Saturday, September 15

Start: Amarillo, TX
End: Huluapai Reservation, AZ

Ok, so we lost our notes for this day, which is why there was such a long delay in getting this post up. I'm going to try and do it from memory, but those that know me know my memory is rubbish.

So we got up early in Amarillo. Filmed a short Monkey video and got on the road. To be honest, while this day had the longest amount of car time, it also had the least amount of stops because we wanted to get motoring through the state. For example, we normally stopped every hour to hour and a half the first three days. This Saturday, there was over 200 miles before our first start.

So much of the day's treck, aloung Route 40, ran directly parallel to Route 66 that our stops were almost all at Route 66 tourist/cross country driver areas. The first place was just a normal rest stop but was in the most boring state in the Union, New Mexico.

Now, some folks tell me that NM isn't boring at all. As proof of its boringness, you need to look no further than NM's elected leaders. My former home state of NJ had, in just the time I was a resident we had Jim McGreevey, Richard Codey, and Jon Corzine. California has this guy. New Mexico, has Bill Richardson, a man so bright he's running for president as the heir to the Clinton legacy against Hillary Clinton.

So here's my comments on New Mexico. Blah, blah, blah...dust, tumbleweeds, highways, and some side trips on Route 66. Kind of cool driving along the old Dust Bowl road, but I was racing towards something and couldn't be bothered by this touristy stuff.

I was racing towards Winslow, AZ. Where I not only wanted to stand on a corner, but also to visit a restaraunt called the Turquoise Room which had this great Tex/Mex and American Indian fusion which I rememberd from the last trip across the country in 2003. Tom Ruth reccomended the place to us, and its been on my mind since.

There's one small problem, at about noon we were 80 miles from the AZ border when I declared that Winslow was "just across the border." If you clicked on the link above you might be able to piece together that "100 miles north of Phoenix" is not "just across the border."

So we pull into Winslow at aroun 2:30 and unfortunately, the restaraunt stops serving at 2:00. But there's some good news for us! So, with a four star quality meal in our bellies we're ready to head out, except for one thing....

MM needs to stop at a pharmacy to get some anti-cold/flu stuff (she's almost better, but doesn't want to start off her now job as a sick person). The only pharmacy in town, is a Wal Mart. As some of you know, the only time I went to a Wal Mart I was ripped off. During the trip we saw a puff piece on Wal Mart about how they have a computer that knows everything about everyone and they want to take over our brains and force us to buy cheap crap. Ok, maybe that wasn't the theme, but I suspect they use that computer to keep track of liberal activists and prevent them from buying cheap crap in Wal Mart.

I did get to tell my Mom on the phone, "I'm standing in a Wal Mart in Winslow, Arizona!", but she didn't get it.

So anyway, we're back on the road, after a brief diversion.

From here, we're on the road for another couple of hours, they get on Route 66 for a trip to the hotel we're staying at, the Hualupai Lodge at Diamond Creek. Now, they don't seem to have a website, at least not one that google can pickup, and there were a few small problems with the hotel...namely, they didn't have hot water or gas. No hot showers, no hot tub, and the menu was limited. We found out the next day that the absence of a 4-wheel-drive vehicle would make it impossible to take a jaunt up to the Grand Canyon just 20 miles away.

All that being said, I think we're going back. Why? There seems to be great white-water rafting available just right there, and there's no cell phone coverage. NO CELL PHONE COVERAGE. They got the gas fixed, so a mini-resort with no cell phones might become a popular vacation destination.