The USA Road Trip
Day 7 Eagle to
Albuquerque
With heavy hearts we left Tanya, Troy and the kids and
headed South to Albuquerque and the next part of our journey. Once again the drive was fantastic, we passed
over the Rocky Mountains at a height of 4000 metres and then started to head
down into the deserts of New Mexico, what a contrast. Earlier we were passing
majestic peaks and stunning gorges, before passing through the rockier plains
of Colorado, that finally gave way to sandy desert vistas, complete with grass
trees, cacti and gulches. Along the way
the architecture also changed and we were given our first taste of Mexican
haciendas and buildings – Unreal! The
drive was a long one, about 9 hours so we didn’t arrive till late. As usually happens, the kids piled straight
out of the car and straight into the pool. Other than that and Chelle finding a
mall, nothing much else happened In Albuquerque.
Day 8 Albuquerque to
Tucson, via Tombstone (with a baseball game thrown in!!)
Up early and out straight after breakfast to begin our drive
to Tucson via Tombstone. Getting out of
Albuquerque was pretty easy and the highway cut through desert and rocky plains
and due to the early start, the temps didn’t really heat up for quite a
while. Our first pit stop was in a place
called “Truth or Consequences” (– yes really it was!! ) before plodding on to
Tombstone to arrive early afternoon –
thanks to a time change along the way! : )
Tombstone is located approximately an hour out of Tucson and
it was HOT! Our first stop was at the
Graveyard to view the graves of the characters we were about to meet in the
flesh later on.
Upon arriving at the town, we were lucky enough to be in the
right place at the right time and found ourselves lining up for the “Gun Fight at
the OK Corral”. This was done in an
entertaining and informative way and it was a good start for the kids to get
acquainted with the history of this place.
After the show we were able to wander up and down the Main Street and
watch the antics and shenanigans of the characters under the watchful eye of
the Earp Clan. Lots of fun and highly
recommended for anyone travelling down this way.
We resumed our trip towards Tucson and our lovely hosts for
this part of our journey- Rich and Daisy.
Along the way Natasha was finally able to see some examples of the
Saguaro cactus that her father had promised her and we pulled in to the
driveway at about 6pm....
No rest for the wicked however, as we had expressed our
interest in attending a real, live baseball game and Rich had made sure that
our wish was granted (Thanks again Rich!).
After unpacking and rehydrating we were back in the car for the short
half hour drive into the city and to the Baseball Park. Wow – what a cool experience that was!!! The smells, sights, sounds were all
contributing to a sensory overload and all kids (and I mean all 4!) were VERY
excited!! Dinner was the obligatory hot
dog with all the trimmings (except for Tash – who had pizza) downed by beer –
or soda (for those under age) followed by something to keep the hunger at bay
(or dinner down???) Word to all Aussies
who are going to visit the US with children – ‘Fairy Floss’ is known as “Cotton
Candy” over here and if you ask for Fairy Floss you will be greeted with very
strange looks – at the least!
To add to our experience, the Tucson Padres were playing
against Colorado Springs and out of a sense of loyalty to our previous hosts,
Tanya and Troy, I was secretly going for them – although the game itself was a buzz anyway. Unfortunately for the home crowd, their team
did not perform as well as the visitors, and after nine innings and lots of
entertainment the game ended in Colorado’s favour. Just in time too, as a desert storm was
rolling in and we made it to our cars through a blustery, hot wind as large
raindrops started to fall... So ended Day 1 of our Arizona adventures.....
Day 9 – ‘Boneyard’ –
Shopping Malls – Bowling
The morning began with Ryan and Rich taking the golf buggy
up to the local shopping centre to buy an American brekky of donuts and coffee
– Ryan even got to drive it back a little way by himself (brave Rich!!). Then we piled into cars to go our separate
ways – Daisy to work, Tash and I to the
local mall (of course) and the boys with Rich off to the “Boneyard”; a place
where disused airplanes go to retire, or something like that. Anyway, thanks again to Rich, the boys were
treated to a fabulous tour around disused military aircraft and were able to
clamber in and out of some planes to get up close and personal, before heading
back to the mall to pick up myself and Tash (we had been VERY restrained and
only bought a couple of items). Then it
was off to lunch at a fantastic local Mexican restaurant, where we were treated
to local delicacies and flavours. A
quiet afternoon followed before we were joined by some friends of Rich and Daisy, who Ken also knew
through work; Melissa and Toby. Then we headed
off to Bowling for another night of fun and giggles (those of you who have seen
me bowl will understand the giggles part).
Another great day ended with the Nightingales experiencing the American
past times we see so often in movies and sit coms...
Day 10 – The Desert Museum – Tucson, Arizona
Saturday dawned warm and sunny (again) and after a leisurely
breakfast, the Nightingales headed off to The Desert Museum, which is located
on the outskirts of the city. Once again
we saw many of the Saguaro cacti reigning over the surrounding rocky desert
carpet, as we made our way to this outdoor, living museum. The Desert Museum is
more of a wild life park than a museum and so we were able to see up close most
of the animals that inhabit the Sonoran Desert. Again in the afternoon we were
treated to the sight of rain squalls sweeping across a Desert landscape. After
leaving the Museum it was back to Rich and Daisys for dinner and to meet up
with another work colleague of Kens; John, who also had visited us previously
in Australia. So another day finished with good food, drinks and good company.
