It is taking some time, but I promise that there will be posts of the Grand Canyon soon. I want to document all the highlights of my adventure west and with all the fun I am having in Flagstaff, it is tough to make time to post. So here is the quick and dirty on the last few days of my road trip so that I can move on to the fun I had at my internship training in California, getting to know Flagstaff and seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time on June 12.
While I was in San Antonio, I decided my last night on the road would be spent in Albuquerque, New Mexico even though it was a five to six hour drive from Carlsbad Caverns. I would have liked something shorter, but I was nervous about what my options for accommodations would be like in cities such as Roswell, New Mexico (UFOs anyone?). Because Carlsbad is not on an interstate, any journey to Albuquerque had to include some highway adventure. To make the most of it I decided to swing through the town of Lincoln to see the court house where Billy the Kid was shot. According to my guidebook, Lincoln is as authentic an old west town as you can find. By the time I got there, most of the shops and historic buildings were closed, but it was a fun stop, stretch my legs and imagine what the old, wild west was like.
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Sign at the Courthouse
where Billy the Kid was shot. |
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Another old store in
Lincoln, New Mexico. |
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An old store in Lincoln
that is now an art gallery. |
After swinging through Lincoln, I also had to make a quick stop in Capitan, New Mexico, to take a photo at the burial place, museum and memorial dedicated to your friend and mine, Smokey Bear.
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| This one is for you Nelie. You better be reading this blog! |
The trip through New Mexico was something like Texas. There was a lot of desert, but also some beautiful mountains and long stretches of blue sky and highway. It was fun to drive fast, within the crazy high speed limit of 75 on highways of course, and catch up on my podcasts. Here is a video I took, very carefully of course, on the highway between Capitan and Interstate 25, which I took up to spend the night in Albuquerque.
There is not really much to report from my stay in Albuquerque. It is a bigger city and was a fine place to spend the night in a nice hotel, but I did not do too much fun. I tried a local sushi place, which was a mistake. I didn't get sick, but they do not do sushi well in Albuquerque in case you are planning a visit there. I suggest something safer like Mexican.
On June 1st my 2,222 mile journey to Flagstaff, Arizona ended. I was very happy to see the Welcome to Arizona sign and learn that I get to be part of celebrating the state's centennial (gained statehood in 1912). It was tough to drive past the Petrified Forest National Park along the way and not stop, but I am planning a day trip there soon, so I will get that stamp on my National Park Service passport. My first night in Flagstaff was also spent at a hotel, as my apartment was not ready yet. I got to know a little of the city by going out to dinner with one of my fellow interns, but spent most of the night catching up on sleep and getting ready for my trip to Santa Monica the next day.
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| Welcome to New Mexico! |
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Map of my adventure west. I took a slightly different route than pictured here,
because I crossed southern New Mexico west and then up to Albuquerque. |
Last but not least, here is another video I took on the drive. The tornado-like thing you see a dust devil, which seem to be pretty common in this area. It's hard to get the full affect of it watching the video, because I could not capture it all due to the fact that I had to steer the car as the dust devil ran in to me on the road!
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