Day 3 - Gallup to Grand Canyon

Well folks, we're back! I apologize for not updating more recently, but the Grand Canyon was not exactly conducive for blogging. While gorgeous and breathtaking, it was not exactly Internet capable! Anyway, here's a recap of our travels!

Starting on Sunday, we had an early morning (after a cold evening!!) in Gallup, NM to head out into Arizona and make our trek to the Grand Canyon. Quite soon, we passed over the Arizona border!

We had read about the time change here, since AZ folk (apparently except the Navajo nation) do not subscribe to Daylight Savings Time, so we all had to change our clocks back. This will inevitably help us transition into California much better, so we were glad for the extra time! After the quick sign photo-op, we got right back on the road (through Lupton, a town comprised mostly of trading posts) to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. This had to be our first real glimpse of the amazing Southwest landscape. We were greeted with the wide open spaces, great red and blue colors, and incredible views of the Painted Desert. Below are some of the highlights:

 After a bit of a drive through the Park, we were greeted with the fallen logs and greener spaces of the Petrified Forest. It was a sight to see such crystallized wood and we were all amazed with how large some of them were (not to mention heavy!) - it was definitely worth the drive through the entire park and the terrain and elevation change were incredible.

After this morning trip, we headed out onto I-40 and eventually Historic Route 66. Our first stop was Holbrook, the home of the Wigwam Motel - have you stayed in a Wigwam lately?

After Holbrook, we headed out onto a bit of rough terrain (aka a very unkempt stretch of road) to get to the Jackrabbit Trading Post in Joseph City. With much anticipation (mostly from Amy and I) from stories and many road signs showing us the way:

We arrived to the trading post to find it CLOSED. Since it was around lunchtime, we decided to stay parked in the lot, have lunch, and wait the hour the sign posted the owners would return. While we waited, we took some pictures with the Jackrabbit:

Much to our relief, just about noon the owner arrived back and opened the store. We headed in and purchased our shot glasses, t-shirts, and magnets and were on our way. Absolutely worth the experience (and the excuse to take a rest!).

After this stop, we headed further down the road to Winslow - famous for its Corner (from the Eagles fame) - "Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona..." and it was definitely worth a photo-op, especially for its Route 66 sign in the street:

After Winslow, we made the executive decision to skip the Meteor Crater for its expense and in the favor of time, so we headed directly up to the Grand Canyon. From I-40, the Grand Canyon (through the Kaibab National Forest) is up about an hour and a half north. As we pulled into our campsite, we were quickly greeted with the sad news that the showers were in the campground over (and cost $2 for 8 minutes!) and there was no Internet connection to be found. We did get over this soon when we took the shuttle (PS - the shuttle system at the Grand Canyon is GREAT. The drivers are incredibly helpful and while the map is confusing at first, it's a great way to get around the South Rim area.) to the South Rim for our first glances:

After the initial oohs and aahs, we headed back to the RV to get ready for Chris and Kathy's birthday celebration dinner at El Tovar Hotel. I had asked for a window seat upon request and we were lucky enough to receive one next to a great picture window. The food was wonderful and the lodge was great - a wonderful place to celebrate!

We enjoyed some dessert and headed back to the RV to relax for the night. Chris, Kathy, Amy and I played Bonkers! (nighttime is game time, of course) and then retired for the night. A great first day at the Canyon and birthday celebration!

Day 2 - Albuquerque and off to Route 66

Starting in the early morning of day two, we were introduced to the famous New Mexico winds!! After an evening of UNO and some drinks, we all retired to bed and overnight felt the brunt of what we felt was a hurricane. The RV shook and we all thought we'd wake up to debris, but it was quite pleasant. Despite the breezes, the weather was warm and only got warmer. After waking up MUCH earlier than normal (thanks, time change!), we all had breakfast and used some of the best showers an RV park has to offer and headed off to Albuquerque. Our first stop was the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Absolutely worth the stop and the small entrance fee, we were able to learn about nuclear history, medicine, and technology, as well as see some great aircraft in the field nearby! We did decide to visit during an Asian Pacific Islander Awareness Event (or something of the like), so our visit was punctuated by drum beats and karate sounds, but a great experience overall. Some of the highlighted pics are below! (The first bomb pictured is a replica of the one dropped on Nagasaki called Fat Man.)

From there, we were all ready to eat so after a good amount of Googling, I suggested we check out Sadie's just north of Albuquerque. 

This may have been the best idea of the day. We chowed down on great (and a ton of) New Mexican food (enchiladas, burritos, tacos, and homemade chips and salsa - not to mention great Midori margaritas!) and ended up taking pounds of it home. After this food coma, the "kids" decided to head out to the American International Rattlesnake Museum. For $5, this is a GREAT stopover in Albuquerque. Bob, the museum director, is super excited about what he does and the amount of rattlesnakes (and other animals) and info was great to find out! Here are some snapshots of the museum exhibits:

I ended up purchasing a shirt for a $3 discount which meant I needed to change into my new shirt THERE and be a personal Rattlesnake Museum billboard :) I gladly accepted and we wandered back to the RV to head out on the road! We made our way out on Historic Route 66 out of Albuquerque and saw a number of landmarks along the way - be sure to check for an album of all our pics coming soon! For now, here are a couple highlights:

After seeing many abandoned buildings, trading posts, and Route 66 signage, we headed to Gallup, our last stop for the evening. After parking at our campsite at the USA RV Park, we quickly headed to camping mode and started our charcoal grill for some dinner and s'mores! A great start to our adventure, tomorrow comes the Grand Canyon! Until then, goodnight from New Mexico!

Day 1 - Santa Fe

 So we're off on our journey! We left from Philadelphia on time Friday morning (after waking up at 4am!) and took the best Southwest flight any of us had ever experienced. If anyone chooses to fly Southwest and has questions about Early Bird Check-In, DO IT. We had plenty of leg room and despite a 7 hour flight (which included stops in Pittsburgh and Chicago with no plane changes), had an incredibly wonderful flight crew. Their wit and jokes kept us laughing and our minds off the long flight time. After having arrived in Albuquerque, the guys went and got the RV while the ladies were tasked with luggage pickup. We looked like fools, but we got it all!!

After waiting for a bit in the airport, we were all joined together with our home for the next week.

We got ourselves situated (and most importantly, our luggage), and headed off to Walmart. The ladies were tasked with getting supplies for 6 people for the next 4 days and this was definitely an adventure. Among other things, we were able to find a tabletop charcoal grill and snacks galore. We are planning to cook at our sites as much as possible, so we needed to outfit ourselves.

After this trip of insanity, we headed to Santa Fe from Albuquerque. The landscape was the first thing we all noticed - especially the lack of clouds! It's incredible to see how flat and elevated the terrain is at the same time. I made the comment that terra cotta is the color of the week - even the buildings and highways are covered in it.

Chris has been taking the role of navigator by using Microsoft Streets and Trips 2011 and we've been doing well so far. We'll see when we head out on the older route how well the directions go...especially when Chris is asleep at the job ;)

We made it to older Santa Fe, which provided problems with navigating through smaller roads and residential areas with our 30' beast. Our first stop was dinner at Bert's Burger Bowl - featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Some of had a try of the "infamous" green chili cheeseburger while other were not so adventurous (me) and just settled with a BBQ Cheeseburger. Definitely recommended - small place but be sure to arrive earlier since it closes at 6:45pm (not sure if that's seasonal or not).

After enduring our food comas, we decided to skip the rest of Santa Fe (since we had all been up for multiple hours without sleep) and head to our camp site for the night. We maneuvered the RV out of older Santa Fe and got to the Santa Fe Skies RV Park. After the long flight and driving around, we were ready to relax! And we definitely had a view to relax with.

Santa Fe was a great time - relaxing and we really absorbed the Southwestern culture and slower moving lifestyle. Onto Albuquerque and then the REAL start to the historic Route 66 tomorrow! :) 

Less than 24 hours!

I can't believe it's really here! We are about 95% packed and raring to go! Our flight leaves tomorrow at 7:20am from Philadelphia to Albuquerque and then we're on our way. We had our last planning meeting/dinner/birthday & Mother's Day celebration on Sunday to decide what we all need to bring. Games, water bottles, laptops, what to buy when we get out there - all the essentials. I created a rather loose but fun itinerary (you can see it here, though you may need a Google account to check it out - I've included it below this post, too!) so we can hit all the major spots along the way. I'm just ready to get out there and see what we encounter, to relax, and enjoy!

Since the RV will not be equipped with linens, we are going to have to bring our own along. One thing I have to mention is the benefit of space saver bags! Chris and I were packing last night and became a little daunted by the amount of extra we had to fit into one suitcase. However, when we busted out the space saver bags (not the vacuum kind, we're not lugging one of those along! Ours had a one-way air valve and you compress them), we were able to fit a set of sheets (with pillowcases), three bath towels, two hand towels, some dish towels, two fleece blankets, and two pillows (one of which is memory foam) into a mid-sized suitcase (along with the pots/kitchen stuff we had already packed in there)! It was a friggin' miracle! I highly recommend them if you're traveling anywhere and want to save space in your luggage and are a chronic over packer (I would love to think I am NOT one of those, but let's face it, we're all guilty).

You can find the vacuum kind here: Vacuum Space Saver Bags
or by searching on Amazon: Amazon Travel Space Bags.

I am sure I will be updating soon when we head out and get all the last minute finishes done. Always feel free to leave comments - we'll be thinking of everyone as we travel and be sure to check for daily updates!

One month to go!

We have just about a month to go before we head out on our journey! We're all getting very excited and doing all we can to prepare. All our stay arrangements are booked so now the only thing on my mind is tourist traps, bars, and great food places! As always, any and all suggestions are always welcome.

For any of you so inspired to take your own trip, I've found some great websites that have helped in my research that you'll want to check out if you're planning your own trip sometime in the future.

Historic Route 66 has great turn-by-turn directions along the route and (if you don't mind occasional ads) is a great, free site of information.

Wikitravel's brief guide provides good advice for those preparing for a trip with a little history thrown in. Of course, this is community edited, but has some good tips!

Amazon has some great books for traveling on the Mother Road as well - some titles to check out might be:

Route 66 Adventure Handbook by Drew Knowles. This was my most-used preparation guide for the trip. It has great tips for what NOT to see as much as what there is to see - tourist traps, great roadside attractions, and what to find off the beaten path.

Here It Is! The Route 66 Map Series by Jim Ross and Jerry McClanahan. You can see these being used for our planning in the pictures from the first post! When the planning began for this trip, these were recommended as the definitive planner. The maps have great information presented visually along the route. There is a map for each state along the Route from Illinois to California - so you'll never get too overwhelmed!





There are many more canonical tomes out there for Route 66 - some of the best ways to find them are to search your local library or talk with a good travel agent.

If you want a little historical perspective, do check out John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Written about the time of the Dust Bowl and travels across the United States, this novel is a staple of literature and will give you a great view into the history of the Mother Road.

That's all for now, friends - be sure to check back here often when we have some great eating and tourist finds from our preparations. Until then, the countdown continues!!