Road trip Southwest USA - Summer 2012

[toxicavenger]

Amazing pics Frank and if you do come out this way I will buy you a brew or two!!!

[nordwulf]

The road trip ended and I am back home again. So finally some time to post the rest of the pictures.

After Monument Valley, you would think no other place can top the views like you have seen in the previous pictures. But there are many other areas to explore. Such a place was Canyon de Chelly National Monument.

From my favorite travel guide Rough Guides: USA Guide – Rough Guides travel information

Twin sandstone walls emerge abruptly from the desert floor, climbing at a phenomenal rate to become the awesome thousand-foot cliffs of Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Between these sheer sides, the meandering course of the Chinle Wash can be discerned by its fringe of cottonwoods as it winds through grasslands and planted fields. Here and there a Navajo hogan stands in a grove of fruit trees, a straggle of sheep is penned in by a crude wooden fence, or ponies drink at the water's edge. And everywhere, perched above the valley on ledges in the canyon walls and dwarfed by the towering cliffs, are the long-abandoned adobe dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans.

Chinle, AZ is a small town near de canyon and it was interesting to see horses and and cows just walking on the main roads. Sure looks like a bit of the Wild West in this place.



Your Whopper doesn't get much closer from the source than this! It's probably good these cows don't know their family members are currently being flame broiled. I must say the Carolina BBQ Whopper was delicious.



The local campground was a nicely maintained place and was only $10 a night. As usual, I found a place away as far away from other campers. I expected it to be busier here as well but all I found was peace and quiet.





The 9-5 wagon is a perfect vehicle for camping expeditions for a few weeks. The space under the floor is something I usally don't have much stuff in but it was the perfect spot for my tent, tarp and air mattress.



And all of the other things like a large rolling duffel bag, basic cooking things, dishes, small cooler, camp chair, sleeping bag, pillow, toolbox etc all fit in the back.







And the cover neatly hides everything from prying eyes.



The following day, I toured Canyon de Chelly. The North Rim drive in the morning and South Rim in the afternoon. As suggested by the guide books for best picture opportunities.

It is a bit smaller than something like the Grand Canyon but still very impressive and an amazing sight with many stops along the way.







Some wildlife

[nordwulf]

I am getting behind.. it seems this road trip iss going on forever because... well, that's what it seemed like. So many experiences in only 2 weeks was confusing for myself at times.

But the open road awaits.



I was on my way to Albuquerque, NM and came through a town of which I can't recall the name. There was something strange about this town like something was missing.



If you haven't figured out what was missing, it is power lines. Many American towns are uglified by many power lines, it was nice to see a town where they put them underground where they should be.

Route 66 runs along the highway. I had some spare time so took the exit and drove along this memorable route for a while.



This was also the spot of the Continental Divide. Nothing really spectacular but the local souvenir shops made some deal out of it.



The road was quiet and there were some interesting sites and abandoned buildings along the way.







At some point, I think i may have missed a turn and ended up on a road seemingly going nowhere. I don't think this was Route 66 anymore. Eventually, it turned into a dirt road but my GPS showed it would end up near an exit to the highway again. Fortunately, it did.



Priceline was my friend and it was nice to take a brake from camping. It's nice to sleep in a tent and roughing it but a hotel is welcome change as well.



Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly are Navajo reservations which means you can't get any alcoholic drinks anywhere. Not a big problem but it's nice to walk into a store and get some cold ones for a change.



I always wanted to see the larger cities in the Southwest. I drove through Albuquerque when I moved back from SoCal to Michigan and it was a place I wanted to come back to. It's a small historic center but nice to walk around for while.













I like history but also enjoy science and other technical museums. The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is in interesting place to spend a few hours and learn more about the first atomic tests that were done in New Mexico.



After spending 2 nights in Albuquerque, I went a little bit north to Sante Fe. It is a little bit smaller and more historical than ABQ and it didn't disappoint. While I was in the Southwest, temperature was in the mid 80s and there was quite a lot of rain. When I was driving into Santa Fe, a nice big rainstorm was hanging over the city.



WARNING! Saab content..



The city center has a lot of interesting architecture with many adobe buildings. The city square is a pleasant place to hang out for while.











Those damn Dutch are everywhere..





It's a nice walk away from the city center and explore the neighborhoods.



There are many art galleries as well. I am not a huge art fan but some of it was quite nice.





If you always wanted a sculpture of dancing elephants, this is your chance. A small sign near the sculpture showed it can be yours for $125,000. Yeah... a little bit too much for me as well.





My car was parked near the train station. I think this was just some historical display.

[nordwulf]

I was going to finish this road trip report with the pictures I thought I transferred from my laptop to my computer at home but the transfer was corrupted. And I reinstalled the OS on my laptop so nothing left there either. So most pictures are gone, except for the ones I uploaded to Google/Picasa. And some of those places were the highlight of the entire trip. Damn it.. Well, at least I uploaded many pictures during my trip so there is still a good number left.

From Santa Fe, I headed south towards White Sands National Monument. When I was driving on the highway south of Albuquerque, I noticed a large exit sign showing Very Large Array. I heard about this place before but didn't know I was so close to it. It was only about 50 miles from the highway so I decided to take a look. I wish I could show you many pictures because it is a very impressive sight to see. I uploaded one picture to Facebook and that's all I have.



They have a small visitors center and you can take a short self-guided walking tour near the buildings and one of the dishes. There were hardly any people and looking out over the area and seeing 27 of these dishes positioned in a Y-pattern is something you won't easily forget.

From Wikipedia:

The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, some fifty miles (80 km) west of Socorro, New Mexico, USA. The VLA has made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way's center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowledge about the physical mechanisms that produce radio emission.

They also had some information about the movie Contact. Some of the outside scenes were filmed at the VLA and I am sure many have seen that movie.



If you like science, technology and/or astronomy, this is a place you have to visit. Late afternoon, I headed towards White Sands National Monument. Some sand dunes don't sound very exciting but it is pretty amazing to see. I went on a hike of about 4 miles and it is a pretty hot and harsh environment. But absolutely stunning and amazing to see all that white sand in all directions.

Wish I could show the pictures.. Many can be found online like this one.



The road trip was going to end with a visit to my brother and family near Dallas in Texas. I won't bore you with the details but it was a very good time. Back home to Boyne City with a quick stop in Memphis, TN (had to drive past Graceland and visit downtown) was the final leg of this amazing road trip.

Days on the road: 17
Total driven: 5394 miles - 8680 kilometers
Fuel burned: 181.48 gallons - 687 liters
Fuel economy: 29.8 miles/gallon - 7.9 liters/100 km

Average fuel price was about $3.70 per gallon so total fuel bill was about $670. Sounds like a lot but still cheaper than flying and renting a car.

The Saab never complained or let me down. From the flat stretches of highway in Iowa to the challenging drive up Pikes Peak, sight seeing at Mesa Verde, the bumpy loop road at Monument Valley, exploring many other sites in New Mexico, the long drive over the Texas Plains to Dallas and all the way back north to Northern Michigan. That's what I call a Road Trip and Epic Journey.

Album with larger pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/11357...96321357845553