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

Day Thirteen

Having been up to 1.30am, we decided to make the most of staying in a very nice hotel by sleeping a lot. Didn't go down for breakfast until gone 9.30am. Not much noteworthy happened during breakfast apart from me leaning on the edge of our table, which tipped it slightly, which in turn made a small jar of flowers and glass beads fall on the floor, causing the entire place to turn around and stare.

Having helped clear up the mess and finished breakfast we went back to the room for a while. We weren't in any rush, so mooched about for a bit.

Eventually we checked out and loaded the car ready to move on again.

Headed west on US400 again. Passed through a couple of places, Pratt and Greensburg, which Paul had given me a heads up about. He and Helen had seen two tornadoes in Pratt in 2008, and Greensburg had been completely destroyed by a tornado in 2007.

The only other interesting thing about the journey was that we decided to play a game of cat and mouse with a train. First of all we passed it whilst driving, so then decided to pull over and watch it pass.

Well done if you watched all two and a half minutes of that. We then decided that we wanted to take some still photos of it as well, so we got ahead of it again and pulled over. Then having done that, we did it again.

Choo choo

The driver must have thought we were mental. Eventually we gave up on the game as we stopped to buy drinks. We saw it go past and let it drift off into the distance.

We headed onward and soon reached our destination, Dodge City. We checked into the hotel and proceeded to do nothing as we were both tired. We spent the time watching TV and planning our day tomorrow. It is the first time since Dayton that we will be staying somewhere for two nights, so decided to sort our plans out ready.

Went out for dinner at the IHOP right next to the hotel. It was better than the last one we ate in a few days ago.

Back now and planning to have an early night as we have plenty to do tomorrow. Ann is currently watching a program about murderers.


Train watch - High

Moose Watch - Low

States Visited - 11

Day Twelve

Having a suite not just a room meant we felt like we should spend more time in it, so this morning we didn't rush. Watched a bit of cricket. Headed downstairs for breakfast after nine. It was the cleanest, nicest hotel breakfast we've had. Nice dining room, everything neat and clean, helpful staff. It was definitely a fair reflection of the hotel as a whole.

After breakfast went back to the room and watched Root and Bell knock off the final thirty runs to win the test match. That made it about time to leave, so we packed up and checked out.

Before we left we googled the cheapest fuel in Joplin, so made our way there. Passed part of the area devastated by the tornado in 2011. It seems to have been rebuilt successfully although there are still areas which have been cleared but not rebuilt.

Having left Joplin, we headed into Kansas and followed US Highway 400 the entire way to Wichita.

We stopped for lunch at Augusta. We desperately searched the town looking for an old fashioned diner, but to no avail. We even found the old part of town, but still not a sign of what we were looking for.

The old part of town

Eventually we had to make do with Subway. By this stage we were fairly close to our destination, so just cracked on. Arrived at the hotel around 3.30pm. We are staying here:

http://wichita.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html

Ann had requested a high up room, and we got one. 15th floor, with a view of the river.

I saw the Arkansas....river

She also chose free parking as an option when booking, so that has paid off too. You have to use your room key to get in the car park, so we went and stuck the car away having unloaded.

Hotel seems quite busy with sporty people as there is some sort of baseball marathon going on at the stadium just across the river. Something like a 48 hour baseballathon with lots of teams playing.

We hung around the room for while. Ann did some three way Skyping with moderate success. By this time it was about 5pm. Ann had planned for us to visit Old Cowtown, a museum thing/recreation about the old days, but it shut at 5pm so we couldn't go there.

Instead we searched the web for somewhere to eat and then headed out.

Ended up going here for dinner. http://www.jimmiesdiner.com/

It was old school with a soda fountain and everything. Walked in, it had two or three tables worth of people already there. Got seated by a batty old greeter. Had our drink order taken. We both went for proper old fashioned milkshakes. Got given some iced water whilst we waited. Had our food order taken. Another batty waitress said it might be a little while due to the other people who arrived not long before us. When she had gone, I had a look around the diner. Counted at least fifty empty seats. Said to Ann how do they cope when it is properly busy??

Food arrived, we started eating. Still no sign of our milkshakes. Every time the batty old waitress came over she kept saying your milkshakes will be done in a minute. Got a little soul destroying. Eventually they turned up. They were worth the wait. It was like having a dessert as they were so thick.

We paid up and then headed to our evening activity. It was not far from the restaurant so worked out ok. We weren't sure how early to get there, so ended up arriving a good hour early. At least it meant we got the best choice of spots.

This was our destination. http://starlitefun.com/

Friday night at the......

As you can see we went to a drive in movie theatre. We parked centrally about halfway back, so we got the best view. We were originally confused, as all those who had arrived before us had parked facing away from the screen. We realised that they were all planning to sit in their back of their trucks to watch. We parked facing forward.

Went to the concession stand to get some drinks and then headed back to the car. It was still very warm out, so we kept the engine on so the air con was cool. You had two choices for audio, you could go with the old hook on the window speaker or tune your radio in to the frequency. We went for the latter as it would have better sound quality.

As it got dark, Ann suggested that we turn the engine off and open the windows so we could experience it the old way. I pointed out that it was still fairly warm out and that we would die like puppies trapped in a hot car, so air con was best.

I got overruled.

We watched Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. By the end it was baking hot in the car. Ann said she was fine. There were two more films on that we could stay and watch, but seeing as it was already 11.30pm, the next one was Antman followed by something else just as rubbish, we decided not to.

We headed on back to the hotel. Got to our room to look at the city at night. Looks good, but hard to take a picture of.

Best we could get

Ann is currently still awake, despite the fact it is 1am. I think the diet Pepsi she had at the drive in might be keeping her awake.

Batty waitresses seen - 2

Moose watch - low

States visited - 11