Day Nine & Ten - Aliens, Birthdays, and Bluebonnets

On the way our of Albuquerque, we stopped by to say hi to Walter White, Skylar, and Flynn:

On our way to San Angelo, we stopped in Roswell, NM. Every bank and business we passed seemed to have an inflatable flying saucer or space creature statue out front, and the hotel marquees said things like "Aliens welcome!"

The boys and I celebrated Rune's birthday at an incredibly kitschy and fun place called the Alien Zone...

After the aliens, we hauled butt for San Angelo. The boys swam, and then went to Stango's to get their fortunes read by Zoltar!

 

The next morning was the last leg of the trip, from San Angelo back to Austin. We hit 3,000 miles just outside of Brady. Nature and LadyBird Johnson rolled out the wildflower carpet for us - and I have to say - Central Texas in Spring is green and lush compared to the deserts we just drove through!

 Two boys, one dog, three thousand miles, and millions of memories.....and at last, home sweet home.

Day Eight - Four! Four! Four States in One!

Our rest and relaxation mode persisted this morning - the boys missed the hotel breakfast (Kashi bars, string cheese, apples and yogurt did the trick, though!) and when we finally got moving, it took a while to pack up and go - we had sure settled in.

Lars took Nibbles to a close-by dog park...she made some friends!

You know, I feel the need to mention the great food we found in the unlikely burg of Cortez, Colorado. After Kayenta, we thought nothing would compare. Then, we had the breakfast burritos with green chile from Pippo's Cafe in Cortez. Nothing less than magnificent. We also enjoyed dinner from Thai Cortez - Rune's pad thai was honestly one of the best I have ever tasted - thanks for the bites, Rune! Hart's wonton noodle soup was heavy on the ginger, but yummy - thanks for the bites, Hart!  My salad was really good, as was Lars's spicy duck.

OK - off to the Four Corners Monument. This is a pretty remote locale, with only the local Navajo (or Diné,) craftsmen in the kiosks as extra lure. Great lure, though...I found a bracelet to match the earrings I bought earlier (the stone is called adventurine!), Rune found a fantastic handcrafted thing (he told me not to tell) for Bracken, and Hart got a fantastic local rock, painted by Darlene, a Diné artisan.

Then we got on a short line to hit the crossroads -

Hart in NM, Rune in AZ

Hart and Pappa in NM

As we waited on line, the guy behind us told us about a cool trick we can do with the panoramic function in an iPhone camera app. He took a pano - we started in Utah, ran through Arizona and New Mexico, and wound up in Colorado. Crazy!

Rune had been planning to nap in four states - mission accomplished!

Hart got sleepy too.

 

Above is the picture the guy took of Hart to show us the magic of the panoramic camera app trick.

And here is my attempt with Rune. 

For some inexplicable reason, my video of all of us at the Four Corners Monument came out sideways. Turn your device or your head, if you care to see it!

We had planned to visit Aztec Ruins National Park today, but as we got on the road, the boys were ambivalent and the Road Warrior (Lars) was ready to put the pedal to the metal. So, we hauled butt for Albuquerque, with a brief stop in Farmington.

We just got a snack at this NM-only burger chain - one of the very cool things is that they have green chile everything. According to the billboards, Whataburger and McD's also include green chile on their NM menus. 

Headed for ABQ - the boys ran out of charge on their devices, so I gave them some very analog pipe cleaners and told them to make art. They obliged...

Cute little peeps for to decorate the dash.

The rest of the pipe cleaners became a "puppy leash," alternately worn by all the boys, including Lars.

Finally pulled into Albuquerque, heading for the highly regarded NM Mex resto called Padillas.

 

Both boys got sacked/flat cheese enchiladas with red chile, Lars had blue corn chicken enchiladas with green chile. I scavenged off of their plates, and had a sopaipilla filled with beans and green chile.

Lars's luscious blue corn chicken enchiladas with green chile.

  

The boys split the last sopaipilla, with honey. Look at how clean Rune's plate is! Hart's was similarly shiny - this was yummy. We all need quinoa and kale for a week after this.

Checked into another Econo Lodge - and was surprised, for the first time this trip, to find a multicultural offering in the nightstand.

 

I think everyone is running out of steam by this point, but the boys were totally game to do this three-day-recap V-log:

Tomorrow is Rune's birthday! 

We are headed for San Angelo - with a couple of fun pit-stops along the way!

Day Seven - Rest....Recoup...and Rock(dwellings)!

Forgot to mention that we hit the 2000 mile mark somewhere in Monument Valley - every mile driven by my wonderful husband. What a guy!

This was the view from the Econo Lodge - Rune was moved to exclaim "I love Colorado mornings!"

We drove up from Cortez to the Anasazi Heritage Center, and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. There was a nice interpretive center, and some ruins right outside of it. This was a single family home, almost 1,000 years ago.

We took a short hike up to a hilltop with amazing views, and snow. The boys had been begging Lars to pull over every time we passed a patch of (dirty, icy) snow...so it was great that there were big, clean patches for them to have fun with. And in.

Rune, with snowball, with 1/2 frozen McPhee Reservoir in the background.

The pueblo ruins at the top of the hill were big - they never really explained who did what how...but it dates to the 1120s.

Kind of a bummer that it is named after the Spanish conquistadors responsible for the near-extinction of the Pueblo Indians.

 

Two boys, one dog...with what Rune called the  "Coors Light Mountains" behind them, next to Escalante Pueblo.

Two boys, one dog...worn out from hiking, snowball fights, stepping in cactus, running uphill, and laughing hard. No V-log today either. Tired boys, crummy wifi, and for the grown-ups....the Top Chef finale!

Day Six - Monument Valley and on to Colorado

We left Williams, ready for another kind of long-haul - through the Navajo Reservation, to Monument Valley, which loops through Utah. We planned to stop at the Four Corners Monument on our way to Cortez, Colorado - the closest town to Mesa Verde National Park.

As we made our way onto the res, we encountered the first of many roadside jewelry stands. The folks at the tables were so nice and welcoming. I bought a couple of pair of earrings, and they gave me a list that explains the properties of the stones in them. Rune found a beautiful necklace that he just knows his mom will love, and Lars started jonesing for a ring. The rings were pretty amazing, and the woman could name the individual artisans...but they were veeery expensive, and he didn't get anything here.

Through the res.

I had heard about this little restaurant called the Amigo Cafe in Kayenta, AZ, and when we got there, we were starved.

We ordered the house specialties: a Navajo Taco, a Navajo Burger, and a bowl of red chile posole. 

That Navajo Taco was huuuuuuuuge. Indian fry-bread, covered with beans, cheese, lettuce, & tomato, with rice and a little pitcher of green chile sauce on the side.

Rune's face belies the excitement this burger inspired. Two patties, on half a round of fry bread. Jeez.

All of us freaked out for this posole. Rich red chile stew, with shredded pork and hominy corn. Hart said it tasted like tamale soup, and that wasn't far off. Absolutely amazingly delicious. And, more fry bread. JEEZ!

Um....we did a good job.

Great food, indeed. This was a memorable meal. The customers, cooks, and servers all appeared to be locals, and the food was downright soulful. Loved it.

And on through Monument Valley. This is an epic, gorgeous drive. The pictures don't do it justice.

Ok - so, we entered the town of Mexican Hat, Utah. Basically a wide spot in the red-rock lined road. There was a "trading post" that advertised jewelry, and we pulled over.

The view next to the trading post.

Lars and I went into the store, where they had a bunch of really cool, really beautiful rings. Lars zeroed in right away on one that was calling his name. We asked the woman behind the counter if we could see it, and how much it was. In one zen moment, he slipped the ring on and it fit perfectly as she said "Thirty-six dollars."

Yeah, we'll take it. The best part is that there is a maker's mark inside - this ring was made by Delbert Gordon, whose work is well-known, incredible, and much more expensive, generally. We got a serious deal here - Gordon makes each ring individually, with no sketch or template. Every one is an individual work of art.

Mexican Hat Rock!

These were wild horses - they ran across the road, and hung out in the field. Apparently, there is quite a feral horse problem on the res.

Glitch 1: On we went to the Four Corners Monument, only to find it closed. Darn internets. Oh well, it was only 40 minutes to Cortez, where we shared a supermarket veggie tray for dinner to make up for the hedonism of the Amigo Cafe.

Glitch 2: In Cortez, I learned that Mesa Verde National Park has closed off the main preserved cliff dwelling. You can see it from the visitor center, but the coolest thing about MV is getting to walk through and explore the preserved pueblo.

Oh well, the Glitch Patrol figured out that we could get up close and personal with some pueblo ruins at the Anasazi Heritage Center and Canyons of the Ancients National Park - we will hit the Four Corners on our way out of Cortez.

The boys were too tired to make their V-log entry today, and anyway, we are wifi-challenged still. Tomorrow we will explore 900+ year old Pueblo Indian ruins and see whatever other delights Cortez has to offer.