Thanksgiving Odyssey

Thanks to new requirements set by our dear friends at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, it is looking like our trip to Vietnam will not occur in November, so we are free make travel plans for the Thanksgiving get-together at my sister's place in Flagstaff. The only problem with this scenario is buying plane tickets from Austin to Phoenix three weeks before Thanksgiving, to the tune of $450 per ticket--far outside our budget. It looked like a no-go.

However, as we drove home last night, Karla suggested we look into driving instead of flying. A few minutes with Google Maps showed the route is fairly benign, even if it is over 1100 miles. We're not keen to put another 2200 miles on the Nissan, so we're looking into a rental car. So long as it has cruise control and a reasonable amount of legroom, I think we're good. We could do the entire trip for less than half of what we were originally budgeting for the plane trip. It will be great to see the parents/brothers/sisters/nephews/niece. Just can't wait for the West Texas part of the trip: so little to see, so much time...