Armed with a 4x4 and a deep hunger for the west, the Mother and I hit the road for the first time making tracks to Mexicali.
With little knowledge of what we were doing we crossed the border to
Mexico, acidently putting ourselves in a different country. Quite a
realization, by crossing a border we moved from the first world to the
third world....not all roses and Big Macs anymore. The plan was to
look around by foot, however by car wasn´t the plan so back to
California. A good taste for what one should expect in South &
Central America.
Spent the rest of a long day aquanting ouselves with Hether, the
well educated, by lingual, talking GPS system with an accent to boot.
Ingrid, our Ford 4x4 guided us to Prescot, Arizona for a fine first
sleep and gun loving slogans.
We woke early to a clear sky and an open road to Jerome. A quiet
little, cobble street town superglued to a steep mountain side, the
port to the western desert of red, swinging doors and shoot em
ups..think tumbleweeds.
We decended the hills of Jerome to race across a desert plain laced
with layered, corregated hills. The landscape was created by the last
Ice age when it all melted, rushed down the hills making a very large
plain of silt and colorfull slopes. We pased the dry for Sedona, a
place one would asociate with the great western movies, deep red messas
and bad tourist shops. Stoped for a quick tyre repair and a handfull
of desert snaps...too touristy for a long stay, dream catchers in every
shop scared me. The road east out of Sedona produced winding roads
through pine forest, holding the recently fallen first snow. Many
snaps of red messas and white forests...hit the hay in Flagstaff,
staying on Route 66 no less.
As I spent my first day in Flagstaff, on the computer finishing my
TESOL assesment, the radio anounced a snow storm in the south-west
states. I pulled my eyes from the computer to see the whole city
coverd in ice and snow....happy days! Finished my work; celebrated
with the creation of my first and only snowman, many beers in a rock
bar and some fine advice from the locals.
Higlights:
Mesa Verde National Park: Huge canyons sporting ancient pueblos, home to the native Indians...they disapeared without a trace in the 1600´s.
Santa Fe: Beautifull old pueblo style town, Home of the Georga O´Kief museum and western history.
Albuquerque, New Mexico: Say it with a deep southern accent, it made my trip.
Petrified Wood National Park: Many snow balls + I got to drive!
Durango, Southern Colorado: Spent the day in the hot springs, surounded by snowy mountains.
We
visited so many places this is just an idea of what we did and saw in
the first week or so on the road. Red Desert, white forests, stunning
national parks and historical western towns. We had travelled east
through the great west, time to start our loop back with two weeks
left.
