11/29/19: Monument Valley and the Wind from Hell
We woke up to find that it had snowed overnight and it was still coming down. It was a dry snow and it wasn’t freezing so it was ok. My big fear was that our plan to hit Monument Valley would be screwed up. This has been on my list for a long time and I was worried that the dirt road would be too muddy and they wouldn’t allow us in. We walked over to the office for some coffee rather than brew it in our room and we also took our oatmeal over to use their hot water. Once done eating there we walked back, packed up and hit the road. It was snowy on the way but nothing too bad but the wind was really picking up. That was worse than the snow. My Jeep has mud tires which have been pretty poor in the rain and snow so far so I drove extra cautiously.
Woke up to snow on the ground.
This was taken just before Joyce yelled at me to get back in my lane.
Once at Monument Valley we paid the $20 entrance fee and then hit the visitor center to check things out. Which basically means to pee. I asked the lady at the booth how the road was and she said we’d have no trouble at all in the Jeep. My fears about them closing the road were false thankfully. Once back in the car we hit the dirt road and drove the road through Monument Valley which is basically a loop on a well graded dirt road. We saw a guy in a Camaro out there so road conditions were not an issue at all despite the rain. And the snow. There were sections that required you to pick a good line if you were in a passenger car but, being in a Jeep, I picked the worst lines. We started off in the sun and wind and along the 15 mile route we had things change to heavy snow with very strong winds and then back to sunshine with the same very strong winds. So along the way the visibility changed as well. Most of the time we could see clearly but there were times the scenery was in a heavy mist. At the John Ford Point stop there was a place serving food so we stopped and got an Indian Fry Bread along with a Navajo Taco. One would have been enough but both were pretty tasty. We ordered outside but were told they had seating inside so we grabbed that opportunity to get out of the brutal wind. Monument Valley has been on my list for a long time and it did not disappoint. I would go back again for sure if I am in the area.
The Valley Road as seen from the visitor’s center.
The Jeep is glad it’s here instead of the Sportsmobile.
Joyce at John Ford Point
The Valley Road.
The sun is out but the wind was insane. High 30’s temps with very strong winds.
Glamour shot.
The lighting changes by the moment in Monument Valley.
Another shot from the visitor’s center. This time on the way out.
I’m about to teach that Fry bread the meaning of the word respect.
Once out of Monument Valley we hit the road with Page, AZ being our destination for the night. The wind never let up but the weather definitely got worse. As night fell the snow came and on the 160 we got nailed. It was coming down extremely hard and with the high winds it made visibility extremely poor. It was a white knuckle drive until we hit the 98 which took us to Page. There was still snow on the ground but I could at least see at that point. I never had any issues with traction despite temperatures getting as low as 24 degrees and despite the fact that the mud tires they spec’d on the Jeep are pretty poor in rain and snow. We likely had 20 miles of very poor conditions but the Jeep handled it well and I never had to drop it into 4×4. We made it into Page safely around 7 and, once checked in, decided to have our last dinner on the road at El Tapatio. This was Joyce’s choice and I had no influence on the choice being a Mexican food eatery. The food was good there. I got some mole chicken and Joyce had some healthy style tacos served with lettuce as the “tortillas”. The margaritas were good as well. I finished my blue margarita and the pretty much drank all of Joyce’s Cadillac margarita since she only drank a bit. Good thing I’m a seasoned pro. After dinner we went back to the hotel and called it a day. It was definitely a day with a lot of variety!
The hot sauce has no relation to the restaurant.
11/28/19: Thanksgiving in Canyon de Chelly
We got up and ate oatmeal in the room and then got ready to explore Canyon de Chelly which is a place I hadn’t even heard about before I looked into places to visit between Santa Fe and Monument Valley. We didn’t leave until about 10 which seems to be typical for us. The canyon gets explored via viewpoints that are on roads that run along both the South and North rims of the canyon. We did the South rim first since that was the side with the most to do. We first hit the White House which is the only place where you are allowed to hike down to the canyon without a guide. The hike was only about 2.5 miles round trip and it descended around 500 feet. But it was a cool trail the had a couple of tunnels and was fairly steep in spots. At the bottom you could get fairly close to an old cave dwelling that is about 1,000 years old. There was a fence to keep people out but it didn’t get in the way of viewing the site. A woman there was selling Indian jewelry and Joyce bought a bit from her. She apparently has places at the bottom of the canyon as well as on top. Once done checking out the ruin we hiked back out and ate lunch in the car. The wind was really blowing and the temps were in the upper 40’s so it was a bit cold.
Joyce before we started the hike down.
View of the trail down.
Caves with no ruins.
Joyce among the sandstone.
The White House.
More views from the hike.
One of the two tunnels on the hike.
Once done with our lunch we hit up the other views along the South rim and there were lots of incredible views of the canyon. At almost all of them we could see houses down on the floor so there are still many Indian families living in the canyon. There are also lots living on top as well. Once done with the South rim we moved on to the North. There were only two stops on this side but I mistakenly thought it was three. The book mentioned three views on this side but I got confused and thought it meant three separate pullouts on the road. One pullout had two viewpoints to visit. My confusion made us drive at least 10 miles out of the way. Though there were only two of them, the stops on this side had some great views of more cliff dwellings so that was pretty cool. The wind never let up all day but it was worth dealing with it in order to see this canyon. For something I’d never heard of it was a really good experience to get to view it. There is an option to view the floor of the canyon but it involves either joining a ranger led tour or hiring a Navajo guide to take you. Apparently you can hire a guide to come along in your vehicle so you can drive the canyon. The next time we’re in the area I want to do that.
Can you spot the cliff dwelling?
Joyce at the Spider Rock viewpoint.
Spider Rock.
The pool of tranquility.
Someday I’ll drive that route down there.
A stage?
Joyce prepared for the wind.
The sun sets over Canyon de Chelly.
More cliff dwellings.
The final cliff dwelling we saw today.
The sun set so we took off back to town and grabbed dinner at the Denny’s in town. A Thanksgiving dinner at Denny’s is something I haven’t experienced since that time with Dave & Doug in Moab years ago. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to rest after a long day exploring. It was a good Thanksgiving day.
11/27/19: Breaking Bad on the Way to Canyon de Chelly
We got up and ate breakfast and packed since we were due to leave Santa Fe today. We got out a bit after 10 which was after our check out time but we’re on vacation…so there. We stopped at a gas station so I could fill my cooler with ice and then a stop at Starbucks for some caffeine goodness and then we were on our way. Our route to Canyon de Chelly routed us through Albuquerque so Joyce found some Breaking Bad sites to visit as we wound our way through the city. Our first stop was Walter White’s house which looked to have had a lot of visitors because they now have a metal gate around the property and signs asking people to take pictures from the opposite side of the street. Next up was a mini mall that was where Saul Goodman’s office was. The final stop was a restaurant where the Pollos Hermanos scenes were filmed. This place actually welcomed fans since they had a sort of shrine to the show inside with signed photos of some of the cast. We ended up eating lunch there and the food wasn’t bad.
The former home of Walter White.
Joyce is looking to call Saul.
I’m hoping Gus didn’t survive that explosion.
The shrine.
No sign of Gus so I survived.
After lunch we just drove straight to our hotel in Chinle which is only a mile or so from Canyon de Chelly. We got there aound 6 & checked in and then went out to grab dinner at a pizza place nearby. All of the staff and most of the customers were Native American so I assume we are in or near a reservation. The pizza was decent and afterwards we hit up the grocery store in the same parking lot for some breakfast & lunch supplies. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so we may try to hit up the Denny’s for Thansgiving dinner.
11/26/19: A Change of Plans
We had plans to drive up to Taos today but when we woke up we found that it had snowed overnight. Judging by the snow on top of the Jeep it dropped about 4″ of fresh snow. It was cold so there was a lot of ice as well. Since Taos sits quite a bit higher in altitude than Santa Fe I didn’t want to chance dealing with the snow and ice up there so we called that off. We decided to instead spend the day at Meow Wolf which was recommended by Doug. It is an interactive art exhibit about four miles away from our hotel. I bought tickets online for the 1:20 show so we decided to walk down to the square to see how much snow there was. Not much as it turns out but it was pretty.
Joyce in the snow-filled square.
About 12:15 we headed out for the Meow Wolf experience. We got there a bit early and the parking lot was full so we parked across the street where I pulled off a very manly parallel parking maneuver. We walked over and stood in our 1:20 line and waited to be let in. The first sign it was going to be unique was when we saw the large Iron Giant robot in the parking lot. We got let in a bit before our start time and checked in our coats at the check. From the first room it was an overwhelming visual experience. There was a story to be figured out but it was a bit too random for me and I just enjoyed the visuals and discovering new rooms to check out. Joyce got a bit dizzy from all of the chaos but I really liked it. It was very crowded which is something I usually don’t like but I was ok with it today. It was pretty amazing what an be done with a basic warehouse property. They blended paint, sculpture, light, music, etc. all into one experience. In some cases the visitor could change the art by interacting with it. Hugging a pole, hitting a dinosaurs ribs with a stick, plucking the laser strings of a virtual harp… These were all part of the story but were able to be enjoyed outside of that as well.
Joyce and the Iron Giant.
Even the hallway to the bathroom is epic at Meow Wolf.
Play ‘dem bones.
More Meow Wolf madness.
One random image from Meow Wolf.
The über hamster.
2001 A Space Odyssey?
Anyone got a black light?
Nice corndog.
Even things to see when you look up.
Lounging at Meow Wolf.
Most of this was just cardboard with a huge addition of imagination.
Joyce adds some color to the black & white room.
The laser harp made sounds when you “pluck” them.
Almost missed seeing this guy hiding above the doorway.
More bathroom hallway art.
The bowling pin leads the way.
After we were done checking out Meow Wolf Joyce found a brewery nearby where we could get a snack (and some beer). Rowley Farmhouse Ales was the place and they seemed to specialize in sours and saisons. I really like both of those so I was happy. Joyce ordered some wings and I got some spiced glazed nuts that they added bacon to. The nuts were awesome! Joyce picked a Berlin style raspberry wheat sour and I got a raspberry saison. Both of these were RFA beers and both turned out to be really good. So good that I had them can up two of each to take home. Joyce later ordered up some brussel sprouts and I ordered a 4 oz Odell Mercenary double IPA and then a 4 oz grapefruit gose. The grapefruit gose was from RFA and was a bit odd but the IPA was great. Once done with our beers and snacks we drove back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner.
About 7 we walked the familiar route down to the plaza and went to The Shed to get a table and were told it was a 45 minute wait. We put our name in and then walked the town a bit before heading back to the restaurant. We got seated about 8:15 and Joyce ordered a small bowl of veggie posole since she wasn’t hungry but I ordered the Pollo Adobo. Both were great and we ended up ordering a tamale on the side to close out the night. That was also good. After dinner we walked back to the hotel in the 20 degree weather and called it a night. Tomorrow we leave Santa Fe. I really liked it here and would like to come back and explore the surrounding mountains. Preferably when it isn’t quite so cold.
The regular door and the low door.
11/25/19: Eating Our Way Through Santa Fe
We got up and got ready to feast down at Cafe Pasqual’s. This place is located about a 1/2 mile from our hotel so it was an easy walk to get there. When we arrived there was a decent waiting line but it only took about 15 minutes before we were seated. I got a cappuccino and Joyce ordered a latte while we decided what to order. My cappy came in a large bowl like thing that Joyce liked enough to pick a set of four as we left. I ordered up some barbacoa and eggs while Joyce went with the smoked trout hash. Both were great. After breakfast we had to go upstairs to pick up the cups since there weren’t enough in the restaurant. They had an art gallery there and they had a book there that somewhat explained the odd painting they had in the restaurant that I spent my entire time there trying to figure out. Joyce also picked up a t-shirt for me which was nice.
Poor PowPow!
Joyce entering into the old part of Santa Fe.
Cafe Pasqual’s gets two snaps up in a circle.
After this we walked back to the hotel to drop of the stuff we bought and I walked a bit faster than normal since I really had to get to the bathroom! We then walked back to town and did a lot of walking around the city. The old part of the city was pretty fun to walk around but was primarily touristy. Lots of artsy stores selling turquoise jewelry but the old Spanish architecture was fun to look at. The plaza in the middle of the city was nice and there was a cathedral at one end that we went into to check out. It was pretty well done and it had a nice baptismal in the cente that I really liked. We also found another cathedral that was built in 1879 that we checked out. This one cost $5 per person to visit and I’m not sure it was worth it. It was ok but the best part was the spiral staircase which was off limits.
The plaza.
The cathedral as viewed from the plaza.
The cathedral view to the altar.
The cathedral view to the rear.
The baptismal.
The Loretto chapel.
Stairway to heaven?
Once done with that we walked back to the plaza and picked up a couple of pork tamales from a street vendor which were pretty good and then hit up a French pastry shop for some espresso and a lite lunch. I picked up a cheese pastry while Joyce got some ratatouille crepes. After that we walked a bit more and then decided to check out the Georgia O’Keefe museum. She was a modern abstract painter and her stuff was decent. It was worth going in to check out. Joyce ended up buying a couple of prints and some postcards and then we walked back to the hotel to rest a bit before we ate again. During this time I checked out the scenic routes up to Taos and it looks like we can take different routes up & back and see quite a bit.
Joyce perched over the mighty Santa Fe river.
Once rested up we walked back to town hoping to see the plaza all lit up since we saw workers setting up lights during the day. The lights were on in daylight but nothing was going on at night. Since the plaza was a bust we just walked over to Tomasitas and got in line a bit earlier than planned. Even at 7 there was a good sized crowd and we waited about 1/2 hour for a table. We each got a margarita and Joyce got a combo while I went for some sopapadillas which I’ve never had. All were pretty solid although nothing that we can’t get in San Diego. We were both stuffed so after dinner we walked to a Sprouts to pick up some eggs and bread so we can make our own food for breakfast tomorrow morning. We may pack sandwiches for lunch instead of eating in Taos. Maybe we’re both tired of eating out already?
The crowd at Tomasita’s wants more beans.
11/24/19: The Road to Santa Fe
We got up and decided to skip the hotel breakfast and instead get something to eat at Starbucks on the way out of town. Once we were done there it was an uneventful drive to Santa Fe. The road was just lots of high desert with low traffic. About an hour in the wind really started to blow which made it more interesting to drive and killed my gas mileage. I was a bit excited to see Roswell since I thought there would be a lot of alien related cheesiness happening but there wasn’t much to be seen there. We did stop at a McDonald’s for a bathroom break though.
Joyce Tilley or Dana Scully?
Once out of Roswell we drove the rest of the way to Santa Fe stopping only to fill up and to eat quickly at a Subway at Clines Corner. Once in Santa Fe we quickly checked into the Villas de Santa Fe and found the place to be very nice. It is central to the old section of town and we ended up walking about a half mile to grab dinner at the Fire & Hops “gastro pub”. The food was decent there and they had a good selection of beers. I ended up getting a solid raspberry sour from a local brewery. We would have liked to have hit The Shed or Tomacitas but both were closed on Sundays. We’ll hit them another night. Hopefully we’ll hit Pasquals tomorrow for breakfast!
11/23/19: Carlsbad Caverns
We got up a bit after 8 and went over for the free breakfast which was pretty basic even by hotel standards. They did have a waffle machine so I was ok. After breakfast we got ready and left to go check out the Carlsbad Caverns. We stopped at Starbucks on the way for a caffeine boost and a chance to improve upon the weak breakfast. It was about a half hour drive to the Caverns and, once there, we bought an annual National Park pass that will keep us good through November of next year.
We chose to do the “natural” entrance to the caverns which basically means you walk down instead of taking the elevator. The elevator takes you down about 800 feet under the visitor center. I hadn’t been to the caverns since likely around 1983 when I visited on a family road trip. I know this because one of the formations there is called the “Rock of Ages” and David and I thought that was funny due to the Def Leppard song of the same name being popular at the time we were there. Pyromania, the album that song was on, was released in 1983. It was cool to see the caverns with “adult eyes”. Even though I was around 16 when I first visited I appreciated it more this time. Before entering the caves we got a talking to about what not to do when down there. While Joyce was using the restroom I was told by the ranger that many people can’t handle the 1-2 hour gap between this bathroom stop and the one at the bottom of the caves and end up “deucing” down in the caves. Apparently this happens more in the winter when there are fewer visitors to interrupt than in the summer when far more people are in the caves. Who knew? I let him know we had the same issues at Charlotte Russe with people occasionally “deucing” in our dressing rooms.
The walk down the “natural” entrance was pretty easy and the only issue was some slick sections due to water on path. Not a problem with my new LL Bean boots. About half way through the caverns I noticed that Joyce wasn’t close by anymore. I checked a bit back and forwards but couldn’t find her. I assumed she was ahead so I continued on. At a point in the trail where I could opt for the long route or the short route I went long. Still not finding Joyce I hurried through this part of the trail which was less scenic than most of the other parts of the caves. When I got to the bathrooms and cafe area she was not there so I went up the elevator and checked around the visitor center but still no Joyce. I dropped off my pack in the Jeep and then returned to the visitor center where I took the elevator back down to the caves. I also got to hear the “what not to do in the cave” schpiel again. Once I stepped out of the elevator I found Joyce. Whew! We snacked on some Clif bars at the cafe and then took the elevator back up to the visitor’s center.
The “natural” entrance.
Near the entrance.
Another cool formation in the caves.
Wasn’t this a Yes album cover?
Def Leppard liked this enough to write a song about it.
We walked around the visitor’s center for a bit and then took off. On the drive out I noticed a scenic route off of the road just a bit away from where we had parked. It was a dirt road so we decided to check it out. It was well graded but I put it in 4-wheel drive just to get everything lubed up in there. It was a 10 mile one way road and there were a few trails to hike down there if we wanted to stop. Once back on the main road we drove back to the hotel and rested up a bit. We decided to get dinner at the Yellow Brix Restaurant and it ended up being pretty good. Joyce got some calamari she thought was decent and I got a great Cuban panini sandwich with truffle fries. The sandwich had pulled pork, cheese, chilis and pickles. Very good but not too healthy. We also tried a couple of local beers that were just average. After dinner we made sure to fill up the tank. It only took less than 5 gallons but we learned that you can”t be too careful!
The Jeep dominating the graded dirt road.
Proof that we were there.
11/22/19: Sonoran Hot Dog Day
We were up about 9 and went over to grab the free breakfast at our hotel. They had a waffle machine which is always a good thing. Outside of that breakfast was the standard fare but they did have scrambled eggs and potatoes which were actually pretty good.
After breakfast we drove the short distance to Tucson to go to the Thunder Canyon Brewery and get a Sonoran Hot Dog at El Guero Canelo down on 12th. Both of these were based on Craig Montgomery’s post on the BOB list. We got lucky and the brewery was open. It turns out that on most days they open at 4 but Fridays they open at noon. We got there about 12:20. The bartender was from Oceanside and was in Tucson to study Computer Science. The brewery didn’t have the bourbon stout Craig said was good so I got the Warhead Stout instead which was great. Joyce got a flight and the hazy IPA she picked as one of the selections was tasty so I got a 10 oz glass of that too. The brewery was cool & they had an old Nintendo with games to play, shuffleboard, board games and pinball machines. Both Joyce & I gave the South Park pinball machine a go but neither of us did too well.
Joyce is excited to hit our first brewery!
Trust me, no we can’t.
Respect my authority!
After we were done with the Thunder Canyon Brewery we set the GPS to route us to El Guero Canelo. The original location of the place that supposedly has the original (and best) Sonoran hot dogs. This is according to Craig who is local so I am confident this is the case. He said this is the place to go and not the one catering to the “gringos” in the better part of town. The place was located in a crummy area and had a “unique” clientele so I immediately liked it. We ordered a Sonoran hot dog without mayo and a caramelo which was similar to a quesadilla but more meat than cheese. Both were great and they had a large condiment bar full of salsas & veggies that we added to the mix. I ate most of the dog we got but I wanted another so back I went for a 2nd. You only live once right?
Not the home of the Whopper.
Round one.
After that it was a long, long drive to Carlsbad. We stopped in Las Cruces to eat at an Indian restaurant that turned out to be pretty good. I got some Vindaloo and Joyce got a lamb & spinach dish. After that it was on to Carlsbad. We took highway 62/180 near El Paso and it was a long road with absolutely no gas stations to fill up at. We were lucky we had a decent amount of gas since we would have been screwed if we didn’t. It was well over 100 miles without a place to fuel up. Once we got near the hotel we found a spot to fill up and myJeep took 16 gallons so we had 6 to spare. The gas pump decided to not shut off when the tank was full so gas spilled all over the side of the car which was nice. We then moved on to the hotel where we got to check in through a window like at a drive through at the bank. We got our room which was all kinds of shades of brown and called it a day and went to sleep.
11/21/19: The Road Trip Begins
We planned a road trip out to New Mexico to see the Carlsbad Caverns and to check out the Santa Fe/Taos area. I originally planned to camp in the van as much as possible but Joyce looked at weather in Santa Fe and it was forecast to be in the teens at night so that idea got nixed. In the end we decided to take the Jeep. The van starter battery crapped out right before we planned to leave so maybe that was a sign?
We both had to work today but I needed to check out offices down in Mission Valley so I worked from home. I got up early and installed a replacement battery in the van and then did some work. About 12:15 I drove down to see the office spaces available and then went home and got everything ready to leave.
The Jeep was packed and Joyce got home about 4:30 and we left about 5. That was a bad time to leave since the 15 South was a parking lot. We decided to get off the highway at College and eat at Sala Thai on College. I got some Mango chicken that was pretty badass. After dinner we were back on the highway about 7:00. Not much exciting on the way out. We lost an hour going into Arizona so we ended up checking into our hotel around 1:30. We got a room right next to a section under renovation but the room was ok. It was a long day so we went straight to bed.
The Nasal Forest 
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