Archive for the ‘Road Trip 2008’ Category

Today is a driving day. We have about 9 hours of road to cover and no plans to stop and see anything. we started the morning with dense fog that stuck around for the first two hours of travel. When the fog finally lifted we decided it was there to keep us from getting bored with the scenery, very flat, scattered shrubs and a lot of dirt. The closer we got into Albuquerque the more interesting the scenery became. By the time we actually got into the city it was breath taking. Watching the scenery change reminded us why we prefer road trips over flying.

We got into Albuquerque and made a quick stop off at  Target to pick up the few items we left behind in our rush to get out the door. We continued on and stopped for lunch at Denny’s in Bernalillo NM. All I can say is I am happy I don’t work there for many reasons! We happened to be there on a bad day for the staff. One waitress had ticked off another one and they were all standing around at the counter not 10 feet from where we were gossiping and complaining. We still have no idea who our server was meant to be. We sat and watched as our order was sitting on the counter ready to be delivered to us for five minutes before I got up and asked a waitress to bring it over. The manager came over later and apologized and said our meal was taken care of. There really is a such thing as a free lunch! We weren’t even complaining, we were actually finding the gossiping waitresses humorous.

The day was sunny and beautiful and after we ate lunch we decided to drop the top for our journey into Farmington.It was a fairly quick trip and the scenery ranged from desert to towering mountains. I took tons of photo’s out the side window and the front windshield as we were flying along Highway 550 and surprisingly they turned out pretty good.

When we arrived in Farmington we went straight to the hotel, checked in and hit the bar for a well deserved drink. We’ve been dieting and hadn’t had alcohol for over a month, that’s a new record for us. After we had a drink we tried putting the Raingear on the Jeep for the first time which lead to us once again putting on a comedic performance for those passing by. I love the rain gear, hate the long straps and really wish it had come with directions.

We wanted to continue drinking so we went out for a walk and by dumb luck came across a Mexican place with outdoor seating and a live band. The band was what we call "special", they didn’t really seem to know what they were and didn’t know many songs. They started out with gospel and then switched to blues and played one song three times and another one twice. Despite it all we sat there and polished off two bottles of a local champagne and enjoyed listening to them. The Bass player was playing the exact same Peavey Millennium 4 Tiger eye that I have, wish mine sounded that good! The drummer has an excellent blues voice and was fun to listen to.

A foggy start to the day

The open road

Typical scenery for the afternoon

Shane and I had been planning a trip to Las Vegas for some time. After we bought the Jeep we decided it was time for one of our great road trips. All our friends thought we were crazy and some even said we were insane for driving that far. At our daughters birthday party one of our neighbours asked why we weren’t taking the Yukon "wouldn’t it be more comfortable". Sure it would be more comfortable, we would get to Las Vegas faster but it wouldn’t be near as much fun.

Despite the call for thunderstorms the day we were leaving it turned out to be an amazing day. The sun was shining and there were a few scattered clouds. We were able to start our week of freedom with the top down and fully enjoying the feel of freedom. We were welcomed to Tulsa Oklahoma with a very large electronic sign with information for Hurricane Ike evacuees. We did not take that as the best sign seeing that we were heading to Texas. The beautiful weather continued past Oklahoma City then the clouds started moving in. We drove for a long time under clouds with it not looking like it was going to rain. Then the clouds opened up and the downpour started. Barreling down the highway at 70 with the shade top on we were not even feeling rain drops. We made a mad dash to the next exit with the hopes that we would find a hotel, bank or something with a covered area so we could put the top up. At the bottom of the exit we took there was a perfectly placed abandoned gas station, what luck! Of course that luck was short lived when the light turned red and we had to sit through a traffic light. When the Jeep stopped we got soaked!

We finally made it under the wonderful shelter the old abandoned servo provided and proceed to make putting the top up a comedy for anyone watching. We have been doing this for five years, have it down to a fine art and together normally complete this task in under five minutes. It took us over 25 minutes this time, anyone watching would have assumed we were two idiots who rented a jeep with no clue how to put the top up. Everything that could have gone wrong did.

After we put the top up we got back on I-40 and kept heading towards Amarillo. The goal was to make it to somewhere near the Texas state line. We were feeling good so we continued on and finally stopped at Amarillo. for the night. We turned on CNN when we got in the room to see that Ike was almost ready to make his attack on Galveston.

Typical scenery in Oklahoma, lush green and not very exciting

Shane under the best placed abandoned servo we’ll ever find

The route is set, hotels are booked and two weeks from now Shane and I will be in our red Jeep heading west to Vegas. We are making a detour along the way to drive part of the Trail of the Ancients, then we’re going to spend a day at Monument Valley, one night in Page and then on to Vegas! We’re staying a couple of nights at New York New York in a spa suite then our final night will be spent the other end of the strip in Circus Circus. I’m really looking forward to seeing New York New York. The last time I was in Vegas was mid 90′s and NY NY was still in the process of being built, we had a great view of the construction from our room at Excalibur.

I finally broke down and ordered Rain Gear for the Jeep this week and we’re expecting it any day now. I also ordered the new software for my Magellan Crossover GPS and that arrived today. So far so good, everything is falling into place and we are ready to go.

The plans for our September road trip are finally being mapped out. We are taking a kid vacation from Arkansas to Las Vegas via Monument Valley. Does anyone live around or know anything about Kayenta, Arizona? We were hoping to stay a night there but all the hotels and campgrounds are already booked. The only option I can find is to stay about 75 miles away in Tuba City or to Head up to Mexican Hat in Utah. I just found a TP we can stay in, that sounds pretty cool.

Anyway, the road trip is all about the open road, my wonderful husband and I and of course the Jeep. We’re going to take the rear seat out to give us plenty of room but we’re trying to find a good way to keep the laptops, camera equipment and personal items secure when we leave the Jeep to do touristy things. I’ve been looking at the Bestop Extendatrunk but am not sure it is worth nearly $300 for something that is going to spend most of its time in the garage. There don’t seem to be many options out there, certainly not any cheap ones.

I’m really starting to get excited about the trip and mapping it out and finding campgrounds/hotels is making it much more real.