The End is the Beginning is the End

Sam and I woke up early Tuesday morning.  Our thought was that Arizona monsoon season in addition to Route 66 splitting so far away from the interstate in Western Arizona and Eastern California would make driving through any potential storms a little dangerous.  If we got up early and drove, we could avoid any sketchy situations, and enjoy a relatively cloudless drive. 

I figured we would make it to Kingman... Needles if we were lucky... based on my drive the first time and the amount of time it took me to get through Arizona, I assumed driving from the Grand Canyon would add time, and time wasn't what we had this time around.

Oatman and the wild burros.

Additionally, I had received an Arizona Route 66 Passport in Ash Fork on part one of my journey.  Seeing as I was stopping at every visitor's center on the Mother Road, I began to get the passport stamped.  Sam and I decided to finish the book on the way back, which meant that this, too, would add more time.  Time to talk to people in these towns, to look at the sights, to drive the way the Mother Road intended. 

The Hackberry General Store

We arrived in Kingman at around noon, Oatman at one-thirty and Needles by two.  We pet burros, looked at gift shops, snapped pictures... and we drove.  We drove through the cool mountains, past long abandoned ghost towns, through the prickly desert... the wind in our hair and dust clouding behind us.  By Needles, we had a choice:  stay the night in town, or drive through the Californian desert to Barstow.  If we decided on Barstow, it made sense to push on to Los Angeles, as it is only a couple hours away. 

The clouds were only gathering in the east and the day was still young, so Sam said to keep going.  Go we did.  And the clouds didn't catch up until we were almost to Victorville.

Bottle Tree Ranch

I had passed the Bottle Tree Ranch on my way east, but it was fenced off and closed. By the time my brain registered what I had passed, I was already a mile or two away.  This time, Sammie and I needed to visit the Bottle Tree... it would be our thank you to the Mother Road for an amazing journey, and a time for us to take a moment and appreciate what we'd accomplished, to honor what we'd experienced. 

This time, the Bottle Tree was open, and the owner greeted us.  We chatted briefly about where we were going and where we had been.  It's the usual conversation that takes place on the road- in every town, at every stop.  We politely asked if we could add to his collection, and he welcomed the additions.

Our bottles added to the trees.

Sam found the empty spokes for our bottles, on a "tree" somewhere in the back of the "forest."  We took a moment of silence before sharing some of our favorite moments of the trip.  Then we placed the bottles on the tree, and walked away leaving a little piece of ourselves behind. 

I like to think that it was then, the Mother Road blessed us with two of her greatest gifts: conversation with interesting people, and safe travels. 

When we finished, we walked back and thanked the owner for letting us look at his installation.  Suddenly, we found ourselves chatting with him and his wife, about the road, about life, and about the funny way so much about both surprise you.  Life takes you down unexpected paths, and you never know where it will take you. 


In the car driving through the desert.


The storm clouds gathered above our heads during this conversation... they threatened and loomed like they always did, but this time... this time, we weren't nervous.  We just hopped in the car and drove.  When we hit the interstate junction, it was time to say goodbye to the road that took care of us all this way.  For me, it was over 5,000 miles of land, spanning three timezones, three major rivers, and nine states twice over. 

Steinbeck said that the last legs of his trip were a blur.  That the yearning for home took over, and the journey ceased being a journey and became a long, never ending haul. But when he finally made it to the Holland Tunnel, the world lit up... the sky was bluer, the air was cleaner....

Heading towards Hollywood on the 5.

When we drove through San Bernadino, in between the dark storm clouds towards the cloudless sky of the coast, the sun shined brighter, the polluted air smelled sweeter, and the sight of urban sprawl was as welcoming as the front porch of my parent's house after a long plane ride.

Sam and I had made it... nay, if I may be selfish for a second... I had made it back.

Things had changed... I had changed, but how, I still had no answers. 

She and I decided to take the day off on Wednesday.  We did laundry, we unpacked, we cleaned Mrs. Brisby's cage.  We were lazy, and happy to be in one place. 

The Santa Monica Pier

End of the trail.

We didn't drive to the pier on Tuesday.  It was decided that we would do that another day, a day where we could spend the time on the beach and see the sights before shops closed up and the sun went down.  Today was that day.  

My Bench.

The end of Route 66 is actually on Lincoln and Santa Monica, but over the years it has moved to the edge of the pier in order to promote tourism, so I drove Sam through the intersection of Lincoln and Santa Monica with little fanfare before we parked the car and trekked to the end of the pier.  A month ago, I began my journey here... on an empty bench, staring out at a cloudy seascape.  Today, I walked there with my sister.  The sun was shining and the water glistening. 

The Bottle Tree was the end of the journey, but the pier was the end of the trip, an end to a beginning that I only dreamt would happen.  And now it has. 

Where life goes from here... well, I guess we'll have to see.




The end of the pier.  The end of the trip.

-B-

Taken' It Easy In LA

So yesterday was spent lazing around my sister's apartment. We watched some X Files and Alien (and I use to say I hated sci-fi). We only left the apartment to get some smoothies and groceries for diner and then again later for some ice cream. We also cleaned out her rat's cage.

Today was, if not more productive than at least more active. We woke up semi-early to get to the beach and Santa Monica pier. We took the expected photos at the end of trail route 66 sign and then explored the pier a bit (well I explored at least Brianne has probably seen it a lot). Then we hopped across the hot sand and I got to spend some quality time in the Pacific. It was fun body surfing on the waves. Then we dried off and took off to go see The Dark Knight Rises. Brianne has already seen it twice but I really wanted to see it. It was epic and very long (2hr44min).

Now were back at the apartment lazing around like we deserve after such a long trip with plans for a pot luck on my last night so I can meet all my sister's friends.

SMK

A Short Break

Though it seems like we have taken a short blog break already, thanks to the Grand Canyon being without internet, today, on our first day in LA, we decided to not do a blog, just updates to the blog from days past. 

Tomorrow we will continue the exciting adventure, but today it is time to sleep and be lazy.

B.

der Grand Canyon (Blog for 8/27/12)

"There are a lot of German people here," I said to Sam as we walked through Juniper Circle, the campground we were assigned. 

She nodded to me.

"No, but, seriously, is the whole country of Germany here on vacation?" I asked.

She shrugged.  It was early, so conversation was pretty limited. 

Generally, I don't hear much of the language I chose to study in high school.  The most I hear is in World War II movies.  Once, when I was visiting New York, I heard quite a few Germans talking, and even helped a nice older German couple navigate the subway, but mostly I just hear Spanish.  Or, on this trip, French and Italian.  It amazes me how many visitors we have from all over the world, and it always makes me a little jealous, as I have only been to Canada and Mexico.

A half hour later, when we arrived at the Visitor Center, Sam made the same comment.

"Oh, wow.  Where are all the Americans? There are conversations from all over, but not many are in English."

I laughed, "Well, the Americans have to worry about school starting... er... all of America except Wisconsin."

I nudged her, and she smiled. 

"Let's go see this thing."

Yes, indeed, that is a giant canyon behind us.

We followed the crowds until we saw the canyon open up in front of us.  There are no words to describe how the Grand Canyon looks, just as there are no pictures that can show you its grandness, and no painting that can convey it's beauty.  To experience it is the only way to understand, and even then... it's hard to grasp the extensive view and all that this land formation represents.

We walked along the rim for a bit, until we were tired of the crowds, and then we made our way to the trail we picked out:  South Kaibab.

Sam, looking out at the Grand Canyon.

The description made it seem like the best option for a couple of travellers just passing through and the pamphlet that you get when you enter the park fails to note the difficulty of the trail.  Let me give you a hint... the difficulty is:  Difficult.

The hike down the canyon wall was not horrible... you know, 'cause gravity is your best friend at that point.  And the views from the path as well as Ooh Ahh Point were spectacular.  Along the way we let the mule tour pass... they left us lovely fragrant bread crumbs to help us find the way back... when you are exhausted and trying to climb back up a canyon wall, these gifts are annoying to avoid while trying to regulate your breathing. 

After arriving at Ooh Ahh Point, we talked about turning back, but decided to continue to Ceder Ridge, and the view from there was even better, which made some of the climb back up to the top of the canyon worth it... maybe all of it, but I am too tired to remember.

The Grand Canyon is massive, so massive that it is impossible to say you visited even when you accomplish a difficult hike, like the one we did.  In the end, it was only three miles of walking, but it took us four hours to complete.  Samantha, like a trooper, hiked and hiked and hiked back up, slow and steady even through the times she thought were the worst. 

I loved every minute of our hike through this beautiful monument, the views and the great respect you have for the landscape and those creatures that inhabit it, but more than that, I am incredibly proud of Sam for completing such a difficult trail with great determination and an amazing strength of will. 

When we got back to the Visitor's Center, we each bought a trailhead pin for the South Kaibab Trail as a token badge of honor.  We also decided to go watch the twenty minute film on the Grand Canyon in order to take a short nap before heading back to the campsite.

Campfire and sleep are our rewards tonight.  Tomorrow, we're back on the road.  I'm sure Gilbert is elked out.

S'more... mmmmm

The Wake Up Call (Blog entry for 8/26/12)

****Apologies for the lateness of these blogs.  The Grand Canyon has no wifi.****

 The air was crisp and the wind was still, reminding me of the first day of school.  Conveniently across the street, an abandoned school building loomed, while the group of us silently surveyed the scene.  We weren’t alone, and goosebumps popped up over my arms. 

“I… can’t…”

The words barely fell out of my mouth, and my friends silently nodded to each other.  I was led to a tarp covering a pile of dirt, to be hidden away for safety.  It was then the creature emerged.  Dead, decomposing, but still hungry, still lurking… I was shoved under the tarp, blinded but not deaf to the sounds. 

As I listened to my friends battling against the undead, the hairs on the back of my neck flew up and a chill overcame me.  A hush loomed for a split second, as my senses sharpened and then I was aware of something smelling me, nuzzling me, trying to find out what was under the…

My eyes popped open.

I am in the tent.  It’s early in the morning… and…  My shoulder is shaking violently… like Mrs. Brisby was four times bigger and needed me to move, so she was burrowing behind….

“OH MY GOD….”

 I leapt up as far as the tent would allow.

“What happened?” Sam faintly and groggily mentioned in passing before trying to fall back asleep.

“I… think… something was trying to burrow into the tent.” 

 That woke her up.

“Huh?”

 “Something tried to burrow into the tent,” I repeated while using the now activated flashlight to randomly hit my sleeping bag in and around the place I may have been shaken by, what I have now decided to be, a prairie dog. 

 We stared at my empty sleeping bag for twenty minutes, until I was too cold and Sam too tired to care about something that probably found my shoulder too inconvenient to dig through anyway. 

 This was the start of Sunday morning at the Holbrook KOA located just west of the Petrified Forest where we were planning to hike later that morning.

Despite the extremely early five in the morning wake-up call from my little rodent friend, Sam and I woke up in pretty good spirits.  The day would be full of sightseeing and end at the Grand Canyon. 

Look, Ma! There'a a petrified log behind us!

Our first stop was the Petrified Forest where we walked through the stone trees, took a gander at some beautifully formed hills that looked like painted pyramids, saw the remains of a pueblo and their rock wall comics, walked along the rim of the painted desert, toured the old Fred Harvey Inn, and finally bought ourselves some petrified wood at the gift shop.  I wasn’t able to when I toured the national park before, because they ask you to declare any petrified wood in your vehicle before you enter and when you leave the park premises.  I guess I could’ve lied, but lying to a park ranger seems like a horrible thing to do.

Sam looking out at the Painted Desert.

We ended our quick tour and short hikes around 11AM and headed toward Flagstaff by way of 66.  The eastern half of Arizona has you hopping on and off the interstate, so that’s what we did. 

I desperately wanted to go see the Jackrabbit Trading Post, because I missed visiting it last time due to an hour detour thanks to getting lost after visiting Winslow, so Sam helped navigate the way.  When we got there, they were closed.  Devastated, I took a picture of the billboard and of Sam sitting on the giant rabbit in the parking lot.  It’s no awesome bunny t-shirt, but I GUESS it will have to do.

Jackrabbit Trading Post billboard

Sam on the rabbit in front of the trading post.

The corner in Winslow.

 After that, we made our way to Winslow to stand on the corner, and to check out an AMAZING restored Harvey House called La Posada.  As much as I love listening to “Take it Easy” (btw, thanks Beth), my favorite part of Winslow is this refurbished hotel. 



Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona... and such a fine sight to see?

The Harvey House hotels were an ingenious idea by one Fred Harvey.  He decided that the west needed a little more elegance, and he began building hotels that speckled the west.  They were located right off of the railroad tracks, either near or housing the local train station.  Here, travelers could immediately find provisions, a place to sleep, a place to eat, and all the other amenities of the east. 

La Posada

Many of the Harvey Houses are either in ruins or torn down.  Some have been saved as museums, and some like El Garces in Needles are in the middle of a restoration.  La Posada, however, is now in the hands of some very amazing people, and for the sake of time, you can read that story here. 

Needless to say, this was one of my favorite stops eastbound, and I absolutely had to share it with Sam going westbound. 

 After Winslow, we headed to Meteor Crater, one of the best examples of a large meteor crater in the world.  In all honesty… it looks like a big hole.  To pay $16.00 for limited access to a giant hole in the dirt seems a little ridiculous, but the idea behind the big hole… the spirit of education and wonder… is worth the price. 

So what you're saying is a meteor crater is behind us?  For realz?!

While taking a gander at this giant landmark from space, the sky became darker and blacker and more ominous.  This has been the way all of our days have been, and it wasn’t until that day I finally learned that Arizona has a monsoon season.  It lasts from July to August, and this piece of knowledge explained a lot of my weather troubles all month long.

The storm… or very slow moving scary clouds with very little rain… delayed us for about an hour, as I am unfamiliar with this Arizona weather phenomenon and erred on the side of safety by watching what the storm was going to do, before I decided to drive through it.  Eventually, it was moving too slowly for us to be delayed any longer, and we decided to continue on our journey with caution. 

 The rain was fairly light, and not so ominous.

We made it to Flagstaff by late afternoon, and stopped just long enough for me to grab a bottle of beer from a brewery I visited on my initial travels.  Sam made a passing comment about my beer obsession, which lead to a forty five minute lecture on the differences of beer, beer education, and beer history while we headed north to the South Rim. 

Arizona amazes me.  The varying landscapes it houses are all very beautiful, and always surprising.  One moment, you’re looking at a rocky desert, and the next, you’re watching for elk while driving through a pine forest.  The ride from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon is a trip through the mountains and elk ridden forests.  You briefly see the desert just long enough to be reminded of the arid climate the state is known for, and then you weave your way back to the pine trees until the earth opens up to the biggest canyon you have ever seen in your life. 

While driving to the campground, Sam noticed the view through a clearing in the woods and said, “… and here is the canyon.”

I glanced over, and my jaw dropped.  “Holy shit!”

She glanced back, having not actually looked at what she pointed out, and repeated me. 

Sometimes, its the really elegant phrases of the modern day vernacular that really capture a moment.

I don’t think either of us was prepared to see what we saw.  It was a grand canyon in every sense of the word:  size, beauty, and spectacle. 

Our campsite was beautiful… and (drumroll) we were finally able to build a fire for the evening, which we took advantage of by making roasted potatoes, pork chops, and s’mores while herds of elk moseyed through our site to graze. 

Ahhh… the Grand Canyon… glad to be here.

 

 

The Last Day of Traveling

Originally, on the night before, we planned to spend last night in Kingman or Needles. In fact Brianne wanted to make it to Needles but thought we wouldt'n be able to make it so we were prepared to stop in Kingman. In fact we arrived in Needles so early that we decided to go all the way back to LA.

Sam in Hackberry

We woke up that morning and got ready to go surprizingly quickly. We said our good byes to the Grand Canyon and got ourselves back to 66. Brianne and I worked on her Arizona 66 passport and got the rest of it stamped. We made many stops to complete it and passed though many samll towns. By the time we got to Kingman in the morning we realised we were going a lot quicker than we thought we would. We Passed through some beautiful desert mountains before hitting Oatman and petting the wild burros there.

Oatman, AZ

On the way to Needles, Brianne showed me one of her favorite places. A quite place in the middle of the desert where everything is completly quite and it looks exctly like the backdrop of some movie. It was nice and sort of funny when she told me to listen to the silence when at that exact moment a TV some one had thrown out there decided to crash further down the hill.

We made it to Needles by 1:30 and that's when we decided to make the drive all the way to L.A. We got slightly lost in Needles but found our way again and continued on. We made one last stop on the Mother Road to see the Bottle Tree or rather Trees. We met the owner of the property and the creater of all of the racks  that the bottles slide onto. He was as interesting as the cool bottle trees themselves which were all shapes, sizes and colors. We added our own bottles to the growing forest as thanks to the Mother Road and continued.

The Bottle Tree Ranch

Soon we got on the interstate and said farwell to the route. We pulled into LA during a brillant sunset and got some In'n'Out burgers. Tomorrow we plan to go to Santa Monica Pier to offically end the trip at the end of the route.

SMK

The Grand Canyon

Sunday night was a cold night and Brianne and I got little sleep. We woke up around eight and got our breakfast ready. We made scrambled eggs and had a pork chop from the night before. We decided on two trails, the very short rim walk at the visitor center and the hike that seemed to offer the best views and hiking, South Kaibab. On our way to the visitor center we got confused with the free bus routes and ended up on the other end of the park before we made our way to the right place.

The small walkway at the visitor center was our first real look at the canyon. This is an ovbious statement but it is HUGE. All the pictures I have seen of it never made it seem as massive as it is. You can't even see the river at most points. The size makes you feel so tiny and the beautiful colors of the rocks is just amazing. We went a liitle way down the trail before turning back to the visitor center to take a bus to the South Kaibab trailhead.

We had already planned only to take half of the trail before turning back and going back and thunder heads were already threatening on the horizion. We started down into the canyon. Looking out over the huge rift makes you seem small enough but once you decend into the canyon and keep going father and father down to where the walls are towering over you and you know that you aren't even a quarter the way down yet makes you feel like a flea. I was beautiful and scary going down the path into the canyon. There is nothing between you and a massive drop. A drop that still won't even take you all the way to the bottom.

The way down was pretty easy hiking but we knew the way up would be exhusting. It wasn't very long before we reached the first point of intrest, Oh Ah Point. We thought about turning around but we decided to go to where we had originally planned, Cedar Ridge. It was the same distance from Oh Ah point as Oh Ah Point was from the rim. By the time we got to it we were starting to get tired. We stayed there for a few minutes and ate some granola bars. After a few minutes looking out at the canyon that now towered above and stretched out below we started up the trail. It was very exhusting and I had a very hard time. To make it worse we had an incoming storm that was threatening us the whole way back and we barely missed it as it openned up when we returned to the visitor center. When we did finally get back to the visitor center we found out that the hike we took was a difficult one even if taken only to the halfway point.

We hung out at the center awhile to watch a little info movie on the canyon before getting some groceries and returning to camp. We hung out at the campsite the rest of the day, reading, getting in the car as it rained, avoiding the elk as they grazed though our campsite, and cooking our food.

The Grand Canyon was a lot of fun if exhusting and I enjoyed finally seeing the beautiful rift open up before me.

SMK

Wolves

Since kindergarden I have loved wolves. They are still my favorite animals. Unfortunately I have never been able to see any with my own eyes. Every time I try to see some I can't for whatever reason. When I wanted to see them at the zoo the exhibit was closed for reconstruction. When I tried to see some earlier on this trip you needed reservations a week in advance to see them.

Waiting out storms.

Today Brianne surprised me by telling me where she planned to take me today. A wolf sanctuary for wolves and wolf hybrids that were previously being breed for pets (bad idea by the way) and having been rescued can not return to the wild. Its called Wild Spirits Wolf Sanctuary. It was two hours out of the way but Brianne took me there anyway and even drove through a storm to get there.

Once we got there we took the tour and we got to see many wolves and wolf-dog hybrids. They were beautiful. There were timber wolves and Arctic wolves and even a fox and some New Guinea singing dogs. It was so wonderful to finally see them with my own eyes and I even got within two feet of some of them. They have a volunteer program and Brianne pointed out that maybe I could help during the summers when I am in college.

 

 

When we left for the next town Brianne really wanted to stay in the Wigwam hotel. In fact she had been looking forward to it her entire trip. Because she took me to see the wolves we weren't able to call in time to get a reservation and the hotel filled up too fast. I love you so much Brianne. Thank you for taking me to see the wolves even though it meant you couldn't stay in the tepees.

SMK

Santa Fe

Yesterday was a great day. We got to explore the beautiful city of Santa Fe. After some initial problems with finding a hotel and my unfortunate...um...problem, we were able to walk up and down the beautiful streets and take many great photos of the pretty adobe architecture. Every single building in the city is done in this style. I only saw three or four exceptions. We visited the art museum here and we saw many great pieces including some Georgia O'Keeffe's. Brianne was kind enough to tell me exactly what the famous painter always put in her works. Needless to say I will never look at a Georgia O'Keeffe the same way again.We also got to see an antique car show that was going on in the square as well as a concert with some flamenco dancers.

Santa Fe is such a beautiful city and I hope that I can return some day.

SMK

Red or Green

The only state with an official question is New Mexico.  What question would that be?  Let me enlighten you. 

Red or green sauce?

Went with red sauce today.

It refers to a question commonly heard in restaurants, at food carts, and in homes all over the state.  Essentially, how hot and what kind of hot do you want your food?  Tonight, I answered red... a week and a half ago, I answered green.  You have to love a state that is so proud of their cuisine, that they created a state question associated with it.

When I was in Albuquerque, most of the town was shut down.  It was Sunday, and I was staying near the historic district.  My gut told me that beer was calling.... somewhere in town was a bar with some craft with my name on it, and I was going to find it. 

Downtown Santa Fe.

While journeying towards Marble Brewery, I found myself cruising through downtown Albuquerque in the middle of a cruise night.  Old cars were driving a loop, others were parked on the side of the street with their hoods up... a whole vintage car culture emerged animating the city streets and I was inadvertently in the midst of it. 

Leaving the main drag behind me, I rolled up to Marble Brewing Company to find a party.  Outside, they were throwing a benefit with a live band and some stand up.  Inside was fairly quiet and I found my way to the end of the bar in a open seat.  Eventually conversations begin, like they tend to do in bars like these.  I was told I must go to Santa Fe, to even think of bypassing it would be a slight on the entire state, because... as a writer and lover of art... I would appreciate the beauty that was Santa Fe.

I hadn't thought to spend any real time in the Santa Fe, but when I got there... no pictures could describe the beauty I saw, and no words could appropriately describe the feeling you get when you wander through the dated streets.  New meets old meets older here, and there is mystery to the history, and a majesty to ... well, I can't think of a rhyme, but...

It has been said of the New Mexico sky, that no painter has ever felt like they truly captured the blue you see in the New Mexican sky.  There's no truer statement to be said about Santa Fe's sky, or the entire state of New Mexico for that matter, about it's sky or the wondrous landscape filled with the bold colors of the southwest and the sharp contrasts of a hot southern sun. 



Cruise night in Santa Fe.



Here too, is a sense of vehicular pride, and while my first trip was filled with art and history, my return trip was about timelines merging: vintage cars, traditional dances, old cobblestone streets, tourists and locals joining together to celebrate what is and once was.  Rain and shine, it was a party, and I feel fortunate to have seen it and shared it with Sam.  

Back in my festive Albuquerque bar, I was also told that New Mexico is, in a sense, still an undiscovered frontier... a land with its own rules and laws and customs still foreign to those outside it's borders.  On a night like tonight, it is hard to believe, but when you walk out far enough... to where the noises of the city disappear and signs of civilization are scarce... when you stand alone to find yourself sandwiched between a big vast turquoise sky and the rough and ragged sage brush spotted red mesas, that idea all falls into place. 

Like many, many artists before me, I'm in love with Santa Fe.  Hell, I may just be in love with New Mexico.

And now, thanks to me, my sister is, too.

There are worse things in life. :)

B.

Music listened to:

Daniels Mix which, I cringe to admit, was rather super fresh.

Mr. Jlsh's Disc #1 which was great for some country driving

Greg's disc... one?  I think?  Not sure, Sam picked it out.  We're still listening to it, but it was a nice soundtrack for our drive into the downtown area. :)

Rain, Rain Go Away

... until we leave, and then give these people some water.. stat!

On my way East, I was fleeing from heavy storms, at some points I was flying down Route 66 trying to find a decent motel to escape the treat of severe storms, black skies, the possibility of quarter sized hail and a call to arms for spotters all over varying regions.  Now, as we travel westward, we are meeting the rain head on. 

On Wednesday, we made it to Elk City, OK, which was our end of day point.  We made it through Kansas and most of Oklahoma, stopping along the way to see various sights.  But the end of our day met with heavy wind and a 20% chance of rain.  Normally, a 20% chance of storms doesn't bother me, but I had met with that forecast before, and it was not pretty. 

Sam and I sat in the KOA parking lot weighing our options, and it was decided that instead of tent camping, we'd try out one of their Kabins.  It gave us a nice break, though we were disappointed that we couldn't stay in the tent again. I think it was for the best, as Sam seems to not enjoy the plethora of crickets and grasshoppers we've been meeting on our journey.  I DID try to point out that many of them landed on the grill of my car, but it didn't help quell any worries over the ones that did not meet Gilbert the destructor.



Marco, my scorpian friend who lives on my dash.

 Thursday, it was decided, that we would kind of rush through Texas.  Sam wasn't feeling too well, and 66 basically runs right next to the freeway, so there isn't an alternate view... just the same view, but slower.  This had been part of my return plan anyway, so it wasn't a wild deviation from what we'd decided to do.  It also gives us time to take a couple days in New Mexico.

Sam covered our Thursday adventure.  Cadillac Ranch, the Groom cross, Midpoint Cafe, National Route 66 Museum....  Though, in reflection, we didn't see a whole lot (not that there's a lot to see), the day was exhausting.  High winds over the Texas Panhandle forced me to fight with my car constantly... rolls of dust swept across fields and through towns, and every time we got out of the car to see anything interesting, we left with dust in our mouths, and in varying crannies. 

Needless to say, we welcomed the motel in Tucumcari, if only to shower without the threat of cricket invasion.  I've now stayed at the Route 66 Motel in Tucumcari twice, and I highly recommend it.  The price is just right, it's a clean room, kept in a retro theme and the owners are really nice. 

Heavy storms prevented me from showing Sam the gorgeous neon still preserved in the town, and by nightfall, I could barely keep my eyes open.  I woke up this morning disappointed in my need of sleep, but what can you do?

Today it's on to Santa Fe, and perhaps a quick hike to see some pueblo ruins.  Keep your fingers crossed that there won't be too much rain during our travels, as we're heading into flash flood country, and it could prevent us from actually following some of the most gorgeous pieces of Route 66 still intact. 

Cadillac Ranch

We haven't been taking music notes (sorry, everyone!!!! concentrating on driving safety) But we listened to the following:

Erin's mix
JD's mix - Sam loved the Dr. Who theme..
Gabe's mix
Beth's Texas portion of her compendium
Beth's girls mix

We enjoyed all of them.  Gabe, it was a good cd to listen to after a very big steak lunch.  Erin, you took me back and made me laugh. Beth... you are awesome.

Thanks everyone for all the music... so far it's all been great.  We're having a lot of fun listening to all the differences in mixes... surprisingly, there are a whole lot of repeats. 

Til Next time... keep fingers crossed that I can post pics next time.  Wireless here is weak, and won't let me upload.  Might have to put pictures in all of these post trip.

-B-

State of Mind

So today we decided to skip out showers in light of the fact that the KOA bathroom was filled with crickets. And I mean filled. One jumped out of the sink drain at me.

Decided to escape the rain in a KOA Kabin.

We left behind the KOA to visit the national route 66 museum in Elk City. It was an entire complex of museums and was quite intresting. I bought some Oklahoma dirt (I love the red soil) and Brianne added to her postcard collection.

Soooo windy.

We crossed over into the panhandle of Texas and soon the landscape changed into flat desert  with canyons and mesas. We drove over to Groom and got pictures of the leaning water tower there and also the giant cross. The cross is 190ft tall and it's in the middle of nowhere. Great job guys that money could have gone to food for starving children. Instead you build a ridiculously sized crucifix in the middle of nowhere.

Further on we visited bug ranch, a parady of Caddilac Ranch only with VW Bugs. Then we visted Texas steak house and had some great steak and ribs. Just after that we visited the actual Cadillac Ranch and  I spray painted my art symbol on one of the cars.

Bug Ranch

Cadillac Ranch. Sam's adding to the art.

Leaving our mark

Finally we visted the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian and had some pie. I had some apple pie and Brianne had some chocolate cream pie. We almost got there too later but the people there were very nice and let us have some pie right before they closed.

We're halfway there!!!

We had lots of fun despite the constant threat of rain and look forward to tomorrow. We're already halfway through!

SMK

Touring the Country

So today we woke up, packed up our tent and started out for the road once again. We said farewell to Missouri and entered the tiny corner of Kansas that 66 bites into. We visited Galena and took some pictures for the tow truck that inspired Mater in Cars. We also took a ridiculously small detour to see a beautiful bridge.

Mater from cars in Galena, KS

We waved to Kansas as we finished your short stint in the state.Oklahoma had several interesting things to offer the 66er. Brianne took her picture by the Chelsea Motel. Then we hopped over to Catoosa and saw the big blue whale there. We took our lunch in Tulsa. Brianne found an awesome BBQ place, Wilson's BBQ. The BBQ was awesome. We checked out the shoe tree but only found some newer imitations that just weren't as impressive.

The Blue Whale in Catoosa

POPS! Suck it soda people.





We continued on to the Rock Cafe the owner of which was the inspiration of Sally in Cars. We traveled on and tried to visit the gallery of the artist that created the guide book we used but it was closed. We pulled into Arcadia to visit Pops. They have hundreds of different soda and you can create a float out of any of them. I had a cream soda float ad my sister had a cherry soda float.

Our last part of the journey today took us over a large pony (trusses) bridge and the most beautiful stretch of 66 I have experience yet. It curved and rose beautifully with the landscape. Even with the draught parched land on both sides it was beautiful.