Day Twenty Nine/Thirty

As said in the previous blog, we had to check out by midday, but then had to wait until 4pm to drop the car off. The airport was less than five miles away so we didn't need to travel anywhere. Also we had to drop the car back with no fuel, so we had run it right down.

This meant we had to kill four hours but couldn't really drive anywhere. To make matters worse, although it wasn't too hot, it was very sticky weather which meant standing outside was an issue. We obviously didn't want to get hot and sweaty before boarding the aeroplane.

So what to do?

Well, first of all we stayed in the room right up to the 12pm check out. Then we loaded the car and checked out. We strolled across the road to take some pictures of downtown San Diego's skyline.

Classy

Unfortunately this made us hot, which was not good. Our plan just to find somewhere to sit about for some time took a dent, so we had to rethink.

Plan was changed to find somewhere with air con to sit around, but not too far away.

Used the sat nav to find a Starbucks. Drove there, went in, bought drinks, realised it was the smallest Starbucks ever and that every seat was taken. Had to sit outside. Bugger. Got hot again. This wasn't going well.

Next we needed to get a couple of things from a supermarket, so found the nearest, drove there. Good news was it had plenty of space and air con. Even better was there was an even smaller Starbucks within it and no customers. Bought more drinks and sat down. Stayed there for a while. Went and looked in another shop, before deciding to leave.

Next we went to a Subway and had lunch, managed to make it last about an hour. By this time it was 3.30pm, so we then headed to the car rental drop off near the airport which took about ten minutes.

Had to leave the car. Final mileage was 4335. Said goodbye and caught the bus to the airport.

Baggage drop was opened at 4.45pm, we arrived at 4pm. More time to kill so we sat and drank everything we had left knowing we wouldn't be able to take it airside. Turns out we had a lot of fluid. I had to drink most of it. We also chatted to a couple from Hastings who were also waiting.

There is only one BA flight out of San Diego each day, so only two desks. It didn't take us long to get through and then through security.

Then we had another three and a half hours to kill. Managed to do so.

Got on plane, it was busy. Took off just a smidgeon late. Watched lots of films and TV. Didn't sleep, didn't feel like sleeping.

Soon enough, nine hours or so, we touched down at Heathrow. We used our new e-passports to breeze through passport control. Our bags came out early and then as we got to the Reading Rail Air Link stop, a coach pulled up. Got on, went straight to Reading.

More time to kill, an hour and a half. Went to Costa.

Then went to platform, got on train. It was the exact opposite of our train journey four weeks ago. Barely anyone in first class. Pretty much had the free refreshment cart to myself. Got back to Totnes a couple of minutes early. Mum and Dad picked us up and dropped us home.

Ate mash potato as usual.

Now writing this at 11.45pm. Have been up for 32 hours. Remarkably Ann is still awake. Not sure what she's been on this trip. Normally she is always asleep, this trip she's always been awake.

States visited this trip - 18

Total states visited - Ann 44, Richard 43

Total miles driven over three trips - 12,400

Day Twenty Eight

We only had one activity planned for today, so the only decision was what time to go. In the end we left at midday and arrived just before 1pm at http://www.sdzsafaripark.org/

First up, we needed to eat as we hadn't had breakfast. We went in the first café place we saw within the park and ended up sharing a burger and chips for brunch. The seating was outside and it was 102F, so we soon got quite warm. We had a safari booked at 5pm, so we decided to wander around the rest of the park before that. First up we saw this.

The Eye of the Tiger

Luckily there were lots of mist machines creating cooling areas as we got very hot walking just short distances. We made sure we drank a lot as we were sweating skips not buckets. It hit 108F/42C by late 4pm.

Next we happened upon a show which happens once a day. A cheetah running 100m in 5 seconds. Here it is.

We then headed up to see the gorillas. There were lots, this is one.

King Kong

 Saw this near it.


Simples

By now, we didn't have long until our safari trip, so we headed into the air con luxury of the gift shop. We cooled right down knowing we were going to be stuck out for sometime.

Then it was time to check in for the trip. We got in the caravan (Think jeep with a bigger open back) and away we went. It was a two hour trip amongst the animals in the open plain type area. Our host seemed to be Seth Rogen. He told us about the animals. He was thinner than I expected.

We saw lots of animals out and about and took a lot of photos and videos. Here are the highlights.

I nose you

 

Mrs Simba

Nellie

We also had the chance to feed giraffes and rhinos.

It was a fabulous afternoon with the highlight being feeding the giraffe. By the time our safari had finished it was 7pm and the park was closing.

We started the journey back to San Diego thinking what a great way to finish the holiday. We were hot, we were sweaty but it didn't matter.

We stopped at Denny's near the hotel for dinner. For once the service was good.

We then went to 7-11 to get some more drinks to replenish our fluid levels.

Now trying to work out what we will do tomorrow after we have checked out. Need to be at the airport at 4pm to return the car, but hotel check out is 12pm, so four hours to kill.

Giraffes fed - 1

Lion Watch - High

States Visited - 18

Day Twenty Seven

Had a really lazy morning. We headed out for brunch at about 12pm. Went here, http://www.pointbreakcafe.com/.

Food was ok, service was dreadful.

Next we headed to the beach, specifically the beach on Coronado Island. Mainly as Ann wanted to see the Hotel del Coronado.

Hotel

It was the setting for 'Some like it Hot' and it was hot. Very hot. And the sea was full of sting rays, so we didn't stay long. Lifeguards kept telling people to do the stingray shuffle in the water. Basically slide your foot, don't step to avoid treading on the stingrays.

The traffic was very heavy going and coming back, so it was 5pm by the time we got to the hotel. We cooled off for a while.

We then set off for an evening at http://www.belmontpark.com/

We ate pizza and had a look around. We saw a mini golf course, so we had to have a game.

Scores were:

Roffe - 53
Knightley - 51

Have to mention that Ann got two holes in one.

We then decided to get some ice cream. Whilst queuing we saw everyone else's and got worried. They were the biggest ice creams ever. I got the smallest possible cone and Ann got a bowl.

Look at the size of my hand!

It took 25 minutes, but I got there in the end. Ann never made it through her bowl. We then headed back home.

Now watching Wild Hogs and I happen to be in my Del Fuegos t-shirt I got in Madrid.

States Visited - 18

Day Twenty Six

First up, forgot to mention that we saw a roadrunner yesterday when we were driving. Meep meep.

Had breakfast in the hotel in Yuma. The quietest breakfast ever as the hotel seemed to be the Mary Celeste. Eventually some other people did turn up.

Headed back to the room to kill time as check out was 11am and we only had a three hour journey and check in was 4pm.

Spent time Skyping Ermington, before we packed up and left.

Saw Mexico. My phoned welcomed me to the country even though we didn't actually go there. Entered California. Drove up some small mountains and then back down the other side.

Arrived in San Diego at 2pm, so decided to see if we could check in early. We could, so we did http://www.halfmooninn.com/

Unfortunately our room isn't quite like the ones pictured. Our Tropical view is a wall. The room has no main light either and therefore is quite dark.

Went out for dinner here http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/corvettediner. It has a 50s vibe as in the décor, the music and the staff all are dressed up.

Happy days

It was slightly surreal. When the waitress, Tracy Turnblad, came to take our order she threw a load of straws at us. Later on they all started dancing.

We left and sat out by the waterfront watching planes take off from the airport, knowing it would be us on Monday.

Eventually we headed back to the dungeon.

States Visited - 18

Day Twenty Five

Grabbed some breakfast and took it back to our room to eat. Packed up and headed out. Fuelled up and started the journey south west to Yuma.

The only incident of note was the unfortunate death of a chipmunk which decided to run into our front tyre when we were travelling at 75 mph. I hoped that it had missed us but when I looked in the wing mirror, I saw the two halves of it flying through the air.

For lunch we stopped at a rest stop and ate a packed lunch we made using the leftovers from last night. Saw this.

Don't get this at Gordano or Taunton Deane

Arrived at the hotel in Yuma at about 4pm. The temperature was 113°F or 45°C. We sat in the room for a while. Skyped Paul and Helen.

We then went out for a swim. It hadn't cooled down at all. The water in the pool was boiling hot as well. Spent a fair time swimming before going back inside to air conditioning.

Hot tub

Headed out to Penny's diner for tea. I drank two milkshakes.

Yum

Felt like I was going to explode. Went back to the hotel to die. It was still 107°F/42°C at 9pm.

Last proper drive tomorrow ending at San Diego. It is cooler there.

States Visited - 17

Day Twenty Four

Before I start, here is the view from our room as promised.

Red Rock

Got up late. Missed breakfast at the hotel, although the reports are it isn't that great anyway. Instead we headed out for breakfast at the Red Planet Diner. It is a sci-fi themed place, hence the name.

It was out of this world

It looks like it is owned and run by men. It lacks that bit of finesse that having any woman involved in any capacity would bring. Food was ok, staff were pleasant enough.

We headed back and then went for a wander around Sedona. It became apparent very quicker that there are only two types of place here, restaurants or places selling tat. Not much else of any note. Lots of places offered psychic readings and the like. What a load of absolute bollocks. Really is a tourist trap.

After getting bored of looking at the same old bloody thing we went back to the hotel. We had decided to keep today as a low key day, so we went for a swim in the hotel's outdoor pool.

Cool Pool

It was lovely, the sun was out, the water was just the right temperature. We stayed out for quite a while, before retiring.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV as the sun had gone in. Went out later to get some food from the best Safeway in the world. Now watching some film in Japanese.

States Visited - 17

Day Twenty Three

Got up late and spent some time using the Jacuzzi in our room. There was no breakfast included with the room, so we eventually packed up, checked out and went for breakfast at Denny's. On the way we nipped to a street corner just down the road from the hotel where we saw this.

Taking it easy

This has been put in place by the city purely as a tourist destination. The song 'Take It Easy' by The Eagles has the line 'Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona', so they have finally decided to cash in. It is actually very good. The mural on the wall is all painted, there are no windows. You can see a reflection of the flat bed red truck being driven by a blonde that is also in the lyrics. The irony is that neither of the two men who wrote the song had ever been to Winslow.

Anyway we carried on to Denny's and as ever with the chain, the food was fine, the service was terribly slow.

We fuelled up and then headed east for a change. We drove towards a massive thunderstorm which happened to be hanging around our destination.

We ended up at the Petrified Forest National Park.

http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

To describe it in a quick and simple fashion, millions of years ago trees fell down, got covered with water enriched with volcanic minerals, they gradually replaced the cells of the trees, leaving tree shaped coloured rock. You drive through the park and can stop at points to see things.

A big log...er....rock

It is quite fascinating to see all the colours of rock trapped in tree shapes. There are other things to see as well. Petroglyphs (Rock carvings) and ruins from 600-800 years ago as well as the painted desert.

Say what you see

We left the forest and headed back west, past Winslow and then stopped off again. This time we stopped to see another famous site, Meteor Crater. Formed about 50,000 years ago by an estimated 150 metre wide meteorite the crater is 3/4 mile wide and 550 feet deep. We watched a film and looked at the museum before heading out to see the crater itself.

Big hole

There were lots of annoying French people there. They seemed to follow us about. Got annoying. We stayed for a good while before setting off towards the next hotel.

Our journey along I40 took us past another thing we wanted to see, the iconic Twin Arrows Trading Post. It is situated on Route 66 and was a major attraction back in the day, but when the Interstate took over it gradually lost business. It has been abandoned since the late 1990s and the arrows had all but disappeared, but in 2009 they were replaced. It is another Forrest Gump tick for us, as it was used as a location during the running scenes, specifically the one where he wipes his face on the yellow t-shirt.

Run, Forrest, Run

We carried on west, passing our old friend, Flagstaff, before dropping south towards our target of Sedona. I'm not sure what I expected to see on the route but it certainly wasn't the steep drop down in between cliffs that eventually took us to the town. There were hairpin bends and everything.

Rocky Road

Eventually we made it to our destination http://www.orchardsinn.com/ in Sedona. It was dark by the time we arrived, so tomorrow I will include a photo of the view from our room. Sedona seems a very pleasant, picturesque town. Ann tells me it is a very expensive place.

Ate the final remains of food from our stay at Pagosa for tea, cheese rolls, crisps and cookies. Waste not, want not as they say.

Now watching more films as I type this. Tonight it has been Armageddon and The Dark Knight.

Not sure what we will do tomorrow, but there are plenty of options.

Hole Watch - Large

Arrows seen - 2

States Visited - 17

Day Twenty Two

Had to say goodbye to the perfect cabin this morning, which wasn't easy. We could have easily stayed for another couple of years.

As if to say thank you, a couple of deer turned up to wave us off.

Oh dear, Oh dear

We headed back down to the town to fuel up and then we set off. It seemed to take an age to cover the first sixty or so miles due to traffic and road works, but eventually we started moving.

We travelled all the way to the edge of Colorado, in fact the edge of New Mexico, the edge of Utah and the edge of Arizona as well.

It was the Four Corners monument where the four states all convene. There is nothing there other than the monument and a few stalls selling tat. We stopped and had a look.

Monumental

We then sat in the car and ate our packed lunch we had prepared with our leftovers from the cabin.

We soon set sail again and only stopped once more very briefly before we reached our destination.

That stop was to use the facilities at a Burger King in Chinle. The plan was to walk in, use the toilets and walk out again as we didn't want to buy anything. As we parked up, Ann noticed some suspicious characters lurking about not far from the car park, for example, someone lying asleep in a doorway but also others more active. We thought about moving on as we had all the stuff in the car, but knew how unlikely we were to see another place to stop for another fifty odd miles.

We decided to be quick. The first part was fine, but as we left, some bloke wandered over to us and introduced himself. He was called Carlos. We didn't care. We ignored him and walked to the car. A quick glance over my shoulder showed that he was following us across the car park. We got in the car, locked the doors, started the engine and put it in reverse in about one second. He appeared by my door and started to talk, as I floored the accelerator and shot back, put in drive and burnt off.

He probably was harmless, just begging or something, but it being America where everybody is seemingly mental, we took no chances.

We carried on and eventually made it to our destination of Winslow, Arizona. We are staying here http://www.laposada.org/ . It is a hotel that was built in 1929, closed in 1957, gutted and used as offices for the Santa Fe Railway company before they left in 1994 and it was going to be demolished. The current owners bought it in 1997 and have gradually renovated it.

It is a very nice place, looks great at night from the outside, but it is a bit odd on the inside. The wife of the couple who own it is an artist and her crap artwork is all over the walls. Not really in keeping with a Mexican inspired building. It even has a museum of her work and a documentary about her playing on loop all day long. Talk about blowing your own trumpet.

Anyway, we checked in and then went out for dinner.

Back now, and ready for bed. Arizona is on Pacific time in the summer, so we have gained another hour today and are now eight hours behind the UK.

States Visited - 17

Day Twenty One

Slept very well last night. Probably the best since we've been over here.

Ann got up at 8am as she had three way Skyping to do. When she finished we got ready to go.

We headed out at 9.30am and arrived here at 10am.  http://www.astraddleasaddleinc.com/

This was Ann's payback for me making her quad bike yesterday. Two hours of groin muscle and knee agony sitting on a bloody horse. We got introduced to our horses, mine was called Laredo, Ann can't remember what her horse's name was. Laredo was a big grey beast, the horse with no name was smaller and a chestnut colour. We got saddled up and off we went.

The Pony Express

We were with a group of about ten riders with the owner of the company leading at the front and her mum at the back. I got pole position and Ann was behind me. We rode for an hour up a trail to an overlook point on the side of a mountain. Laredo did a good job, keeping up at the front, no name was a bit slower behind me. He would then take a sprint up the hills, which worried Ann the first time he did it, but then she knew how he operated. It went without much incident, except for one bloke behind whose horse decided to try and gallop forward ahead of others in the line. There was a commotion and cries of 'Oh god' as he didn't know how to stop it.

 

I tried to film some clips but it was difficult due to the terrain and slopes plus trying to hold on and guide the horse. This is the best I could do.

 



We stopped for a short drinks break before heading back. It was getting quite warm and having to wear jeans made it even hotter. Halfway through the second leg it started to get painful and sweaty.
Eventually we made it back. Getting off the horse was a challenge, as was walking away.

We headed back to the cabin for lunch and to relax our aches for a few minutes.

Then we headed out for our final activity with this company http://pagosaoutside.com/. This is where our earlier purchases of cheap shoes came into play (Day fifteen).

We had already booked online, so we turned up, handed over the paperwork and then waited to go. We got on a minibus that took us a mile up the road. It then dropped us off with an inflatable ring each. We walked a few feet to the San Juan river and then got in. The activity was tubing. You get in the ring and float down the river. When you get back to the main part of town, you get out, get on the bus and go back up and start again. Takes about an hour. You are advised to not take anything with you due to losing it in the river, so we left everything back at the cabin except the car keys which we left with the company.

We wanted to capture the moment, so we had planned ahead. We bought some double zipped sandwich bags a couple of days ago to help. We took the Flip Camera with us and put it in a sandwich bag and zipped it up. That way it was splash proof and we could film. It does however make the footage slightly misty at times. Also, as with the horse riding, it is difficult to hold on, try to keep the camera dry and film something steadily.

And another one.

It was absolutely brilliant. We had such a laugh. The river was a lovely temperature and the sun was out so it was very hot as well. We did two runs, so spent about two hours splashing around. I have to report that Ann capsized at one point, but I didn't manage to film it. I spent most of the time rotating for some unknown reason.

We dried off and then headed home to the cabin. Saw a family of mule deer as we drove. Got back and showered, had tea and did some more clothes washing.

Just been out on the deck to do some stargazing. It is so dark outside which makes the stars shine so brightly. Absolutely magnificent. The fact it is so dark means you also can't see anything more than about three feet away. I think I heard a snort somewhere out in the darkness and seeing that bears and mountains lions live around here and have better eyesight, we decided to come back in.

What a way to spend our last night here. We are gutted that we have to leave tomorrow. Been absolutely amazing. Would recommend Pagosa Springs to anyone.

Horses dominated - 1

Rivers defeated - 1

States Visited - 15

Day Twenty

Couldn't sleep last night. Not sure why. This is the quietest and darkest place ever. Eventually got up at 6am. Had a look outside, saw a few deer. Ann got up to have a look as well. She hadn't slept well either. We decided it was because it was too cold so put the big duvet back on and switched the fan off. Went back to bed and actually slept. Dreamt that there was a tiger outside killing a deer.

Got up again at about 7.45am. Had a quick shower and put Everton's game on TV as it was on live in the USA. Same as ever. Only got to watch the first half. Quite glad really, it was awful.

We headed out just before 9am as we had our first activity at 9.30am. Headed down in to Pagosa Springs and then a short distance west.

Arrived here. http://www.outbackatvrentals.com/

Their website isn't much, but the reviews on Tripadvisor were all good. I phoned them last night to book up, so we were expected.

The couple that run it were great. Explained everything, gave us a map of the routes, told us what perils lurked around. We saddled up on our ATV or quad bike and set off. Ann didn't want to drive her own one, so we got a two seater. We followed the lady to the beginning of the trails and then she turned back and we were off.

We spent three and a half hours exploring. Some parts of the trails were dirt roads and others were just piles of rocks. We completed an 11 mile trip to the top of one mountain.

A view from the overlook

When we got there, there was a bloke there with his young son. He started being American and telling us all about all the trails and that he had shot eleven elk on one of them. At this point I could sense Ann was thinking the same thing as me, but neither of us had the guts to actually push him off the edge. He said he was going and that we could follow him back down and he'd show us some other routes, but we politely declined. We waited until he was well gone before we left.

Ann asked me to drive more slowly on the way back down. I said I couldn't promise anything. Covered her in muddy spray. We went back down and then took another route. We had been warned about big ruts in the road and they weren't kidding. We managed to negotiate them with out falling down a gap and tipping over. Burned along a bit and stopped at this view.

Another mountain

It was now time to head back to base, so we turned around and set off. I made Ann drive a bit, which she did, before stopping and making me drive the rest, Back through the ruts and then on then onto the decent roads. Managed to open the throttle up a bit and top 50mph.

Dropped the ATV off and then headed home. It was fairly expensive but worth it. Could have stayed out for hours as it was so much fun. Not sure Ann agrees.

Got back to the cabin and had lunch. Cleaned ourselves up and headed out to Pagosa itself. Went here.

http://bogeyq.com/mini-golf/

The second tournament of the trip. It wasn't as nice as the last course, but it was much cooler. A woman shouted at me because she liked my NASA t-shirt. Bit odd. It was the slowest game ever, as there was a group of five lads ahead of us. They seemed to take an age because they were terrible.

Final scores were:

Roffe - 51
Knightley - 44

We then headed to what only can be described as a woman's shop. Basically had lots of expensive natural food that nobody would ever want. Seemed to be there for an age.

As we left I noticed that I had sunburn just above the knees, caused by sitting on the quad in shorts.

We headed back to the cabin and then into the garden for a game of horseshoes.

Then we made use of the a relaxing bit of kit.

It's a hard life!

Later on we saw more wildlife, more mule deer, hummingbirds and chipmunks. Had tea, watched the highlights of the Everton game which were on TV. Still woeful.

Tomorrow we have more exciting activities planned. Can't wait.

Moose watch - low

Chipmunks everywhere

States Visited - 15

Day Nineteen

Was sleeping well last night, until my phone rang at 6.30am. I say rang, it buzzed as it was on silent. I ignored it, presumed I could follow it up later. Then it rang again immediately. Thought it must be someone back home urgently trying to get hold of us because of an emergency. Got up and ran to phone. It was Wembury Grasshoppers Cricket Club. I declined to answer it. Presumed a message would be left. It wasn't. No idea why they interrupted my sleep, we don't play them again this season.

Tried to sleep again.

Eventually got up. Put Ashes on. Saw that we had scored just shy of 400 and now were struggling to take wickets, with Australia 100 for 0 not long before tea. Watched for a bit, before heading down to breakfast.

Came back up, put cricket back on, Australia had lost 4 wickets. Gutted.

We didn't have to check out until midday and seeing as we couldn't get in to our next place until 4pm, we lazed about in the hotel. I watched more Ashes, Ann read a book. We also printed some stuff out for an activity in a couple of days.

Eventually we packed up and headed out at 11.45am. Set the sat nav and headed north-west.

The journey was under two hundred miles, so we wandered along and admired the scenery. We started to feel we were really in the Rockies.

More mountains

We stopped for lunch in Chama. It was the largest Subway we've ever seen. It even had its own radio station, KZRM FM 96.1. Unfortunately, they weren't broadcasting, so I couldn't put some tunes on.

We kicked on the last sixty odd miles crossing into Colorado. It now means Ann is one ahead of me in states visited as she's been to Washington state and I haven't. I had Colorado as my equaliser, but now she's been there too.

Arrived in Pagosa Springs. We needed to get food as we are staying in a self catering place. Ann had been going on about stopping in Walmart before we headed up to the cabin. So when we reached the town I told her to get Walmart onto the sat nav. The car sat nav said the nearest Walmart was 45 miles away. We discussed why Ann had thought there was a Walmart in Pagosa Springs. She said in was mentioned in the literature of the cabin. It said all you need to worry about is stopping at Walmart. We came to the conclusion it meant go to Walmart on your way.

Looked on the sat nav for other grocery shops. Only two appeared. Set in the nearest one and went to it. Got there and parked up. It hadn't finished being built. Set in the other one. On the way we suddenly see a sign.....Walmart! There was a massive one neither sat nav knew about. We stopped, bought a load of supplies and then headed up to the cabin. It was another 12 miles or so north of Pagosa.

Eventually the road turned into gravel and got quieter and quieter. We kept going further into the wilderness. Then we saw the cabin. Pulled up into the drive only to scare a mule deer away. Gutted.

Got out the car and looked around. Oh my god. It is amazing. We let ourselves in (We had the code to the key press) and unpacked. I couldn't stop beaming as we looked around the cabin.

Awesomeness

We got everything in and set about familiarising ourselves with everything. As we did we kept gazing out at the views. We spotted wildlife. Also it rained heavily, the first rain of the trip.

My hum'bird

Alvin, Simon or Theodore?

Then a bit later we saw another mule deer. Took some photos before it went off. Then even later we saw two deer.

Doe a deer or two

Made ourselves some tea and sat and watched Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. It was now dark out, so no point watching for anymore animals. Research shows that black bears are in the area, so here's hoping.

We also finished finalising our plans for the next two days. We are quite excited about what we are doing. Hopefully it all lives up to what we imagine.

Now going to bed, in order to get up early to see wildlife and watch Everton play. Also going out for a 9.30am start.

Chipmunks seen - 1

Bears seen - 0

Deer Watch - high

States Visited - 15

Day Eighteen

Got annoyed by breakfast TV this morning. With all the current goings on here in the USA, policemen shooting criminals, policemen shooting innocent people, criminals shooting policemen, criminals shooting innocent people who are trying to help them, mental people going in to cinemas and shooting/hacking and an 11 year old shooting and killing a 3 year old, it was good to see the American media addressing the undeniable gun problems by having segments about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner getting divorced and how people's arse implants are going wrong.

Soon got over my frustration by remembering that if we got through the last twelve days unscathed we could go back to seemingly normal England.

We headed south out of Santa Fe down the Turquoise Trail, a scenic byway which goes to Albuquerque winding between various mountains on its way. It gets its name from the mining that occurred in the past.


Ain't it cute

Our first stop was the town of Madrid. It was the reason we took the trail. Once there, we parked up and headed to the most recognisable building in the town, a building which didn't exist until it was built by the film crew who used the town for their film. When they left, they left the building for the town, who turned it into an actual proper building. Now it is a gift shop selling movie based merchandise to tourists. Needless to say we bought stuff, including more stuff for the kitchen.

Maggie's Diner

Madrid was the setting for the denouement of Wild Hogs, and the diner was the major location. We had a look around the rest of the town. We went in one place to get a drink, but there was a horrible smell in it, so we left quickly.

We crossed the road and went in here http://java-junction.com/ instead. We got a drink and shared a piece of cheesecake. We sat out in the small garden area. It was very nice, the temperature at that point was not to bad and the road was not as busy as you would think.

We then had a look in some other places as Ann wanted to spend more money, but luckily she couldn't find anything that she wanted.

We decided to carry on south to look at a bit more of the trail. After a while we stopped at a garage to get another drink. We sat in the car and had a look at the trail leaflet. We noticed the Sandia Crest was near by. It is the highest point on the trail at 10,678 feet and has views over 11,000 square mile area. There is a cable car that goes up it and also ski lifts which you can drive up the mountain to reach. We drove up, only to find the ski area is only open at weekends. We did, however, see our first wild animal, a deer, although it ran away before we could get a picture.

At this point we nearly gave up, but instead we found the cable car location on the sat nav. It was 29 miles away from where we were, in Albuquerque. We thought 'what the hell', so we drove to it. And what a good decision that turned out to be.

http://www.sandiapeak.com/

We parked up, got tickets and got straight on the 'flight' which was about to leave.

It took fifteen minutes to get to the top travelling over two and a half miles and rising four thousand feet. The views from the top were astonishing. We've been up mountains before, in Grand Teton and Mount Washington, but the difference here is that most of the surrounding area is so flat, meaning you can see for miles all around.

Albuquerque down below

We got a drink and sat down outside to take it all in. Got very excited by this sign.

Bear Watch might change

As we were sat opposite each other, we made a pact to watch for bears behind the other person. I then pointed out to Ann that if I said a bear was behind her, and it really was, she wouldn't believe me anyway. She agreed. Unfortunately there were no signs of bears.

We took a fair load of pictures of the views, but the final one was the best. Caught one of the cars coming up the mountain. Boring you might think. You are wrong!

Not sure that is how you are meant to ride it!

It was reminiscent of the bit from Moonraker with Bond and Jaws, except these blokes weren't fighting and didn't have metal teeth. We discussed if we would ride it like that if we had the opportunity. Ann said she would if she was sat on the roof. I said I preferred the inside.

Eventually we headed back down the mountain. Found out on the journey that a TWA plane crashed into the side of the mountain in 1955. The tram passes over near the crash site where a lot of wreckage still is. Presume that due to the terrain they just couldn't be bothered to collect it all in those days. They did collect all the bodies you'll be pleased to know. Originally investigators thought the two pilots had a suicide pact, but eventually they left an open verdict due to some evidence that the compass was faulty. The fact the plane took off from Albuquerque you would have thought even in poor visibility they would have known there was a mountain there.

Reached the bottom, went in gift shop, bought fridge magnet as ever.

Got back in the very hot car and started the long journey back to Santa Fe. Took a photo of the mountain from a distance.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Got back to Santa Fe. Realised we hadn't had lunch, so went straight for dinner. Tried this out having not been before.

http://www.firehousesubs.com/

It was good. Headed back to the hotel. Thought about a swim but couldn't be bothered. Heading off to Colorado tomorrow. looking forward to it.

Bears seen - 0

Moose Watch - Deer

States Visited - 14

Day Seventeen

After a day off yesterday, today was back in the car once more.

We packed up and headed out of Amarillo on I40. Had to travel over two hundred miles on it. Saw the famous Cadillac Ranch as we left.

Why I don't know

It is basically some cars half buried vertically. We drove by and took a photo. Others had stopped. Not sure why you would bother. We carried on. Not much happened. We had a game of Fuel Gauge Roulette, where you countdown the miles left to the gas station and the miles the fuel gauge says you have left. Ann made me take the sensible option, stopping with 30 miles worth of fuel left. I wanted to go all the way until our lunch stop which was another 20ish miles, but that was vetoed.

We stopped for fuel at the Flying C Ranch. Very odd place.

We stopped for lunch at the world famous (?) Clines Corner. http://www.clinescorners.com/ It used to be situated on Route 66, until it became defunct.

We bought some stuff in the gift shop to update our kitchen décor.

We kicked on and travelled north on a highway. This meant the views were much better.

More Like It

We arrived at Santa Fe around 4pm. We had gained a hour as well as we switched time zones.

Spent some time in our room researching stuff for tomorrow, before heading out for dinner at Denny's. Food was fine, but we had to wait forever to get the bill and pay. I started thinking about just getting up and leaving, but eventually we managed to get out. Went for a drive to downtown Santa Fe to have a nose. Probably will go back during the day tomorrow.

Moose Watch - Low

States Visited - 14

Day Sixteen

Today was a day of two halves.

The first half we did stuff, the second half, we didn't.

First of all, I missed the thunderstorm we apparently had in the night. I slept through it, Ann didn't.

Next, we did the extra washing and drying, before heading out.

First port of call, was the Jack Sisemore Traveland RV Museum. http://www.rvmuseum.net/

Jack Sisemore ran a simple gas station, before buying a RV (Recreational Vehicle, for those out of the loop (Basically a motorised caravan)) and hiring it out. He did this so he could use it when he wanted to. He ended up with about six of them. and eventually started a proper RV business in 1974. About 25 years ago, the company decided to set up a museum about RVs. It is based at their normal showroom.

We rocked up and went in. You say to the receptionist that you would like to see the museum and she takes you out the back to it. It is free to look around. It works through the ages of RVs and caravans, with examples they have collected over the years.

1923 - Model T Ford base

Also had a lot of Harley Davidsons

A classic Airstream trailer



The actual one used in the Robin Williams film RV: Runaway Vacation

We spent a fair amount of time looking around them all. You could go inside some of them and see how they were laid out. Eventually, we wandered back to the main building ready to leave. Ann then said to the receptionist that she wanted to look at a modern day RV, as the latest date was late 70s in the museum. The lady said the showroom is just through there, you can get in them and have a look. So we went and had a nose about. We liked the one that cost $90,000.

We eventually left with dreams of owning one and made our way to the second stop.

It was the American Quarter Horse Museum http://www.aqha.com/museum - Nope, me neither!

Ann had seen it, so decided it was worth a look. It actually cost money to get in, unlike the RV museum. It was a very nice building, big and spacious. As for the actual exhibits, it was pretty dull. If you like American Quarter horses, then this is the place for you. If not, best to avoid it.

I do now know what a quarter horse is. My initial idea that they were very small horses was wrong. In fact, they are good at running a quarter of a mile. That is it. They have they're own museum!

This was part of it.

Best bit about it as far as I was concerned.

Anyway, we looked about and then left.

Next we headed to the actual Route 66 that passes through Amarillo. There is a small section that is still older looking, original buildings, etc. We went and had a look with thoughts of parking up and exploring, but to be honest there wasn't much to see. We drove up and back, took a couple of photos, but that was about it.

Get your kicks...

We decided to head back to the hotel for lunch. We ate some more of the stuff we bought last night whilst deciding what to this afternoon and evening. We searched for something exciting to do, but could find absolutely nothing. Amarillo seems a bit dull.

Eventually, we decided to do nothing. We stayed in. Ann had a swim. We ate the last of the food for dinner and watched films on TV.

Tomorrow we head to Santa Fe. I have noticed that people don't seem to know how to get to all these places - Is this the way to Amarillo? Do you know the way to Sante Fe?


Talking Horse Watch - High

Moose Watch - Low

States Visited - 13

Day Fifteen

The good news was the only train noise last night was at 1am and I was still up at that point, so no harm done. Slept better than the previous night. Forgot to mention yesterday that the shower is great if you are four foot tall.

Saw the news that a 9 year old kid died at the baseball tournament in Wichita that I mentioned. He'd got hit by a player having a practice swing with a bat. Felt glum. Wondered how the poor lad who accidently hit him will ever get over it.

Had breakfast, then packed up again. Filled up with fuel and then got the hell outta Dodge. Travelled south west. We are finding interesting ways to pass the time on the journey's. K-Mullet is definitely a favourite, as this clip shows.

Also saw lots of wind farms. Slightly bigger than UK ones.

Barack's speech in action

We crossed into Oklahoma just south of Liberal, headed through the panhandle, before entering the Texas panhandle just north of Perryton. Stopped at Perryton for lunch. Went and got a Subway and found somewhere quiet down the road to eat it.

Arrived at Amarillo about 4pm. Checked in to the Holiday Inn Express and Suites. Went up to our room. It is very nice. The suite part isn't exactly a kitchen, more just a sink, microwave and fridge, but the air con works properly and there is no railroad or road nearby. We spent the late afternoon doing some laundry, the first time since we've been here. Washed a load of stuff and tumbled dried the stuff we could. The rest is now littered around the room drying. Have more to do tomorrow.

For dinner, Ann said she wanted to not eat out as we have done so for nearly every meal since we've been here, so we decided to go to Walmart and buy some food and to prepare it back in the 'kitchen'.  Whilst there we saw Michael Jackson or at least some woman in a face mask. Slightly weird to wear one in a supermarket. We also looked at cheap shoes as we need some for later in the trip. Ann managed to get into a conversation with a woman about our trip whilst sorting her shoes out. Ann then tried to make me buy women's shoes for myself.

Headed back and made dinner. It was great. Ann has just watched a reality show called 'My Giant Life', but now has Casino Royale on.

Moose Watch - Even lower than ever

States Visited - 13

Day Fourteen

Oh, what a night!

Cannot believe the night we had. Must be the most disturbed night's sleep that we've ever had. Firstly the air con doesn't seem to work properly. The room was just about cool enough but the system does not get it anywhere near the temperature you want. When it does come on, it makes an absolute racket. Then the road noise is loud as there is an old crappy window and a wooden door out onto the balcony, neither of which block any sound.

If that wasn't bad enough, at precisely 4am a train went by and as there is a level crossing across the street it blew its horn constantly as it approached. Check out yesterday's video to see how loud that it is. Another train went by later on.

At 6am the bloke next door decided to have a natter as loud as he possibly could. Plus a load of motorcycles started up early and revved about a bit.

All in all, a bit of a sleeping disaster. Needless to say our efforts to get up early, fell by the wayside.

When we did get up, we headed down to breakfast, which turned out to be fairly poor as well. Just a real lack of anything.

We won't be leaving positive feedback on Tripadvisor.

Eventually, we were ready to go out.

First stop was the Sante Fe trail. We headed about seven miles west of Dodge. Back in the day the trail passed by here, lots of people transporting stuff in wagons, etc. What is now there is the marks in the ground left by all the wagon wheels over the years. These are called wagon ruts.

http://www.nps.gov/safe/learn/historyculture/exhibits_dodge_city_ruts.htm

There are a few boards at the site telling you about things. We wandered along the constructed path to see the ruts. You can just about make them out, but the signage isn't that helpful as it doesn't actually show you where the are. When you look on Google earth, they are easily visible, but from the ground it is much harder to see.



Rut the hell?

The ruts can be seen right in the middle of the above picture, on the far greener hill. You might have to click on it to see it better.

We stayed for a bit before heading back to Dodge.

Next stop was the Boot Hill Museum http://www.boothill.org/.

The museum is built next to the original Dodge City Boot Hill cemetery, hence the name. Cemeteries got the name Boot Hill as they normally housed people who had died with their boots on, either having been murdered or hanged, rather than having a natural death.

The museum had exhibits about the area, including the Native Americans who were here before the Westerners turned up. We spent time looking at everything. Saw a buffalo.

Good bison

Next we headed out to the reconstruction of Front Street from circa the 1870s to watch this.

It was fairly enjoyable, although at times they did seem to get a little confused with what was going on. We had to sit in the sun to watch. It was midday, hence it was very hot. I could feel the sweat dripping as we watched. Ann took some action shots.

Good shooting, Tex

When the show finished we headed across the street into the buildings. Each one is laid out like the original would have been. Got a drink and a cookie in the café. Cooled off. Ann had sarsaparilla.

Henry Miller was as busy as a fizzy sarsaparilla

Next, Ann made go next door against my will. Then she made me do something else against my will. This picture is the result.

Oh dear

When we had finished looking around, we headed back to the car. We then did a bit of a drive around town having a general nose about.

For lunch we decided to go here.

https://www.sonicdrivein.com/

We didn't  know how it worked so we just drove in! Pressed a button. Ordered some food. Waited. Didn't know what happened next. We presumed that someone would bring our food out and take payment, but we weren't sure. As time passed we started to get nervous that we had got it all wrong, but eventually our fears were relieved when someone turned up with our food. We ate it, it was good.

Headed back to the hotel for a while, before we headed out later on.

Nipped to the IHOP next door for a quick dinner, before we headed to our main event, the Dodge City Round Up Rodeo.

We'd been to a rodeo before in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, during our first trip five years ago. But this was Dodge, cowtown, the home of the wild frontier. This rodeo seemed much bigger. We arrived about 15 minutes before it started. Got tickets and got in.

Some woman sang the Star Spangled Banner and then it was action stations.

First up was the bare back riding.

Next was the steer wrestling.

Team roping followed.

Then the tie down roping.

Saddle bronc riding. Pretty much the same as the bare back riding, so won't show that.

Then the women's barrel racing.

Then finally, the big tamale, bull riding.

It was a fabulous night. We both immensely enjoyed it. Glad we made the effort to go again. Once if was over we headed back, stopping off at the garage opposite the hotel to get some supplies.

It's been a really good day, considering how badly it started. Hoping for a quieter night tonight!

Buffalo Seen - 1

Moose watch - Low

States Visited - 11