Day 16 (50): 4 Corners & Mesa Verde

We had intended to get up early but, yeah, that never happens. We are starting to feel much better. After getting coffee & soda at McD’s we stopped at Subway for breakfast. This has been quite a fast food trip, and we’re both ready to eat food from home, especially now that it’s almost soup season. But I digress…

We drove, and drove, and drove. We refilled our sodas at McD’s somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Not exactly nowhere, but in the middle of Native America reservation land. It seems like the entire top right 1/4^th of Arizona is reservation land. Anyway, we finally hit our first stop, 4 Corners. You may be familiar; where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah all meet. It, too, is on reservation land and cost $3 per person to get in. Not bad. They’ve got a real nice area done up.

Devin did push-ups in all four states:

I did a backbend:

Mini-B stood the best he could:

And yes, Devin and I were both sore the next day for our ‘showing off’ at the monument.

We looked at all the vendors selling things before jumping back in the car. We kept driving, stopping for a late lunch at Sonic and eventually reaching Mesa Verde.

Mesa Verde is on top of a mesa (seems like a mountain) where there are a lot of ruins and ancient cliff dwellings. You are able to do a self-guided tour of one; One area is blocked off in September; there are two other dwellings to can take a ranger guided tour of but we got there too late. The self-guided tour is really neat, and you are right up in the dwelling:

We then did a driving tour and saw many mesa top ruins and several other cliff dwellings. Here’s the biggest one:

We left the park just at sunset and drove into the night, stopping for a Subway dinner. We went over a mountain and eventually made it to Alamosa, CO.

Today we traveled 514.1 miles across America for a total of 4,951.9 miles on leg 2 and a grand total of 15,476.6 miles across America.

Day 15 (49): Grand Canyon

We woke up feeling a little better than yesterday. We took more medicine and headed out to brave the cold. It was about 40 degrees when we left. We grabbed a fast food breakfast and headed up towards the Grand Canyon. Around 10am we were reaching the top of a mountain and encountered a lot of snow; it was actively snowing and sleeting for miles and miles.

It’s about 80 miles from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon’s south rim. We had initially planned to go to the north rim on the advice of Uncle Mic & Carol, but with having a cold we decided to go to the south rim and stay an extra night in Flagstaff. We eventually reached the south rim visitors center and sat in the car for about 15 minutes to take a quick nap. We went into the visitor’s center but it was not as interesting as we had hoped. We had planned to take their shuttle bus around the rim area where cars aren’t allowed but as we left the visitor’s center it began to rain and sleet pretty good. We went back to the car and sat for another twenty minutes trying to figure out what we wanted to do.

A good look at the map revealed that going east there were several lookout points and an exit that would take us back down to Flagstaff. The south rim is the most popular and is usually (as was the case today) pretty packed with tourists. The busses that passed were pretty full. In addition, we didn’t want to wait out in the cold & rain on busses all day only to fight the crowds when we weren’t feeling so well. We are kind of a DIY people…we like to do our own thing. So we took off east. We didn’t have high hopes for the day because of the weather and the weather forecast. But we hit several great lookout points and were only obscured one of them because of fog and rain. It really is most spectacular in person:

We hit rain and snow all throughout our sightseeing. Can you see the streaks of sleet?

We stopped and saw some Native American ruins too. They had a little museum there that was pretty cool. Our very last stop was to the Lookout Tower, a building designed to get a 360 degree view of the area. It was intended and is still used as a gift shop and visitors center. Commissioned in the 30s, the inside was painted by a Hopi artist in authentic Hopi symbols. It was super cold when we left.

We exited out the east side and headed down to Flagstaff. We were really pleased with what we saw. I’m sure we’ll be back someday to do hiking and see the north rim. After getting back we walked to a diner behind our hotel that was designed in the Route 66 50s theme. It sat on historic Route 66. Devin had a breakfast and I had fish and chips. It was okay. I ordered a diet Dr. Pepper (my premier soda of choice, and one they usually never have at restaurants) and I had to send it back twice because it wouldn’t hold any fizz. It was really awful. When we got our bill he had charged us for it but the hostess took it off. My dinner was on special and it had rung up the regular price so then she had to correct that. We walked back to the hotel and watched the end of the NASCAR race before deciding to go down to McD’s for mochas. I ordered a small mocha, fat-free milk; he got the carmel mocha. We drove the four blocks back to the hotel and I used the trip to cool my drink down. When I took a first sip it tasted like old watered down, gas station coffee. Awful. Super awful. I took another drink. Made Devin take a drink. Dumped half in the sink to see if maybe it wasn’t stirred right. At this point I just want a good drink for the night. We drove back to McD’s, went in, and they apologetically made me a new one (a medium size too). The girl behind the counter said ‘this doesn’t even look right, it’s not the right color at all.’ After going back to the hotel with good drink in hand we watched the unbelievable end to the Cardinals game before hitting the hay.

Today we traveled 217 miles across America for a total of 4,437.8 miles on leg 2 and a grand total of 14,962.5 miles across America.

Day 14 (48): Petrified Forest, Meteor Crater & Flagstaff, AZ

We woke up today feeling even worse than the day before. The Alka Seltzer helps but can’t cure it all. Thankfully we had already planned for a relatively short day. It was only about 40 miles to our first big stop, the Petrified Forest. After getting delicious donuts at a local donut shop we went on our way and made it to the park quickly. We stopped at the little visitor’s center and headed into the park. The north side is actually “Painted Desert”, with spectacular views of layers of colors. They have a historic building on property too, an inn, that was pretty neat. It was built by the CCC in the 20s and features a hand painted stained glass ceiling.

We kept driving through the park, mostly just looking out the window (and feeling like crap) until we came to the Route 66 marker. They have an old car out there:

You can see the telephone pole behind our heads; it runs perpendicular to where we were standing and the road to the left.

We went on, stopping at some ruins and petroglyphs. At the petroglyphs site we saw a couple WAY out in the middle of the field. When you enter the park they give you a green card that says “DO NOT…” and it tells you what you are not allowed to do and the fines associated with violating those rules. They include DO NOT take any petrified would or artifacts, DO NOT get off paved surfaces when paved surfaces are available, etc. Well these people were off the paved surface, by a lot. The card also gives you a phone number to call and report violators. We called and reported. We didn’t stick around to see the action but I’m hoping they got a fine. I mean, they give you the rules when you enter, and they are posted all over the place. Moving on…

While at the petroglyphs we also saw our first (of many) ravens which was cool. We kept driving through the park, seeing more beautiful color striated hills before doing a drive through of a large petrified forest collection. One pull off had a log there:

We went further and stopped at another area full of logs which was really cool. We ended the park trip by going to the visitors center at the other end and looking at fossils. They had a big book there of letters from visitors who had taken petrified pieces and wanted to return them. Aside from being against the law, several ‘thieves’ claimed unending bad luck since taking the pieces.

You can purchase petrified wood at lots of roadside stands. These are pieces collected from private land. Petrified wood is made by trees that have died and fallen into a river or stream bed that is rich in silica. A lack of oxygen prevents them from decaying and the silica turns them into stone. Volcanic ash is the source for the silica. They referenced that the many trees downed in the Mt. St. Helens blast may one day become petrified if the conditions remain right.

We pushed on down the road, stopping west of Winslow, AZ to see the meteor crater. Again, super cool. This is on private land and costs a little to get in but was worth it. When we got to the rim the wind had started to pick up and really started to blow:

They have a nice little museum and the largest piece found left of the crater:

Another thanks to one of my teachers, Jane, who told me about this spot…it was SUPER cool. The meteor hit the earth about 50,000 years ago at a speed of more than 46,000 mph. The entry into Earth and subsequent impact destroyed most of the meteor; the largest piece of the 150 ft diameter rock being displayed in the museum. To put value to the size, you could play 20 football games inside, simultaneously, while 2 million spectators sat on the walls. If you ever go through the area it’s worth the one-hour stop. We checked out their astronaut wall of fame before hitting the road towards Flagstaff, AZ.

We stopped for the night in Flagstaff, eating at an authentic Mexican restaurant as recommended by those on Yelp. Unfortunately, like the Stockyard Cafe, it was only so-so. We finished with a trip to Coldstone Creamery before hitting the hay.

Today we traveled 200.5 miles across America for a total of 4,220.8 miles on leg 2 and a grand total of 14,745.5 miles across America.

Day 13 (47): Cadillac Ranch & Gallup, NM

We got up and packed around 8 before enjoying the continental breakfast and hitting the road again. All day yesterday Devin had been complaining about feeling a little achy and stuffed up. Today it hit me. We had obviously been out in the cold and rain for days, so we figured it was the aftermath of that. Later that day Dustin texted us and said he got what Cassie had; our reply “Us too.” Outside of not feeling well the driving was really uneventful. 

Devin is a big fan of Man vs. Food, where the host takes on eating challenges across the country. We were coming up to Amarillo, home of the Big Texas 72oz steak challenge. You may be familiar with said challenge. This Big Texas is housed in Amarillo, TX, right where we were going through. After doing some research on Yelp and the MVF website, we decided against the restaurant with the challenge and instead went to the Stockyard Cafe. The Stockyard Cafe was featured on MVF and reviews on Yelp as “Best Chicken Fried Steak anywhere.” As you may have picked up in past blog posts, Devin LOVES chicken fried steak.

We followed the gps directions into a slightly questionable part of town and then into a stock yard. Right in the middle. This little cafe is attached to the stockyard management building. We had to sit in the smoking section (although no one was smoking) because the place was packed. We split cheese fries and he got the chicken fried steak and I the hamburger steak. Well, unfortunately neither was anything to write home about. His was good but he still thinks the one in Hill City, SD is the best. This place does give free dessert but we were so full we opted out. 

Just outside of Amarillo is also the Cadillac Ranch. Again, you may be familiar:

Can you find Mini-B?

Thanks to Angie for showing us RoadsideAmerica.com or we would have missed it! No road trip down I-40 is complete without a stop there, it’s iconic roadtrip!

Eventually we crossed through Texas and into New Mexico. I-40 follows old Rte 66, but much of the mother road is gone now. We passed through Albuquerque and were feeling good (as far as driving was concerned) and decided to keep going. We stopped in a small town past Albuquerque at a Wal-Mart and got Alka Seltzer Cold & some cough drops. We had our sights on Gallup, NM, right near the NM/AZ border. We finally arrived and stopped at a travel station just off the interstate for another one of those coupon books to make our hotel (which we’d picked out and gotten the coupon hint in online reviews) a lot cheaper. After checking in to the hotel we went to the truck stop at the exit and got their soup and salad bar. It was really delicious, especially after such a heavy lunch. By the time we made it back to the hotel we crashed out.

Today we traveled 708.8 miles across America for a total of 4,020.3 miles on leg 2 and a grand total of 14,545.0 miles across America.