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| Scenic Drive | 1,300.00 Miles |
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| | Scenic Drive | 1,300.00 Miles | | | |
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| partners | | A nice 1300 mile scenic drive over 4 days...aka Road Trip!! 
Awhile back I posted a triplog about my visit to Las Vegas to get a tour of Montezuma Castle. AZLumberjack who was in Minnesota at the time mentioned that he might stop in Las Vegas on the way back to Arizona to check it out for the first time, based on my post(s). Knowing how Jack is usually in a hurry to get from point A to B, I decided to suggest that I would drive up there and meet him to nudge him in the direction of stopping, rather than just passing by. He liked the idea and we set it up. 
So, this became a long distance social call! I insisted we lodge at the historic Plaza Hotel and I had a nearby restaurant in mind for our dinner. On a trip like this I usually have the camping gear along, but this time there would be no camping. I wanted to keep some space in the RAV so I could drive him and Pat to some of the sights, knowing that they would be tired from driving in from Nebraska that day. This worked out just fine. We had about 16 hours together there, but that was enough time for them to see a few things and perhaps if they liked it, it could be a place they might stop again on their journeys back and forth from Minnesota to Arizona. And of course for me it was a real kick, meeting a friend miles from home and showing them a new place! Oh yeah, and another excuse for a road trip (you don't have to twist my arm)! 
The focal point was meeting them in Las Vegas Tuesday afternoon, August 1st. So I built my trip around that. I spent Monday night in Albuquerque (Super 8 at the airport...good place). On the way I stopped at Hatch to pick up some chile products. It started raining there and numerous showers were encountered all the way to about Los Lunas. Made it fun! I stopped for dinner at the Owl Bar and Cafe in San Antonio. It was cash only as a major storm had blasted them earlier, and the credit card system was down. You gotta love the monsoon season! Spent a nice evening in Albuquerque, and went over to the Alien Brewpub for some beer.
Tuesday morning I headed over to the other Owl Cafe (in Albuquerque) for breakfast. (It is at this one that I found out about the original Owl down near Socorro when I stopped in with my Mom in 1992.) Memories! I went to Albuquerque to get 450 of the 580 miles out of the way, so I could be in Las Vegas when Jack arrived. I took my time getting there, figuring I would be well ahead of Jack. Of course, I should have know better. hehe. I did get there before him, but figured he wouldn't be there until around 3 (hotel check in time), so stopped for a burger at the Hillcrest Restaurant, when his call came in. "We are in room 315," he said. It was about 1:30.  So I finished my meal and headed over. I finally got to meet Pat, but of course had to do it the hard way, instead of just going up to Apache Junction from Tucson. 
We had a good visit, but there were some anomalies (ghosts?). I have come to the conclusion that when I get together with Jack, there are just going to be some weird unexpected happenings. They retired to their room early, while I spent a couple hours hanging out at the bar. In the morning, they were checking out early at 6:00, so we said our goodbyes. They were heading home to Apache Junction, and I was on my way to spend Wednesday night in Show Low.
I wanted to check out a few new roads this trip, primarily NM 47 that cuts away from US 60 west of Mountainair and heads northwest over to the Rio Grande between Belen and Los Lunas. After leaving Las Vegas, I departed I-25 and headed south on NM 3 (a favorite very scenic drive), crossing I-40 and picking up US 60 at Encino. Then west on 60 until the NM 47 turnoff. From Los Lunas it was northwest on NM 6 to its connection with I-40 near Laguna. Then at Grants, it was on to the great scenic drive on NM 53, which goes through the lava fields of El Malpais National Monument, past El Morro, and Zuni Pueblo, before entering Arizona and becoming AZ 61 over to Witch Well. If you have not driven that route, you are in for a treat!
Then down to St. Johns on US 191, and over to Show Low via Concho. Stayed at the Kiva Motel, which was a decent, inexpensive choice. Dinner at Los Corrales (easy walk from motel). It was just so so, but got the job done.
Thursday morning it was down through Salt River Canyon. The repaving project is on the south side this year. The 20 minute delay was no big deal. From Globe took the quiet way back to Tucson, via Winkelman and Mammoth. Stopped at an old market in Winkelman that I had noted on previous runs through the area. Very cool. Arrived home at about 11:30 and all was well. |
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