Installment #2
Here’s the link to the pictures again: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Aas2Tlq5ZsWLio
Day 4
Monday we awoke around 7:30, so as to get on the road by 8. After stopping by McDonalds for some of the worst coffee you could possibly imagine, we were quickly heading towards Oklahoma…I mean it was pretty disgusting coffee…but of course we drank it. So I was pretty excited about this days drive because it was all uncharted territory for me. I had never been west of the Mississippi on I-40 before. So new states to add to the list and new landscapes to see (thus far I’ve been to 39 of the 50 states). Unfortunately driving through Oklahoma and Northern Texas are far from exciting. When you enter Oklahoma, the sign says “Welcome to Oklahoma, Discover the Excellence”. Now I’m not sure about you, but I had never heard of anything excellent residing in Oklahoma. And at this point I’m pretty positive there’s nothing excellent along the I-40 Corridor…especially not in Oklahoma City…yikes!! So after lunch I decided that it was a perfect time for a nap before we got to Amarillo, TX where we were scheduled to stop at a State Park and camp for the night…and it was Karen’s turn to drive as I had driven from Conway to OK City. About two hours later I was awake and switching seats with Karen. Apparently my nap was making her extremely sleepy. So feeling refreshed I took over the helm again. When we got to Amarillo around 5pm, I suggested that we keep going. There wasn’t really anything there we wanted to see, it just happened to be the middle point of Conway, AR and Flagstaff, AZ, our next major destination. So we decided to keep moving. About 4 or 5 hours later, we rolled into Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wow!! What a day…I think I ended up driving for around 9 or 10 hours…now let’s go to sleep.
Day 5
After a refreshing breakfast at the Waffle House attached to our hotel, we hit the road again. Albuquerque was a refreshing site as it sits at about 5,000 ft above sea level, surrounded by some pretty impressive mountains. We finally made it to the high desert!! This day was a day like no other. We saw some of the most amazing terrain and rock structures imaginable. It was like something out of a movie or a picture…red rock mesas, tumble weeds, high mountains in the distance, and great expanses with absolutely nothing in sight. Just after we entered into Arizona, we stopped at the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park. There is an exit right off the freeway which makes it super convenient. Our friend Stephanie (check out the link to her blog) who lives in San Diego recommended that check it out on our way. So for about an hour we did the 20 mile driving tour through some amazing landscapes. For more information on the park, check out http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm. It was a straight shoot from the South Entrance of the park to Flagstaff. We made hotel reservations from the road and pulled into town around 4pm. Man it was good to be in Flagstaff. We were planning on spending 3 nights here…our vacation destination. Ironically, our friends James and Audrey (both Wilkes natives and NC State grads) were finishing up their stint with the Nevada Conservation Corps and happened to be passing through Flagstaff at the same time we were. So we planned to spend our time in Flagstaff together. I ask you, what could be better than four people and a huge dog in a tiny, ghetto motel room?? You guessed it…the only that could be better would be if I could talk everyone into going climbing tomorrow. After a few beers and some catching up, they had all fallen victim to my manipulating nature and our plans to go climbing tomorrow were set. Sweet!!
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