Thor's Outdoors!: F & T road trip 2014 starts!

Texas is soooooo big - Dec 20, 2014

After arriving the previous afternoon and having taken care of the most important errands like acquiring a brand new iPhone and and an Xbox game controller, my nephew Filip was ready to join me on an epic road trip through the southwest of the US! We had aimed to set off early and managed to leave by the respectable hour of 7:30 and were in great spirits but 20 miles in to the journey we were caught in terrible traffic on Interstate 45 heading north out of Houston. We managed to move 1.5 miles in about 50 minutes but after that setback we quickly covered plenty of ground. We were aiming to get well into New Mexico by nightfall so stops were minimised until we got to Amarillo. Although… we did stop for gasoline in Corsicana where Filip asked me “Do you know what is a corn dog?”. We looked to see if we could find one so we could satisfy his curiosity, but without luck, and despite my attempts of discouragement, he settled for a burrito from Taco Bell instead. Perfect American road trip fare, right?

The Flying Dutchman Arrives!

Do you know what is a ... Corn Dog?

North Texas roadscape

Amarillo though! I was expecting vast fields of yellow flowers but instead saw one giant highway with lots of billboards and tall fast food signs instead. We passed the famous Big Texan tourist trap and headed straight for the wonderful Nordic Galley Bakeri before they closed. We managed to get there just in time by 17:30 and met my friend Eriks wonderful mother and family that run the bakery. We were treated like royalty, fed a delicious meal with apple tart for dessert and after exchanging stories were sent off with a giant bag full of treats for the coming days. On our way out of town we stopped by cadillac ranch and managed to have a quick look by the light of our flashlights but the wind was biting cold. We left Amarillo and the fragrance of feed lots behind us and soon entered the land of enchantment! It was time to put as many miles behind us as possible, and managed to get to Santa Rosa and our nice little motel room by about 10pm, and settled down for the night.

The wonderful Joni at Nordic Galley Bakeri in Amarillo!

Cadillac Ranch by night

Timelapses, four corners and shotgun holes! - Dec 21, 2014

We’d agreed to rise early and set off at the crack of dawn, managing to pull out of Santa Rosa by 6am. Eager to test our photography equipment, Filip set up a GoPro to take a time-lapse of the car interior while we were driving, and later on the outside to show the road from New Mexico north into Colorado. We stopped in Albuquerque quickly for a mocha and some hot chocolate to go with the delicious muffins that Joni in Amarillo had given us the evening before. The scenery in New Mexico was beautiful, with mesas, ridges, and snow dusted mountain tops in the distance. The road straightened out as we got further north and after crossing the continental divide not once but twice we ended up on a smaller rural road sneaking into Colorado almost without us noticing it. We did however stop for the obligatory photo by the ‘Welcome to ___ enter state here’ sign. It was the first time for either Filip or I in the colourful state!

Seen along the road in New Mexico - a giant Kever!

Ninja moves trying to avoid the sticky mud in Colorado

We quickly reached our target of Mesa Verde national park and climbed up the mesa and through the burnt forest sections arriving at Chapin Mesa museum in time for the 13:00 tour. It was a pretty large group of 73 that joined us and Ranger Kaitlin on the short stroll down to Spruce Tree House, an ancient Pueblo people dwelling built into the cliffs below the mesa. We had a great time learning about the lifestyle of the people that had lived there 800 years earlier, and finding features such as paintings in the plaster of the interior walls of the structures, and how the ventilation chimneys worked for the ‘kivas’ where the families would gather in groups. We met some interesting people on the tour also, including two women from the USA national rugby team, and David from Seattle who had spent time in Poland teaching workshops there on traditional methods of native americans for cooking and healing. Having gotten our fill of the cliff dwellings, Filip and I decided to hurry onwards and westwards while the sun was still out and try to get to Monument Valley by sunset. Again we stopped by another beautiful Welcome sign, this time on the border to Utah. Crazy though was that the sign was riddled with bullet holes from shotguns! Coloradans must be trying to send a message to their Utahn neighbours… We kept going and arrived after sunset but before twilight so just got to see the contours of the famous mesas of monument valley. We’re excited though about the prospect of some delightful sunrise views instead! We toured the facilities that Gouldings trading post had to offer where were staying, and barely had anything for dinner with neither of us very hungry after two days of mostly sitting on our butts. Tomorrow though, finally some proper hiking in store up at Arches national park!