21 October

Las Vegas, Nevada

The fact that we are in Vegas cannot be blamed for the few days' gap in the Blog. We will probably blame Vegas for any future gap?

The gap is simply explained by the fact that the desert, mountain and canyon landscapes of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada defy description. Our 'short' deviation from Route 66 has been full of 'Omigod!' moments at almost every turn. Mesa Verde, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks are relatively close together, but their landscapes are vastly different.

Mesa Verde is essentially a cultural experience. Its eroded canyon walls were occupied by Indians as far back as the 13^th century, when nomadic Utes began to farm the Mesa top. The ruins of the stone villages they created beneath the Mesa remain today, some fairly well-preserved, as they were abandoned in a still not understood exodus about 1370. Once they abandoned the villages the Utes never returned. When they were discovered by ranchers in the latter part of the 19^th Century, the Utes still lived on the plains near the Mesa, but they avoided the cliff villages, believing there were evil spirits on the mountain.

As the name implies, the main attractions in Arches NP are … the arches. Hundreds of spectacular arches have been carved out of the soft sandstone by wind and rain. The best known of these is Delicate Arch which appears on the number plates of all vehicles in Utah. Despite the long, 6 km plus, steep climb to the arch, this is a very popular hike. Hundreds of people trudged, wandered and struggled up the rough trail that is mostly marked only by rock cairns and includes narrow, cliff-side paths (with no guard-rails – no nanny-state here!). Some of these people are extremely adventurous. Or just plain crazy. We passed numerous young couples with small children in “kid-packs”. We had to push fairly hard to make the climb, particularly as we were unaccustomed to the thin air at 8000 ft. We could only sympathise with these young parents who were carrying an extra 6 – 15 kg dead weight!

Bryce Canyon was first discovered by the Paiutes whose legends describe the multi-coloured pillars that guard the canyon walls as Hoodoo - evil animals, that could take human form and were turned to stone by the Coyote God.

At Zion, we encountered the first bad weather we'd had for many weeks. A morning storm covered the ground near our motel in small hail that gave a wintery feel to what became, in fact, quite a warm day. Rain persisted on and off, so we had to limit our hike to one small expedition up a steep cliff side to the Emerald Pools. As it turned out, the pools themselves weren't that spectacular, but the views from the cliff side were well worth the climb.

On reflection, the gap in the Blog may well have been down to the fact that we were just a little weary!

BUT this is Vegas and we are at full throttle again!

17 October

Moab, Utah

Probably not well known outside this part of the USA, the small town of Moab was jumpin' as we cruised into town this afternoon. Seems there is some sort of bike riding event on. Most of the dozens of motels in town were full, so we've had to pay big time to spend the night here.

As boring as it may be to discuss the weather, one must comment on “Fall” in Utah and Colorado. The colours are just glorious. Even though the reds are mostly missing in this part of the country, the yellows are staggering, ranging from citrus to gold and a brilliant contrast to the evergreens. (See Facebook pics for further evidence of our love affair with the trees of “Fall”). While cool in the mornings, around 0 C, by mid-morning it's warm and, with the deep blue skies and clear air, the days are just fantastic. The good visibility is also important for the other big event this weekend - the opening of the hunting season for elk, deer and a staggering array of other critters.

Hunting seems to have almost the same status as the constitutional right to bear arms! The 'good ole boys' are free to take to the beautiful Utah and Colorado hills, armed to the teeth in pursuit of the elk and deer mentioned already as well as, moose, mountain sheep, bear, pigeon, grouse, partridge, prairie chickens, crane, rail teal, and crow. Yes, even the annoying crows have to take particular care as they peck at road kill. They could be next!

Things are not all the hunters' way though. They had better be well-heeled if they want to hunt big game like bear or elk. The permits for these cost more than $500. More rare game like mountain goats, moose and bighorn sheep will set the gun-happy back around $1800. Plains turkeys, on the other hand, are a bargain at $21 - a bargain but not much of a challenge.

We saw a few elk yesterday. They seemed blissfully unaware of the fate that was about to befall them! Or maybe they were just teasing the hunters by showing themselves before they hid away for “The Season”!

16 October

Durango, Colorado

John Steinbeck wrote an essay some time in the 1940's called “America and Americans”. One day we'll buy it and compare views. On the whole, Americans at home, particularly away from big cities, are just fantastic - friendly, welcoming and extremely polite. Today, this notion was seriously tested as we took the Durango to Silverton Railroad day trip.

Those who know us will be aware of our strong aversion to group tours, cruises and the like. Even a day trip like this, confined with 'others' and on a schedule out of our control was bound to be a bit of a test of our patience. AND it was.

The trip was fantastic with the Colorado mountain scenery that inspired John Denver, an historic old railway, a steam train and an old mining town. What more could we ask? Answer. A lot fewer loud Red Necks.

Why are the noisy people on any trip like this seated near us? For almost 7 hours we silently, with gritted teeth, put up with constant LOUD comment on everything from river water to President Obama. To be fair we suffered in the company of 30-40 other Americans who just grinned and bore it.

Long live independent travel!

14 October

Blanding, Utah

With a bit of time up our sleeves, we decided a couple of days ago to take a bit of a detour. Tonight, we are just outside the Navajo Nation which covers three states and is bigger than 10 of the states of the USA. The Navajo Reservation is mostly desert, but what a desert!

The Grand Canyon is probably one of the “wow!” locations on the planet. This was our second visit and it was still “WOW”. Words cannot describe it and the photographs that we are able to take cannot do it justice. Even professional pics you see of the Grand Canyon cannot convey the absolute awe this geological phenomenon inspires. Last time we were here, it had snowed and was more than a little cool. Yesterday was a beautiful, clear day and fairly hot, so the crowds were a bit of a shock to us. Parking was a problem and so, after circling the carpark, like vultures, four times, we scored a spot, then walked about 4 kms of the canyon rim before catching the free shuttle bus back.

Driving through the reservation areas is a bit of an eye opener! The towns are much like small outback Australian towns - a petrol station or two, lots of dirt streets and little else. The Native American settlements are very poor. Set in open, desert landscapes, they are less than attractive.

On the upside, the Native American tribes here, the Hopi and the Navajo, manage their own affairs very much as a state within a state, their independence being something they treasure.

Monument Valley in southern Utah was another 'WOW' event. As kids, we called this Mesa landscape 'Road Runner territory'. On a clear, sunny day, the desert demanded photos! Between us we took almost 100 shots!

Our 'little' detour will continue over the next week or so before we return to Route 66. It's a bit like driving from Brisbane to Sydney via Longreach, but what the... we will see some new sights and .. oh yes, hit Vegas again!

12 October

Flagstaff, AZ

Another couple of side trips to off-66 sites slowed our progress to just over 100 kms today. Side trips to Meteor Crater Park near Winslow and the Slide Rock and Red Rock State Parks near Sedona again overwhelmed us with the beauty of the desert landscapes of the USA. We took so many photos they could easily be woven into a video!

Flagstaff, our home for the night, is a small mountain city. We have been here before, but much later in the year. It was warm (very) during the day but, as soon as the sun disappears, the altitude and the lateness of the season pull the temperature down to close to freezing – but in our motel room we are isolated from all of that!

And, no, we didn't forget Winona! (Check the “Route '66” song!) But we could easily have done so – not much there – it sort of forgot itself!

Speaking of motels... it is probably about time we wrote a little about US Motels.

Tonight's domicile is probably a good place to start. This is a Knights Inn, one of the smaller chain motels that dominate the US accommodation market. The basic rule of thumb with motels is – you guessed it – you get what you pay for. This Knights Inn is costing us about $50 AU per night. For that, we get a clean room, cable TV with 50+ channels, free Internet, in-room coffee machine, a queen bed, hairdryer, air-conditioning and a spotless bathroom. Breakfast in the morning is free but it is likely to be coffee, a range of donuts and bagels and a choice of two sugary cereals.

This is one of our cheapest nights. More upscale chain motels like Hampton Inns or Comfort Inns here in Flagstaff would probably set us back $80+ AU. The rooms would be bigger, with a king bed or two queens. There might be a fridge and microwave. The lobby would be far nicer and the front desk service staff would wear suits rather than T-shirts.

Our most popular chains, Motel 6, Super 8, Days Inn and Travelodge are generally priced between $50 - $60 per night. On a good night, they might have all the services of the upper range motels, excluding the suits! The difference is usually all about location. The Budget range motels are usually near the Interstate and the railway line! The flash motels are closer to town.

A few times to date, we have tried the “mom and pop”, privately owned motels, which have been pretty much on a par with the others. What usually directs us, however, are the coupons in the magazines that we pick up on state lines which offer great savings on rack rates.

We haven't even mentioned the Very Top of the line, Hiltons and Ramadas. Their prices are well beyond the wallets of long term travellers like us. We just don't see the point of paying for super-flash lobbies, cool-suited staff and rooms that are generally only marginally better-appointed than the budget chains. These joints will cost $200+ and then all the tips and valet parking traps that go with the “High Life”.

One last tip. In Vegas, you can have all that the Hilton offers and more for $50 per night! Just stay away from the Casino floor!

10 October

Winslow, Arizona

To standing on a particular corner in Winslow Arizona is why most people doing Route 66 stop here. The 1970s Eagles' classic is immortalised in this fairly sad strip motel town with a small monument, a mural of “the girl in the flat-bed Ford” and “Take it Easy' blaring out most of the day and night.

Over the past couple of days, we have had a fair degree of exposure to American Indian culture, both ancient and modern. In New Mexico we visited a Cultural Heritage museum in Albuquerque and enjoyed a native dance show. A little repetitive, but interesting all the same. Our exposure to modern Indian culture was in one of our favourite locations in the US – a WalMart in Gallup, New Mexico. It was Saturday afternoon and the place was packed! Packed with dark-haired dark-skinned Zuni Indians from the largest Pueblo in New Mexico. It was really strange to be among the VERY few non-Indians in the place.

Just over the state border in Arizona, we headed off Route 66 to visit Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Parks. Every time we visit one of the US National Parks, we find another scenic gem. These parks were no exception – desert scenery at its best on a sunny – even - hot! day. It was also windy most of the day so Paul's face is as scarlet as the shirt he wore today!

8 October

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Pecos Indians (as they are known today) were a nomadic people who roamed the area of northern New Mexico (as we know it) over 1200 years ago. About 1000 years ago, they gradually developed a farming culture and settled in the Pecos River valley. In the early 17^th century, Spanish Conquistadors rode into the Pecos Indian Pueblo. By this time the natives had evolved a complex society and system of belief. Their town was a fortified adobe structure of four and five storey buildings.

By the time the Spanish arrived, the Pecos Indians had been trading and warring with their Great Plains neighbours, the Comanche, for several hundred years.

With the Spanish came the missionaries and their religion. Change was inevitable, rapid and not always welcome. In 1688, the Pueblo Indians all over northern New Mexico revolted and drove the Spanish out. But not for long. Within 3 years, the Spanish had returned to control their empire for another 200 years.

White settlers and traders arrived in the area around 1821 as the Santa Fe trail brought land-hungry Americans into conflict with the Spanish colonialists who were at the very outer limits of the Spanish Empire. By this time the Pueblo was a virtual ghost town. In 1838, the last family left the settlement that had survived for more than 800 years.

As we found when we visited, not much is left, but the extent and sophistication of the settlement is still evident.

Today, we travelled north to Taos Pueblo, an Indian community that has survived for around 1000 years. An amazing place.

All this history has a modern day parallel. The Route 66 town of Tucumcari in eastern New Mexico, has undergone a similar, though far more rapid transformation. The late 19^th century Downtown area has been dying since it was bypassed by Route 66 in the 1930s. The Motel and Gas Station strip that attracts Route 66 devotees today may survive because of the current '66 Trend'. Its 1940–50 2 km long street is dotted with closed motels and gas stations. Why? Thundering along within eye sight and ear shot of the Tucumcari Strip is the 1980s I-40.

History repeats!

Just as a point of interest, the daytime temperatures in the last couple of days have ranged from 2 to 27 degrees. Today, in the mountains, we encountered snow flurries, but by the time we we back in Santa Fe it was T-shirt weather again!

5 October

Amarillo, Texas

Bad weather has put a bit of a dampener on our past couple of days. We probably shouldn't complain. In close to two years on the road over the past 30 years, we have probably had no more than a couple of dozen rainy days. Never mind. All was well by this afternoon when the sun broke through and the temperature climbed into the high 20s.

Much of the history that surrounds Route 66 is linked to major internal migrations across the US. Two of the largest were the Dust Bowl/Depression flight from Oklahoma and Texas to California and the movement of troops and equipment to the west during World War II. Along with these, since the 1960s and 1970s millions of Americans (and others -including us!) have taken nostalgic holidays along the “Mother Road”.

Steinbeck's 'Grapes of Wrath' and the subsequent movie immortalised the 'Oakies' who made the desperate trek to California along Route 66 in the late 1920s to escape starvation during the Great Depression.

Since we left Oklahoma City, the ghosts of the 'Oakies' have been all around us- the stretches of old concrete highway and bridges they crossed, the small towns where they camped and the photos in the local museums. The countryside is vastly different now, but some of the same desperation can be seen in the back blocks of the hundreds of struggling towns that dot the old highway. Trailer Park homes are the new refuge of the poor of America. They are depressing looking places which bring to mind Steinbeck's descriptions of the transit camps of the Depression years.

Tonight, we are by the Interstate in Amarillo. This is a big cattle town. And it smells like it! The stock sales are tomorrow so the yards must be filling up and the rain has added to the fragrance. The city has no real downtown – like St Louis and Oklahoma City -and what there is is more than 50% car parks. But there is a Mega Mall out on the Interstate with prices that would rival the clothes markets in Saigon.

2-3 October

Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City “.. is mighty pretty..” so goes the line in the Route 66 song. And it sure is. But it is also deserted!

As in many other western cities, Downtown is a ghost town. Today being Saturday, it was even worse. Without a word of a lie, we could have lain down at the intersection of the two main streets with little or no risk of injury. Even the network of Interstates that ring the centre of the city were relatively free of traffic.

Domestic Terrorism came to Oklahoma City in April 1995. The Oklahoma City bombing left 168 people dead and a nation shocked. More of course was to come, but this was an enormous shock to this peaceful heartland US city. The monument that stands on the site is a moving reminder of the tragedy and its impact on the city and the country.

There is plenty of room out here in the west! Cities like this use space even more lavishly than we do in Australia. The State Capitol Park is enormous. Public buildings sprawl over a park with gardens and lawns that make it almost impossible to see one building from the next. And! The Capitol is the only one in the US with oil wells on its grounds!

Who could come to the west without visiting the largest Cowboy Museum in the world? Not us! Cowboy boots, hats, saddles, chuck wagons and a reconstructed old western town on a scale that could only be managed in the US of A had us a bit worried about the blurring of the facts and the Hollywood cowboy image. But what the... it was all good fun!

1 October

Tulsa Oklahoma

In the early 1900's the Coleman brothers were drilling for water near the town of Miami Ok. A dark tinge in a drill core turned out to be Lead. Good timing lads! World War I pushed the price of lead sky high and the then elderly brothers became extremely wealthy! Not averse to the high life, the older brother and his wife hit the high spots in New York, Chicago and even Paris! It was the age of Vaudeville and silent movies, but their small home town of Miami was a long way from New York and Paris in more ways than distance.

Miami had no theatre and definitely none that could attract the biggest acts of the time. So. Money being no barrier, Mr Coleman built the fantastic Coleman Theatre in downtown Miami. Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Bob Hope and hundreds of others played there.

Completed in 1929, the theatre was essentially a Silent Movie venue. Bad timing this time. “Talkies' were coming and silent movie houses were sent into decline. By the '50s it was all over for the old theatre. It fell into decay and the quality art works with which the wealth of the Coleman's decorated their theatre were sold off or looted from the, by now derelict, theatre.

By the 1970s the city was preparing to level the building and turn the site into a carpark. At that point a group of local citizens stepped in and won the right to restore the old theatre. Today it is back to its original glory – and what a glory. All the style and class of the 20's and 30's have been faithfully restored using many original materials and items.

We were outside taking pics when the managers walked by, on their way to opening up. They asked if we'd like to look inside. Oh, yes!we said, little realising the treat in store. An hour or more later, we'd been taken right through the magnificent theatre, including one of the pipe rooms for the organ, on-stage and into the star's dressing room, regaled along the way with the tales of the restoration process.

A real Route 66 highlight!

29-30 September

Miami, Oklahoma

More back-street USA has taken our time over the last couple of days. Driving through three states, we have seen little change in the landscape of rolling hills and meadows studded with cows. The corn that lined the road through Illinois has all but disappeared. We keep to country roads, way off the Interstates.

Small towns have become even sadder. Many small mining towns in this area are actual ghost towns. A Post Office, a few Lawyers offices, the odd antique shop and that is often it in a main street that was once lined with thriving businesses. The curse of the Interstates! About all that keeps some of them alive is the popularity of Route 66. In some towns, like Galena, Kansas, an old restored Gas Station – and gift shop – is all there is.

This is the first time we have travelled in the US (or Europe for that matter) in the late summer – fall. It is great to wander about in T-shirts and shorts (and thongs!). The trees are green, rather than sticks. And the sun has real heat in it.