Now that we've been back in school a few days (over a week for Annie!), I'm finally getting around to blogging about our summer vacation. Hey, it's only been a month since we got back!
I firmly believe the ONLY way to have the supreme summer vacation experience is to road trip.
We're such hardcore roadtrippers that we packed our iceboxes so we could spend more time on the road and less in the McDonald's drive thru (eww).
The Nockinbirds were headed west for our first real summer roadtrip. We sailed through Abilene, got turned around in Lubbock (Loverboy and I had some issues to work out about pilot/co-pilot navigations). Yes, lovely flat Lubbock. Somehow the loop (a loop around Lubbock...who knew?) we were supposed to take took us right through downtown (Lubbock has a downtown...who knew?). So three extra minutes were lost. We found a lovely picnic spot right by the highway in Post. Cute little park with a water feature. They had a sign that said no swimming or boating. They needed that sign for a nice sized stock tank? Really?
It gave us (well, Annie) a chance to run around and stretch our legs.
And interact with water fowl.
Interesting backyard of a house across the street from the park.
Then it was on to Muleshoe!!
The lady working at the gift shop\info center was very sweet and offered to take our picture with THE mule of Muleshoe. We actually passed it on our first drag through town. Loverboy remembered it being hugely huge when his family would stop there on their way to New Mexico.
We kissed THE Muleshoe mule for luck on our adventure. We kissed that mule quite a bit actually, looking back at the photos. We are nothing if not devoted to family traditions (Loverboy's tradition, not mine. My mother asked that we take a picture there just to prove that there really IS a Muleshoe, TX).
The Muleshoe of Muleshoe was more visible from the road.
I think it was an odd Eagle Scout project, though.
An "m" of muleshoes
They were open, but we didn't have time in intinerary to go through the Heritage Center. It looked like a well done museum. Maybe next time.
We powered on through to Santa Fe. Road trip...endurance test...it's all good. We set off to find the best green chile cheeseburger, and we did at
Bobcat Bite. Tiny place...maybe 15 tables, but big, delicious burger.
New Mexico was off to a good start for the Nockinbirds.
Next door to our motel (more on it later) was
Jackalope. So we traipsed over there first thing the next morning, before anyplace else was open.
Annie with THE Jackalope.
Pots taller than she is!
Glass blower!
Strange assortment of animals...for sale?
Lots of buildings, tents, stands full of all kinds of wonderous things for home, garden, self. Even Loverboy enjoyed our shopping interlude.
But we had a living history museum complex to explore. On to
El Rancho de las Golondrinas !
Annie was not initially excited by the historical significance and opportunities for learning.
Though we did find a photo op that she enjoyed just inside that gates.
She didn't have any trouble going through the doorways connecting rooms around the courtyard.
She did like the building that was the "home"of Josefina and her family of American Doll fame.
And we watched the sheep for a while.
She found an ancient oak tree to climb after enduring my exuberance for history of the place.
I really want to go back...when it's cooler.
Then it was on to downtown Santa Fe and the Plaza. All smiles outside the Palace of the Governors.
More smiles and happy tummies at the Plaza Cafe. Green chile pork enchiladas, mmmmm.
We strolled around, taking in the sights...
Annie, pondering the miraculousness of it all.
We wandered a bit more, then retired to our temporary home at the
Silver Saddle Motel.
Tripadvisor did not steer me wrong on our lodging for this adventure. Kitschy wonderfullness at the Silver Saddle and unbelivably nice people running it.
We stayed in the Lone Ranger room.
The rooms were...basic. But perfectly comfortable.
It was very well maintained.
If I go back to Santa Fe, I know where I'm staying.
But on to Colorado and Mesa Verde!
We lucked into finding a fantastic park for a picnic lunch again. This time in Aztec, NM.
They had a local history museum, creek, playground, and waterpark. We could have stayed longer, but the road beckoned!
I had never driven moutainous roads...now I have.
And through a tunnel (windshield picture, complete with bird poo).
We made it to the top and got our bearings on what we wanted to/could do at Mesa Verde.
We went with the flat-ish tours...
but
somebody gave out pretty quickly. I wish I'd known this was an option. I'd have beaten her to it.
We even saw some (wild?) horses grazing about. They were shy and wouldn't look at the camera.
Cliff Palace. I'm not going to even go into the questions I have about who exactly said "Hey! I know...lets build our homes on cliffs! Our dumber kids will tumble off the sides and cleanse our gene pool!" Or who exactly agreed to said venture. I
know (because I read the interpretive signs) they general why they did, and how they did...but
really?
Loverboy was eating this all up.
I guess we all were, really. Look at us! Aren't we having fun?!!
It rained on us, very briefly, everyday! At the Plaza in Santa Fe, leaving Mesa Verde for Cortez...
We found more good Mexican food in Cortez, CO, to keep Loverboy hap-hap-happy. Cute town, no time to explore though.
They served some kind of weird slaw (cabbage, green olives, carrots, some kind of dressing) with the hot sauce and chips. I liked it.
Again, thank you Tripadvisor. We stayed the night at the Tomahawk Motel. The Polish couple running it were so...nice doesn't begin to cover it. Friendly and anxious to make sure we were happy. Their two Great Danes were also friendly and gave Annie a vacation puppy fix.
We up and on the road early the next morning to see the spot that started the planning of this whole vacation--the Four Corners. Annie had studied it both in kindergarten and in 1st grade. I'd never been there...and so it began.
Look!! She's actually NO WHERE!! The point where four corners meet...
Now she's in four states at the same time!!
I had never been to Colorado (I know!) or Utah before this. Frankly I was only in Utah when we walked around the plaza perusing the wares set out for the tourist trade.
A couple of college-y looking girls offered to take our picture. So sweet. We ran into them again a few hours later at...
the Grand Canyon! Take it from me (and my buddy Tripadvisor), if you're going to the South Rim in the summer, use the East Entrance into the park. No line to buy your way in at the booth, and you're right at the Desert View Tower.
See the rain? It's coming.
Annie and I braved the other tourists and the narrow staircase (and the 84 steps) to go up to the top of the tower.
Loverboy did not.
Amazing views (like they're not all amazing at the Grand Canyon!).
Then we were off to the next scenic overlook on the 25 mile road to the main visitor's center.
I'm sure it was lovely at the next stop...but that's when it began to rain...
and hail.
Hail! At the Grand Canyon! In July!!
I know, it's a lot of pictures...but you try to choose which ones to put in/leave out! Is this prettier than this? Which is more awe inspiring. Sheesh.
It was pretty soggy everywhere at the park.
More of our adorable cuteness among nature's majesty.
Hey! I wore this shirt to school today. Ugh. There went my rosy summer vacation glow I'd worked back up looking at these pictures.
At the visitor's center there were lots of activities to choose from. Annie wanted to become a Junior Ranger, so we had to attend a Ranger lecture and do some other fun stuff.
We learned the "rule of thumb" about wildlife. You are too close if a wild animal is visible behind your upheld thumb held out at arms length. Apparently that includes squirrels. They had 30 people bitten by squirrels in one day.
My baby, being sworn in as an official Junior Ranger!
And the beauty continues...
This should have been our warning that she was reaching the limit of fun adventure vacation endurance...
I am not a lover of heights, even less so when my baby is this close to the edge of the Grand Canyon...even with fencing.
Look out!!!! Rule of thumb, too close!!!!
If you look in the right third of the picture, a little below center, you'll see the back end of a menacing chipmunk that showed no fear, only frustration no one would feed him/her (I was breaking the rule of thumb, but I wasn't going to get close to figure
that out!).
She looks happy here with her Junior Ranger bear...the exhaustion puking would wait until we were driving to our hotel in William, AZ.
Once she'd tossed her exhausted cookies, however, she dove into her burger and fries from the retro Dairy Queen. We stayed at the Motel 6...which was a Motel 6. Enough said. Annie picked this one out when I was reserving our trip. I showed the websites for the Silver Saddle and Tomahawk. She suggested to me that "Hampton Inns are nice, I hear." So in Williams, we went with name recognition for a room.
Williams, AZ looked wonderfully retro. I'd like to go back when we could actually look around some more. But our next adventure awaited...
actually in Williams, AZ. Just down from our hotel.
Bearizona, baby!! It took some convincing of Annie that there were no bears loose outside the park to get out and take this picture.
A drive-thru (certainly with the windows up!) wildlife park. Bison, white bison, bighorn sheep, arctic wolves, I don't remember what all else. We were there to see some bears! And we were not disappointed!
We called this one "Comedy Bear" because of the way he was sitting up, scratching himself, just acting all bear-y cute.
Lots of bears. Lots. They seemed happy enough. They were eating oranges.
After a poptart breakfast picnic...
we fed Annie to a bear! No...we went to the walk-thru zoo part.
Probably not a good idea to get this close to a nesting eagle...but she shouldn't have built her nest on the way to the ladies room.
I don't even know what these things are. But they were fluffy and you could pet them, so you know Annie was all over them.
We saw the bobcats being fed hamburger (remember we had a hamburger at Bobcat Bite!)
Where there's one bunny...
there's bound to be more.
Foxey-loxies.
On to the petting zoo.
People in Texas shoot these things on sight!!
We visited the "K-12" school of juvenile bears.
And walked through the "cave" to see where they sleep.
Next, we spent a lot of time watching the "preschool" bears frolic.
And watched them trying to escape.
We agreed they were the best part!
The raccoons were entertaining.
The porcupine kept its distance. Thank you Mr. (or Ms.--again, not going to get close enough to tell) Porcupine.
Frolicking beavers.
So much to see, so little time!
But there's always time for a gift shop visit!
Back in the car! Back on the road! Next stop...
Meteor Crater!
Just a bit of a drive off the highway.
An entertaining place...to just be a gigantic hole in the ground.
Then it was on to Albuquerque. We stayed downtown at
Hotel Blue. Not perhaps the most savory part of the city, but all the downtown excitement was right there! On old Route 66. The hotel had Tempurpedic beds, which Annie found entertaining. She would jump from bed to bed, face-planting and laughing because the beds didn't bounce at all. Ah, the little things. The room also had an electric fireplace below the TV in the entertainment center. Since it was a bazillion degrees outside, we didn't use it.
We had dinner directly across the street at an Italian restaurant in that white building. We went off in search of a Mexican restaurant I'd read good reviews of...but apparently it closes early in the evening, and given the looks of the neighborhood it was in, I understand why.
But we got to eat really good Italian food at
Capo's and sat out on the patio. It had started to cool down by then.
We were basking in sated serenity, enjoying the peaceful garden and splashig fountain, taking it all in, when an alley cat hopped over the wall, and relieved itself in the landscaping between us and the next table. But, seriously, the food was great!
The next morning, it was time to head home!
As we tootled along the highway across New Mexico, I spotted a sadly now rare roadside beacon: Stuckey's!! Pecan log rolls!!!
This one's for my departed "other mother" Jane Gandy, Queen of the Road Trip and devoted Stuckey's stopper.
We were closing in on Texas, when lured off the road in Clovis by the promise of Leal's Mexican Food heaven.
So yum.
Now we were powered up for the long stretch ahead.
We had to make a quick stop in Muleshoe, though. Those kisses on our way out worked some magic on this amazingly awesome road trip odyssey around the southwest. We had to pay homage in gratitude and get a little more luck for the seven hour drive still ahead of us!
And we made it. With only the barest minimum of whining, squabling, how-much-furthering, I-need-to-use-the-bathroom-right-nowing...
Even enough energy left over to go to town the next day for a snowcone fix.
Well, Annie had enough energy. I couldn't get out of the car I was so stove up from driving all the day before, so she had to get out and get it on her own!
Best road trip ever.
