Whew!!

 What a trip!  Ready to relax for awhile!  Here are a few photos for reminder of trip home through Arizona and New Mexico

We spent two lovely days in a rather HOT Scottsdale!  Had some good Southwest food, did a little shopping, drink bottle or two of our California wine and relaxed. 

We love the variety of trees and shrubs

Don’t know this tree—someone said it was in Willow family

We stopped in the small town of Wilcox, advertised as wine capital of Arizona— “dust on the bottles!” In one tasting room.  Wine was okay. 

The town boosts Rex Allen Museum and Wilcox Cowboy Hall of Fame. Rex Allen was the last of the singing movie cowboys—

In Almagordo we found the largest pistachio!  And the best pistachio ice cream!  This why we saw acres and acres of pistachio trees. 

We drove along the White sands missile range and national park. This sand is gypsum—252 acres in the middle of nowhere!  

Can’t beat this giant road runner!  We have seen numerous real runners racing across the roads—beep beep!

Our destination for the night Inn of Mountain Gods—one of our favorite New Mexico locations—quiet, surrounded by mountains and in the distance you can hear elk bugling

Our room overlooked  the golf course—beautiful even in cloudy weather. 

It was long drive to our home base the final day of our travels.  We stopped in Mason, Texas to visit our friend’s tasting room—luckily, we were there 45 minutes before closing time

California or Bust!

California!  We made it!  

Here we are at our first California rest stop—not impressed.  Only two toilets in women restroom worked and only one sink was available.  Along our route many stops were closed or lacked good facilities. 

We drove through this desert; Joshua trees everywhere!  Such interesting landscape!  

Of course, no visit to this area would be complete unless you have lunch along Pacific Ocean! Cool, breezy, foggy but oh so lovely! 

Then, there are wineries and hills covered with vineyards!  And look at those clear blue skies!!!

Oh yeah, we couldn’t pass up Jelly Belly Factory

What to do with Jelly beans instead of eating 

Make portrays 

Takes many colors

Little information on photography 

We did wine tastings at several wineries, Mumm was sparkling at the best! 

Lovely grapes on the vine

Our drive through produce valley was fields of veggies and almond trees!  Miles and miles of trees!  Our country can eat good!

Miles and miles of solar panels!  In places, windmills dominate the landscape.  In city, solar panels are placed on roof tops of parking covers. 

One of the best parts of our visit was having time to have dinner with our dear friends!  It was a joy to see them after 12 years!  Their daughter is winemaker and gracefully invited us to tasting and tour of her winery!

My friend is a fantastic weaver whom I met in 1978 and we became fast friends. Check out her gallery here

Vegas Baby!!

 Vegas here we come!  Not our first visit here—been years through, actually 11 years ago! Always fun to be in this wild and crazy town.  

We left our cozy Gallup lodging to begin our third day moving west.  We love the temperature—cool morning and evening, warm in afternoon.  It is a short drive to cross state lines and hear GPS say “welcome to Arizona”.  Our plan is to drive through Petrified Woods and 

Painted Desert National Park.  We planned only an hour but three hours later we return to our route. 

Visitor center gives an overview

My camera doesn’t take such quality pictures but trust me, this is a majestic location to see nature’s features.  Colorful vast expanse of land! 

Lunch time! Flagstaff, land of Grand Canyon, was our destination.  We didn’t plan to visit GC this trip—we’d visited many times to see the colors change 

Ordered chicken, beef and pork fry bread

Fry bread or Navajo taco is loaded with pinto beans, meat, Lettuce, tomato, tomato, onions, sour cream and guacamole to top it off.  Yummy!!

Back on the road, three hours later, we approached Hoover Dam, a massive feat of skill and engineering!  

There in the distance is Lake Mead.  Soon we arrive in Vegas!  Our hotel is New York, New York!  Oh my!  There is the roller coaster looping around the hotel and people are screaming as they plunge down a sharp incline!  

View from our 30th floor—windows are tinted to give this purple hue. 

Here is view of roller coaster

We could hear riders screaming as they descended the loop!  

Good night Irene! Tomorrow is another travel day! 

Another day, Another Adventure

 Moving on from our Alien stop, our stops in Albuquerque takes us to brunch at El Pinto, Gruet to pick up their 100th anniversary sparkling wine Zozobra 

We continue our travel through Northwest New Mexico to our overnight stop in Gallup—our gateway along historic Route 66.  We are welcomed through multi Native American reservations, each featuring casino resorts.  The landscape is totally different areas with Bandera Volcano/ice cave.  

Some facts about Gallup

A good layout of the town.  Railways run along Route 66 all day and night—moving goods and products

The town of Gallup supports over 30+ murals throughout downtown

Even the trash cans are artistically decorated 

The famed El Rancho hotel

Acoma pottery

These large pots are displayed in prominent locations along Route 66

Why not have a mural to advertise your product?

Mural exhibits local crafts and arts

Each mural tells a story

Navajo code talkers story

Was extensive along a city block

Fabulous study of their history