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!