sedona, we hit the trail, winding our way past the red rocks, then sandstone-colored cliffs, then into a lush forest of Ponderosa pines. 
At the top of the hill, you are treated to a Scenic Overview that doesn't let you see quite all the way down to the red rocks of Sedona, but you definitely get a sense for how far you've climbed on your way out of the valley.
There are a number of Native American vendors selling handmade jewelry here as well, so if you didn't get your chance in Sedona, you can find something here.At Flagstaff, I-17 quickly intersects I-40 and we followed that East all of the rest of the 320 miles to Albuquerque through mainly high plains desert.
We got to our KOA in Albuquerque a half hour before they were supposed to close, then remembered that it was actually an hour later in Albuquerque than in Arizona! Luckily, the manager saw us come in and escorted us directly to our site. This RV park actually got very good reviews in the RV Reviews site I always check online, as well as the Woodall's guide which is like a Bible to us on the road. But he said they get pretty mixed reviews and as the new manager, he intends to perk the place up a bit. We could sort of see what he meant once we were there. No grass around the sites, just rocks. No shelter from the winds, which were ominous when we pulled in. And it is right on the frontage road for I-40, which is pretty noisy. But their K-9 Kamp was great, so Pepé gave it 5 woofs and we ended up having a very pleasant evening there inside our nice, warm camper with our take-out Applebee's dinners. And the Internet was excellent, which for some reason has been a real problem on this trip so far.
Tomorrow we are going to try to get a little closer to our final destination of Carlsbad, New Mexico, where Laurie's mom and brother live. The idea is not to put in another 350-mile day. We'll see how we do.
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