Summer Road Trips

There's no better time than summer to take a road trip. Weather is never an issue no matter where you are in the States, and it's an exciting way to take your summer vacation. All you need is a great attitude, a best friend(s), and MapQuest, unless you have a smart phone, which you probably do.

So recently I headed off on my own road trip with my best friend. We started our journey in Florida...first stop...Monticello, AR. The actual first destination was Stroud, OK, but we stopped in Arkansas after the thirteen hour drive to visit a friend of mine. Things to know about Monticello, AR...

1. It is a very small town, but it still has some charm with the old timey antebellum houses and the town square.

2. There are two high schools for such a small town...at least you can pick where you want to be educated.

Once we reached the town of Stroud, OK we saw a new style of life. We were visiting my friend's grandpa, now my grandpa (the friend is my husband), and grandpa happens to be a cattle rancher. He raises calves, gets them fat, and then sells them at an auction. Things to know about Stroud, OK...

1. This is a town of 1500 people.

2. The scenery is breathtaking.

3. Stroud sits on the famous Route 66.

This restaurant has been on Route 66
in Stroud for years and years.

From Stroud, we drove to Alamogordo, NM to visit my grandparents. We reached Alamogordo after being in the car for about 11 hours. Alamogordo is a city in the middle of the desert. There isn't much around other than the city itself and the surrounding mountains (which are beautiful). If you've never visited this area of the country I recommend it. The scenery is vastly different than anywhere else, and not only different, but beautiful in its own way. Things to know about Alamogordo, NM...

The mountains lining Alamogordo.

1. It is surrounded by mountains which you can drive up into to visit towns such as Ruidoso or Cloudscroft (they're great for shopping).  

2.  It is always sunny; it only gets about 6-10 inches of rain a year.

3. The temperature is hot, but the humidity is low.

Making this trip a road trip actually saved us money because plane tickets can be so expensive. Beyond saving money, it created more memories than a plane ride ever could.