Summer Roadtrip Day 1: Phoenix to Tucumcari NM

The car's all packed, we are gassing up, and are ready to go.

Getting into the pine trees outside of Payson.

We intended to go directly to Holbrook from Payson but rerouted to Winslow to avoid an accident and construction delays. We saw a brewery advertised in Winslow, so that made the decision easier, since we would be there for lunch 

Unfortunatly, this was only a taphouse and they didn't brew any of their own beers.

Just down the alley from the restaurant, I saw these murals.

Just past Holbrook we stopped at a "trading post" to see the world's largest kachina. It was defunct and missing its face, so we didn't bother with a picture of that. We did get these pictures while in the area:

Around Gallup NM, the car started rattling and shaking, so we pulled over to check the tires. We saw these wild horses in the area by the gas station.

On the way towards Albuquerque, the check tires warning came on, we checked the tires, they looked "ok" and we headed onward. Then it happens about 30 miles later. We added a quick stop at Discount Tire, arriving less than 10 minutes before closing.

Three new tires later, and we were back on the road.

We arrived in Tucumcari around 10 pm, and we were tired, so I didn't take pictures of neon signs in town like I planned to do. Here's a picture of part of our room at the Roadrunner Lodge.

Summer Roadtrip Day 2: Tucumcari NM to Lincoln NE

This morning we got an early start and began our drive to Nebraska

We pulled over to see the Texas Sheriff man near Dalhart TX.

From there, we passed into OK,

where we saw the first of many oil derricks.

We stopped briefly in Hooker OK for a stretch break and to get a few snacks/water, and then we were back on the road. 

Shortly after entering Liberal KS, we had an unexpected traffic stop/delay. 

It felt like the big bear was laughing at us as we patiently waited for the police officer to finish his work.

Our next stop was to visit Dorothy's Oz house.

From there, we drove to Dodge City to see La Salsa man.

He was just down the street from the brewery where we planned to have lunch. The brewery was closed so we had lunch at the Cowboy Capital, in a historic building.

After lunch, we drove to see the world's largest Czech Egg in Wilson KS.

The town also has smaller Czech eggs by various businesses and attractions, and had a selfie mural.

The next stop was to see the World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City KS.

We also checked out a few things across the road.

Steve spent a lot of time talking to the owner of the ice cream shop across the road, so we were running slightly behind schedule.

After what was supposed to be a quick stop for dinner in Strang NE (it was not quick), we decided to skip seeing the largest uncovered porch swing and drove to Lincoln NE, to spend the night.

Summer Roadtrip Day 12: Cheyenne WY to Pojoaque NM

Because our hotel rate didn't include breakfast, and we were a bit hungry from skipping dinner, we bought some gas station burritos as we left Cheyenne early this morning.

It was a little bit cold and windy as we followed the interstate to Denver.

Once we got to Denver we decided to take the more scenic route, Highway 285. The views along this route were breathtaking and we really enjoyed the drive.

We mostly drove and only stopped at a few places, other than for stretch breaks or gas. Our first fun stop was at the South Park sign for photos in Fairplay Colorado.

We then drove to the UFO Watchtower near Hooper CO. When we arrived, we just weren't feeling it, so skipped the visit and continued our drive.

We stopped at the San  Luis Valley Brewing Co in Alamosa for lunch and a much needed break.

As we were driving through Antonito CO, a shiny house caught my eye, so we needed to take a detour off the main highway to check it out 

We later learned that this is Cano's Castle.

After leaving Colorado and entering New Mexico we headed towards Taos, NM. As we got closer to Taos we drove past a community of Earthships (buried houses).

We took a break from driving and stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. 

The view was absolutely breathtaking.

We mainly just drove through Taos and didn't spend any time other than to take a short stretch break and bathroom break and then we were on our way to Santa Fe.

As we drove towards Santa Fe, we entered the Rio Grande gorge and drove along the river.

We were really enjoying the drive and looking forward to visiting Santa Fe, before spending the night in Albuquerque.

Unfortunately, we got about 20 miles outside of Santa Fe (in Pojoaque) and then the transmission of the car went out.

Steve limped the car along the highway until we got to an AutoZone, which turns out that it's brand new and hasn't yet opened yet, so we then limped the car across the highway to a gas station where he was able to add some transmission fluid and further troubleshoot.

Unfortunately, the car was essentially rendered undrivable for any distance and all auto shops in the area were already closed for the day.

Steve made friends with a lot of people in the parking lot who offered help by lending tools, sharing some wire, and one man (thanks Fernando!!) even hooked up a tow strap to the back of his truck and towed us to the hotel where we spent the night. (Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder Casino).

By the time we got to our room and settled in it was after 10:00 and all of the casino restaurants were closed except for the deli, so we split a cold turkey sandwich for dinner.

Summer Roadtrip Day 13: Return home

This morning Steve got up early to further inspect the car while we were waiting for transmission shops to open. The hope was to be able to find a shop that could do the work as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

We ultimately decided it made more financial sense to rent a U-Haul and towing dolly and tow it home ourselves, tmrather than spending 3+ more nights in the area 

We took an Uber into Santa Fe, picked up the truck and trailer, and left Pojoaque shortly after noon.

We took the interstate through the outskirts of Santa Fe and then also through Albuquerque (so we didn't really get to visit either), since our goal for today was just to make it home, and night sightsee.

As we drove through Albuquerque, we were hit with a deluge of rain!

Once we were outside of Albuquerque, we stopped at a gas station for a late breakfast/lunch. These burritos were not as easy on the stomach as those in Cheyenne!!!

We drove in and out of rain for most of the way through NM, with a dark cloud seeming to stay over us.

We were happy to enter AZ and return to sunny weather.

We were about 100 miles from home and I needed a bathroom break (thanks to the gas station burritos!!).

When Steve tried to start the van (to keep the battery charged while the hazard lights were on for towing) he discoved the van's battery was completely dead. Then he urgently needed the bathroom, so locked the U-Haul and ran inside.

After returning to the U-Haul, I asked him to open my door. He started looking for the keys when I spotted them inside the truck

One locksmith later....

And one stop to install a new battery in my minivan...

We finally arrived home around 10:30 pm (and to a very happy dog!) 🐕 

New Mexico (Oct 13-16, 2016)

The twins had fall break so we decided to take a quick road trip to New Mexico a few days before my knee replacement surgery. 

On the way there, I made us stop near Dragoon, AZ to visit The Thing, roadside attraction. It provided a great stretch break. We then had a delicious BBQ lunch in an old train dining car in Willcox, AZ.

Once we arrived in New Mexico, I got to see several roadside attractions including 3 "World's Largest...." !

We drove through Las Cruces, where I needed to stop to take a picture with the world's largest chili pepper. 

 

By early evening, we arrived in Cloudcroft, where we rented a cabin (with lots of moths!). 

The next morning, we hiked the Trestle trail.

The next day, we drove to Alamogordo and visited White Sands National Park, which contains the world's largest gypsum dunefield. We rented sauces and  went sledding down the dunes.

While we were in the area, we visited the PistachioLand  farm, where we tried lots of different flavors of pistachios and I was able to pose next to the world's largest pistachio.