23
Feb

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

By: muttler
palm springs
united states

 

21/02/2022

Today was just a long day. Basically, today was a driving day to get from the Grand Canyon to Palm Springs… about a 7 hour haul. But it had to be done.

Me being the early riser though, I was awake before the sun was up, so decided to rug up and leg it to the canyon rim. So while the sun came up, I wandered along the south rim for an hour or so, watching the sun start to bring shadow and then colour into the canyon walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got back to the room where I warmed up and we got ourselves organised to hit the road. We stopped by another spot on the rim for some final morning photos and then got at it.

So there is not much to report from this day. 7 hours is a lot of driving. One of the highlights is that we got on to some historic parts of Route 66. In fact, one town that we stopped in was Seligman AZ, which is noted as being a main inspiration for the Pixar film Cars. Why you ask? Well, when the new highway opened, just near the town, the town went from being a main stop for people to being bypassed completely.

 

 

 

 

The main street of the town indeed had some elements of Radiator Springs from the film Cars… the diner, the old school motel. We were actually planning to have an early lunch at the (in)famous diner, however sadly it was closed for the month and not to reopen until next week. Oh well, we tried to do our bit for the town.

 

 

So after a bit of getting our kicks on Route 66, we got back on the main road and headed on. Given the diner was closed, I was very happy to find a highway-side In-n-Out Burger joint which I gotta say… I am so going to miss these burgers when we head home 🙁

 

 

 

This was by far our toughest day of driving. Not only the time spent on the road, but also this part of Arizona was not really the most picturesque scenery we had seen, nor was the part of California that we ventured in to.

The other thing was that it was windy. Not windy, it was WINDY. Relentlessly so. But we soldiered on and by about 4:30pm we arrived into Palm Springs.

We grew fond of Palm Springs on a previous visit so were keen to unwind here for a few days. Our hotel was a charming Spanish-style building kept in quite original condition. After checking we went for a walk downtown to stretch the legs and have a cheeky beer to unwind.

 

 

 

When we got back to the hotel we were greeted with a couple of glasses of champers to celebrate Kate’s birthday, and then it was time to relax.

Read More Get Your Kicks on Route 66
22
Feb

Now, That IS A Grand Canyon

By: muttler
grand canyon
united states

 

20/02/2022

We said farewell to Monument Valley this morning and started on our way South West, leaving Utah for good and spending our time driving through Arizona. The landscape, while still new and different, was less interesting than in Utah.

That was OK though, as we had a fairly easy 2 hour drive to arrive at our destination… the Grand Canyon!

 

 

We can in from the East, which sent us along the South Rim, so after officially entering the park, our first glimpse of the canyon was not what most people see (who come up the main road from the south), rather it was at Desert View.

Now I had visited the Grand Canyon before, albeit 25 years ago! But this was Kate’s first visit. And indeed we both agreed… this was a pretty grand canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we made our way along the south rim towards the main village area, stopping at each stop to get different views of the canyon and the Colorado River carving its way through. The view never gets old.

We parked at the main Village and wandered into the visitors centre. Unlike all the other parks, that were in off-season mode, the Grand Canyon was still in the midst of tourist season. I’m not sure it’s never in full tourist season.

What that meant was a few things. First of all, more people than we had seen in the past 2 weeks which was a bit of a shock. Secondly, I am not sure if it is a reflection of the state of Arizona, the changing circumstances, or what, but it seemed the “mask mandate in public areas of national parks” was not really being followed by 90% of people. Hhhmmm. Third, we were resigned to parking the car and using the park shuttle service. While in every other park the shuttles were parked for the winter, it seemed the amount of visitors here meant they were still going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was OK, we waited for the next and made the way to out next lookout, Yaki Point. What was good about Yaki is that it is a bit removed from the other lookout so there was not too many people. Because of that we took the time to sit and relax and soak up the views.

We took the bus back a little way and then walked the rest, along the rim. Our accomodation was in the park at one of the lodges, so we grabbed the car and checked in to our room. But it was about 5:30pm, so we headed back out to check out sunset and another of the view points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was gorgeous. Not too busy either which was nice. The sun dropped below the horizon, as did the temperature, so we headed back to the room to relax for the night.

Read More Now, That IS A Grand Canyon
19
Feb

The Searchers

By: muttler
monument valley
united states

 

19/02/2022

An early morning this morning, as we got up on sunrise to join our one and only organised tour of the trip. We thought it best to take a Navajo organised tour of Monument Valley today for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it would get us into some of the out back areas that you need a guide for. Secondly, in the current era, only 5 cars per hour were being let on to the main drive of Monument Valley. So a tour it was!

 

 

I was up before sunrise, and was thankful for our “valley view” room. Not bad seeing the sun come up over some of the landscape.

At 7:45 am we met up with our guide and the rest of the group, piled into our jeep and headed off. We did a quick stop to check out a Navajo Hogan, a traditional hut made of juniper tree logs and mud. We were told that some of the Navajo people of the area still live in them, although many now take advantage of modern facilities.

From there it was into Monument Valley proper. I was worried this would be “more of the same” having been to so many parks and seen so much countryside over the past 2 weeks, but it had a different feel again. Now THIS was the landscape of those 40s-60s westerns that we all know. Indeed, there are tributes to John Wayne and John Ford all over the place. As such, there was a weird familiarity with the place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour was predominantly spent in the jeep, on the dusty trails, being pointed out to all the different “monuments”. Unlike the other parks, Monument Valley is mostly barren red landscape, with towering rocks coming out. Each have their own “personality” of sorts as well as quirky names. So we wound our way on the trail, stopping periodically to get more info and for scenic photos.

At times we were able to get off the main track into private Navajo land, a big reason for the tour. On those tracks we got to see a number of pectroglyphs, that unlike others we had seen in our travels, we were able to get right up to, given the private land we were on. We also saw several arches, one of which we were pointed out looked just like an eagle (see if you can work it out from the pictures below… hint, look for a blue eye and the curve of the beak).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tour went for 3.5 hours and took its time through. It was stunning landscape, and I could see why many people make the trip, especially evoking Hollywood of the past.

This meant we were done by lunchtime. Unlike the other parks, hiking is not really a thing here, so we decided to drive on a few of the public roads to get some better views of the monuments from different angles.

 

 

 

 

 

We also came across the spot where Forrest Gump famously ended his cross country running. We roughly knew where the spot was, but it was easy to find… just look for all the people standing in the middle of the road!

 

 

 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the gorgeous vistas. The hotel also shows a John Wayne film each night, with tonight being Stagecoach, so I decided to settle in for the night with the seminal 19030’s western (sadly The Searchers was the night before). Tomorrow it is heading back west for the Grand Canyon!

Read More The Searchers
19
Feb

From Mesas to Monuments

By: muttler
mesa verde
monument valley
united states

 

18/02/2022

Today was another predominantly travel day, from Moab to Monument Valley. Total travel time was around 4.5 hours, but we had two stops planned.

First destination was to Mesa Verde National Park. This was in many respects the main park that Kate wanted to visit. But we also knew this would be the most compromised by our timing. While all the other parks didn’t have too much off limits being winter (in fact it had been SO MUCH better, with the small crowds), Mesa Verde we knew would have many parts closed for the Winter. This sadly included the guided tours into the Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings that the park is most famous for. But we knew this, which is why we elected to visit on a travel day, as we had seen that about 3-4 hours would be enough to explore what we could.

 

 

Yet another different vibe in this park. First of all, it was in the mountains and covered in snow! Thankfully the gorgeous weather of the last couple of weeks translated to clear roads so we had no troubles heading up the mountain. Secondly, this park is less of a hiking park, and more explore the ancient sites. The ost spectacular of these are the numerous cliff dwellings that can be seen incredibly perched within the cliff faces themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They date from more than 700 years ago and it is mind boggling to think how on earth they were lived in. Apparently there were hand and foot holes within the cliff face to get up and down. I’m brave, but not sure that brave!

We did the scenic drive to the different sites, taking our time to explore what we could. 4 hours disappeared in the blink of an eye, and so we headed down the mountain and off to our next stop.

 

 

Next stop was a minor diversion, but a fun one. Who could resist visiting the point at which four different states meet! With just 10 minutes to spare before it was closed, we arrived at the Four States monument. Here, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. So technically we have now visited New Mexico too 😛

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It made for some cute, kitschy, photos, and thankfully 10 minutes was all we needed.

With the sun going down we were back into Arizona (and then Utah) and those familiar red rocks reappeared. This time a bit different though as it was more the classic “cowboy” landscape of those 50’s films. We arrived into Monument Valley itself, staying at Gouldings Lodge, previously used to house all the movie stars who would make their way out here to shoot their films.

 

 

 

Two nights here would mean a full day of exploring tomorrow!

Read More From Mesas to Monuments
18
Feb

Arches! Arches! Arches!

By: muttler
arches national park
moab
united states

 

17/02/2022

Today was exciting as we were visiting Arches National Park, high up on the list of both Kate and I. It is also one of the most popular parks in the country, so much so that from April you need to pre-book your visit. Crazy!

Thankfully for us, Winter = Low Season, so we were 2 of only probably a few hundred that decided to visit.

 

 

Arches is just 5 minutes from Moab, so in no time at all we were in the park. We were excited about the park for a couple of reasons. First of all, the images we had seen of the titular Arches looked amazing. And we knew we could explore the arches and their surrounds. But also secondly, Arches is the filming location for the awesome opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where young Indy gets the taste for adventure.

Many of the Indy sites were on the way into the park proper. Below are a bunch of classic shots from the opening… the credits as well some of young Indy’s adventure. A good site for reference is this one where you will see the shots as they are in the film. Then you can check out our shots below 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These shots were of well known formations in the early part of the park, including “The Organ”, “The Three Gossips” and “The Balanced Rock”.

 

 

 

 

 

From there, we started to come to the famous Arches. In fact the rest of the day was spent visiting the arches… sometimes from lookouts, and sometimes from short hikes to them.

What I LOVE about this park is that it almost has a playful quality, as while it asks you to stay on the trails, the trails are plentiful and you can get up close with almost all arches, and even make your way through them! So very often a short 15-30 minute hike could get you right under the arch itself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here are a bunch of photos of the arches and exploring them. I won’t bore you with all the blow-by-blow of arches, rather just enjoy the scenery 🙂

 

 

As a bit of a bonus, we visited a small collection of petroglyphs!

In the blink of an eye we had spent about 8 hours, and the sun was close to setting. As it had been a long day we decided to drive back into town and have an early dinner. I was intrigued by the old school looking Moab Diner to see if we could get a bit of a proper diner experience. While it probably had a little more sheen on it than some country diners, it was pretty good. Fast food, pretty delicious, attentive server, and drink refills.

 

 

 

I decided to give their “signature” green chili open burger a crack. The chili was not super hot but nice and tasty. So while technically this can be included in my burger challenge, it is a bit unfair to compare it as it was more a platform to enjoy the local chili. Mmmm.

Back to a big driving day tomorrow. Off to Monument Valley via Mesa Verde!

Read More Arches! Arches! Arches!