Dinosaurs mean a lot of different things to different people. To children, they are awesome monsters and rubber toys. To the movie buff, they mean Jurassic Park and apocalyptic fears of science. To Young Earth creationists, they are the embodiment of biblical monsters that roamed the earth beside humans for the 6,000 years that the world existed.
Though we do live in an old van under a bridge, we do—on very rare occasion—take a shower and do something cultured. For our annual show, we decided to celebrate by visiting the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA. It is one of the most beautifully composed gardens we have visited. It boasts vistas one can just sit...muse...or have our version of business meetings. We have the best business meetings.
There's a lot of vineyards for sale in Paso Robles. With those rolling hills and coastal breezes, I can think of few better places to park my retro van and just relax. Then again, it's not as if relaxation requires you to be a land owner. This is wine country, after all, and many a winery has a tasting room open for your education and delight. Of course, we focused on Zinfandels. There are vines in Paso Robles that survived prohibition and there are wineries that have continued the traditions of wine making in Paso Robles. We were fans.
Well, this is it, guys, the end of Route 66. Ignore that we only picked it up in Oklahoma City and missed everything to the north east. Ignore that we never attempted to spend more than the token amount of time driving the original route, rather than I-40. Ignore our frequent deviations from the route for one stop or another. Instead, bask with us in the sun of the clear crisp day that we walked down Santa Monica Pier to the Pacific Ocean and arbitrarily decided that this meant we had completed our journey.
Finally, we make it to Southern California and weather befitting civilized society. We shrugged off our coats and scarfs to go shopping for sunglasses and eating sushi.
I really have quite little experience with Arizona and, like Texas and New Mexico, I assumed that south meant warm. Yet, after a few nights on the road, like Texas and New Mexico, I had learned that elevation is rather critical. Thus, last night, we bedded down in Cottonwood, just south of Flagstaff, Arizona. The partner had advocated for saving the drive from Flagstaff to Cottonwood for the next morning so that we could enjoy the scenery. Yet, I won out with the point that Cottonwood is more than half the elevation of Flagstaff. And what a sweet victory it was. For the first time on this leg of the trip, we slept where the lowest temperature was above freezing, where our winter coats were sufficient in maintaining a comfortable body temperature, and where the walk across the parking lot to the Walmart restrooms was only a minor inconvenience. To my mind, were were in heaven. It is, after all, the small things that count.
Hike past petroglyphs, historic route markings, and graffiti around the iconic cliffs of this box canyon at El Morro National Monument in New Mexico.
Palo Duro Canyon is the Grand Canyon of Texas. While, in this rare case, Texas size isn't the biggest, it certainly is still impressive. Back in the day, the steep walls of the canyon also made for effective fencing, as ranchers kept their steer in the canyon. Today, it is a park where visitors can camp, hike, and come for the occasional activity set in the park. We came for the hiking, but didn't say "no" to the opportunity of snapping a picture of a rare longhorn.
The Big Texan Steakhouse is not an eatery to be found. It is an eatery that proclaims its presence with ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and multiple exclamation marks and offers up every reason to make your next meal there. As soon as we crossed into Texas, we knew that there was a massive tourist trap outside of Amarillo that offered a 72 oz. steak to anyone who could eat the whole thing in the course of an hour. We knew this because every other bill board from the Oklahoma-Texas border to Amarillo said so. Given that we were on a quest to experience the delights and uniqueness of each region, it only made sense to eat a massive steak in Texas. Granted, even between the two of us, there is no way we could have eaten a 72 ounce steak. So we decided to keep it simple by just ordering the 40 oz. "Dallas" cut.
We are coming back here.
Hot Springs is a National Park.
Hot Springs has historic spas.
Hot Springs has a historic spa that continues to be open to customers. I want to be one of those customers. Sadly, we only had time to see, not soak.
Next time.
Next time.