Ah ha, my devoted ones…I deeply apologize for not keeping you up to date on my recent activities, but I’ll set that straight right now. As you know, the Princess is more than fond of having me accompany her when the winds of travel call, and call they did this fall. It was with some great deal of planning, and serious review of large maps, that we set off on a cross-country adventure of all adventures! She has at her disposal a most beautiful old motorcar, manufactured in a place called England. (They still have Kings and Queens – imagine that!) Oh, I digress. Well, the automobile is rather small for the likes of three persons…I mention three, for she also invited the other guy to tag along as my biographer and chauffeur. I mean, someone had to drive now and then, for I have more interesting things to do with my hooves.
On the last day of August, we set off in early morning hours from the West Coast of this great nation. It was a half-day drive up through costal mountains and across an absolutely scorching desert, (the heat hovered close to 115 degrees). Look at those mountains.

We decided to rest for the night with a plan to rise early and be well on our way before the morning sun performed its stovetop deed.
We drove for hours in darkness, when the other guy, apparently in need of coffee, begged for a rest stop in a place called Phoenix. I am sure the name has to be associated with some bird that burst into flame and ended up ashes? Or the other way around? Be that as it may, it was certainly hot enough to nearly ignite my beautiful fur. Notice that the other guy was kind enough to share his beverage with me as the sun peeked over the horizon and sent us on our way.

Don’t worry about my health. I was able to enjoy a bountiful breakfast before leaving and napped for an hour or so after to regain any lost strength.
May I be so extravagant with words to say that the northern part of the state of Arizona is most beautiful? We parked for a bit and hiked around.

Nice wheels, eh? I know the Princess loves to let me drive. And look at those Sedona colors!

We motored past and ever upward through a forested canyon with the town of Flagstaff as our lunchtime destination. I know we were all in need of a square meal. We had one. I had seconds.
What can I say about the drive across Arizona? We followed what apparently was once the road, a route called 66.

As you might notice, I could have taken a two-hour nap in the middle of that road. I could see for miles to the east and back toward the west, and not a car in sight.
The other guy wanted to see some crater, a place where a meteor crashed into the earth thousands of years ago and made a huge hole in the ground. Now I was truly impressed!

That’s a mile wide crater. I got to see an Apollo test capsule. See me? Ignore the other guy. That's me right there on the Apollo looking at you.  I would have made a great astronaut.  Perhaps they'll invite me to go on the next flight.  Warthog in space!  What a slogan to arouse public support of their programs.  Write to your congressmen and insist that they put me in space. 

And will you look at a piece of that meteor? It's gotta be ninety times bigger than me and weighs a ton!  I tried to budge it but...no way!  Yes indeed…a most awesome thing to behold. You know, I should have had the other guy take a picture of me standing beside it.  To give it a little more eye appeal.  I was off signing autographs when he snapped the picture. As usual, he didn't  take the importance of my presence into consideration.  That's what I have to endure.  Oh well, I know you understand.  

Yes indeed…a most awesome thing to behold.

How about the view through the crater museum wall? There’s a way to frame a big picture.
The other guy took a few photos of the Princess and me

and one of me surveying the surrounding desert from the top of a large rock.

An elderly Indian we met, a chief I was told, gave me a Native American name, Warty ‘Many Winds’, a name everyone said was befitting my affinity with the forces of Mother Nature.
I got the other guy to take a little detour through Winslow, Arizona in hopes of seeing the Eagles. I guess they didn’t stick around after they became world famous. Not knowing which corner to stand on, I got back in the car and we left too.
After crossing the state line into New Mexico, we pulled into a rest stop to use their sparkling clean facilities. Look what they did in ceramic tile on the men’s rest room wall!

My word. Looks like route 66 was a once big deal. There weren’t many highways back when it was constructed, and none from Chicago all the way to the west coast. I was impressed.
The names of those towns…Gallup, Clines Corners, and so many I can’t pronounce yet alone, remember.
The drive across Texas and Oklahoma was interesting. One might say that, I suppose. I napped most of the way. We stopped for the night in Clinton, Oklahoma.

I slept in a bed that some guy named Elvis slept in. Everyone was impressed about that. The motel operator told me they were going to change the sign to read, “Warty Slept Here!” Now get this…they wanted to sell me a gaudy chandelier that Elvis left (hoping to cover the cost of his bill). I thought not. Plus, we couldn’t carry it in the car.
Now, bear with me. Traveling is exciting, but enervating. This is a long trip, dear readers. I’m going to have a tasty snack and take a nap before continuing a saga fraught through and through with danger and intrigue.