Back in late 2005, I was over at Marion's (a friend of mine from my old church) one night - I forget why - oh yeah, she had asked me over to tell me she was going to set me up with a date at some point (which turned out less than stellar, but that's a story for another time). Anyway, we got to talking about places we've been. Marion used to live out in West Texas, and she mentioned Carlsbad Caverns was a cool place to go. I thought it would be as well, but I don't like to take trips by myself. Well, her son Colby (the one who shadows me much of the time, lol) chimed in - "Beej, you and I could go over Spring Break!" My first thought was.....uhh no. But we talked it over, and it started sounding like fun.
Anyway, Shelton, Colby's older brother (who is old enough to drive, muy importante!) also wanted to go, and so he got added to the passenger list. As the weeks went on, we kept adding new destinations: the Davis Mountains, Palo Duro Canyon, Ship Rock, Roswell. At the Superbowl Party over at Dennis', Robert overheard our plans. By that time we were thinking of going as far west as the Four Corners. Robert told us that as long as we were going that far, we might as well go to the Grand Canyon. Suddenly, lights went off in my mind -- visiting the Grand Canyon is one of the items on my List Of Things To Do Someday. Going on the Price Is Right is another, btw. Anyhoo, everything gelled at that moment - a grand journey it would be!
So we began all the planning and stuff for the trip. Colby and I had been going to Bingo on Thursday evenings since January, and we put all our considerable winnings toward the trip (it was probably close to $1000 or so, minus the cost of playing). Colby would think of things we would need on the trip, and we'd go shopping at WalMart on the weekends when they were on sale.
Finally, the big day was here. I took off early from work that Friday, drove out to Marion's, loaded up all their gear and whatnot, and we finally left around 4:30 PM or so. Driving along US 82, we stopped for this pic (looking back east) and a stretch break.
We continued on, through Wichita Falls (where we ate at the historic Carl's Jr, the same CJ I ate at on the band ski trip to Colorado many moons ago) all the way to Amarillo. Along the way, we listened to Johnny Cash - not much else at all. Actually it was Johnny Cash and music from Walk The Line, too. However, at one point (and I have it on video for proof), someone started playing My Humps (ugh, I can't stand that song) and we did the singalong music video thing. Funny to watch myself, horrible to think of someone else watching it.
We made Amarillo that night, found a cheap hotel (Econolodge, I think), and stayed up singing along with Shelton playing his guitar. He and I do a pretty good I Walk The Line, complete with harmony, ha ha.
Somewhat early the next morning (Saturday 3/11) we head out again. Just outside Amarillo, right off I-40, is the Cadillac Ranch.
(Shelton walks in front of the Cadillacs, while Colby is perched on top)
The story behind this (or so the legends go) is that Stanley Marsh was getting a divorce. Being a rich man, he had a collection of Cadillacs his soon to be ex wife had her eye on. To keep her from getting them, he had them buried like so, and turned it into a roadside attraction. You're even expected to bring spraypaint and graffiti the cars! We didn't have any, but fortunately other people let us borrow a can.
We left the Cadillac Ranch and headed for New Mexico. At the border, there was an interesting sign at the Visitor Center.
Watch for snakes???
Leaving the Visitors Center (where we loaded up on plenty of free maps and such) we continued along I-40 through Albuquerque, then northwest towards Farmington, where Shelton was born. We spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express, by far the nicest place we stayed at the whole trip.
From Farmington, we set out the next morning for Ship Rock.
It's very isolated, well off the beaten path, and we finally made it. As I parked the car, we noticed the car rocking back and forth - the wind was so strong, it felt like it would lift off the ground and fly (or roll over, ouch!). We got out and immediately discovered what wind chill really means. Oh man it was cold and GUSTING!!
Anyway, here is Ship Rock - I had to literally brace myself against the car to take this shot, what with the hurricane force winds (well, maybe I exaggerate, but they sure were strong!)
And here is a scene looking to the left of the previous photo - you can kinda spot Shelton on the right, center.
After quickly returning to the vehicle and turning the butt warmers to full power (i.e., heated seats, but Colby calls them butt warmers, which is a fitting description too), we got out of there, since we were on private property (see the fence above - we went inside it). Set course for Colorado!
The plan was to get a room in Cortez, CO, then go to Mesa Verde and spend the day there seeing the old indian ruins. Nature had something else in mind. The moment we crossed into Colorado from New Mexico, a snowstorm appeared out of nowhere. Apparently, CO had already gotten LOTS of snow. Anyway, as we travelled down the highway, the snow got so bad I had to pull over at this little trading post.
You know the winter storm is bad when the icicles are horizontal. Yikes!! Anyway, it was fortuitous that we stopped there - this was the only place we found pinion nuts for Dale.
After leaving the trading post, we drove on to Cortez and found a nice (!) place called the Aneth Lodge. From there we went straight for Mesa Verde. You drive up this mountain highway, fairly steep for this Texas boy, lol, and then we saw this sign:
Not good. It turns out they were shutting the park down for the day - too much snow or something, the ranger lady told us. So scrap Mesa Verde - we went back to the motel room for a bit (meaning nap time for some of us, ha ha), then went to dinner at a little italian place which had the best italian food I have ever eaten - and our waitress was a double for Dicie Rue - I mean they could be sisters at least, if not identical twins!! But she was nice, so they aren't identical (rimshot!) Seriously, though, we've talked about a quickie weekend trip back to Cortez to see Mesa Verde AND to get some more of that italian food, if we can find the place again! Anyway, after dinner, we went back to the motel room and spent the rest of the evening playing poker, listening to Shelton play Johhny Cash on his guitar, and having a good time. The police showed up around 1 AM - something was going on at another room. Never did get a good look at what was happening, but it was exciting - like watching COPS but live!
We left Cortez the next day and headed for the Grand Canyon. We saw some interesting rock formations, such as this one:
Along the way, we stopped at the Four Corners national park (actually I believe its on Navajo land or something like that)
I wasn't too impressed witht the monument itself - yeah yeah, stand in four states at once, I get it. And it didn't take long for the "Hang on a sec, I have to head over to Utah for a bit" jokes to wear thin. Very thin. But the best part of the F.C. is the scenery - here's a sample:
From there we set out again for the Grand Canyon. We got a room in Flagstaff at the 'quaint' motel called the Wonderland.
I need to post the video I have from the Wonderland - too funny to even describe here. That will be my next project, lol
Anyway, the next day, we set out for the Grand Canyon.
Look carefully - you can see the snowball someone (Colby) threw into the Grand Canyon.
Words and pictures can hardly describe the scenery - so I won't really try.
After leaving the canyon, we stopped at Sunset Crater, and also Meteor Crater.
Along the way, we stopped at a trading post with a giant jackrabbit:
We had many many more adventures and funny and just plain weird stuff - too much to go into detail here. You'll just have to watch the videos when I get them posted to Google or Youtube at some point.
The plan for next year is either New York City or Canada - Canda will be cheaper but New York is New York - much cooler, imho. We'll just have to see how it goes!
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