Rancho Cucamonga to Albuquerque
Today was our first leg of our four day road trip. We decided to let Stanley have a vacation as well, so we took him to a Pet Bed & Breakfast where he will stay until Wednesday afternoon. I know it sounds crazy to some people to spend that type of money on a pet, but we want him to be taken care of while we are gone and this just felt right.
After we dropped off Stanley we began our 10 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico. We drove on I-40, which parallels the original Route 66 all the way until Oklahoma. A lot of the old road side attractions have been closed since the road's hay day, but the old abandoned buildings dot the desert giving us a break from the monotony of the desert. I snapped a quick picture of this odd looking souvenir shop as we drove past at 85 miles per hour.
It's essentially a geodesic dome with a mohawk, but I'm assuming that it has some meaning to the culture of the local Indian tribe, because we saw several more like it near by. Most of the buildings were not kept up like this one. There were countless ghost colonies of decaying Route 66 attractions, hotels and gift shops, each one stirring up feelings of nostalgia for memories I never had. It is easy to witness the devastation that was caused when I-40 replaced the meandering Route 66 with a straight and efficient Highway, bypassing all of the family owned shops, restaurants and hotels that made the road so popular.
Before we left we made a list of restaurants featured on the Food Network show "Diners, Drive Ins & Dives" that we could visit along the way. So we made a stop in Flagstaff, AZ to eat an early dinner at "Salsa Brava", a Mexican restaurant that prides itself in making all of their food from scratch.
The food was awesome, even though I was a little bit unsure about how smart it was to eat a huge plate of Mexican food before a long stint in the car. But everything proved to be okay. The food was delicious and I gave a proverbial high five to Guy Fieri for recommending such a delicious Mexican diner, drive in and/or dive.
Flagstaff was a little more than half way, so after we topped off our gas tank we set off to finish our day long drive to Albuquerque. We made the time pass by watching movies in the car, starting with season one of "Flight of the Conchords", then the "Best of Will Ferrell: Vol. 1". It really did make the four hour drive seem bearable, and I couldn't help but think what the pioneers did with out portable DVD players (but where would they charge them if they don't have a car cigarette lighter to plug it into?).
Finally, the glow of Albuquerque began to create a silhouette of the desert mountains around us. We arrived at the Hyatt Place Hotel a little after 10:30pm and I don't think I could have lasted another minute in the car. Our hotel room was surprisingly nice, and exactly what a couple of weary travelers need to rest their atrophied minds and bodies.
So now, at the end of our first day on the road my mind is beginning to feel hazy with sleep after looking at the picture I posted above. Tomorrow we are driving to Little Rock, AR and stopping in Amarillo, TX and Oklahoma City. It's a long drive and I'm going to need a good night sleep on a comfortable bed in order to make the entire distance without falling asleep.
Good Night and Thanks for Reading,
Brett
4 comments:
That's a great first day report. You are travelling the exact same route that i took when I moved to Utah in 1997. Same cities, etc. Oh the memories. Unfortunately I didn't have Guy Fieri...or anyone from the food network for that matter guiding my every move.
Drive safe and keep us all posted with your gastronomic adventures. have fun!
Sounds like you guys are having fun! I love the idea of looking up Food Network Restaurants. We're going to have to do that on our road trip. I can't believe we'll be so close to you guys! We should definitely meet up. Drive safe! Looking forward to more postings.
Well you guys are making good progress! Drew and I always watch movies on long road trips too. It makes it sooo much better.
Say hi to OKC for me! And while you're in Oklahoma try and stop by a place called "Braum's" It's a burger/ice cream place, and they are famous in the south for their ice cream! Check it out if you can!
Wow, that's amazing. You're coming through about blogging now. I'm impressed. That's totally cool that you're doing Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. You should go the kitchen at every place and say "Is this Flavor Town?"
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