July 10, Graceland and more

We were up early Saturday morning, to visit Graceland before it opened. The line of Elvis fanatics was already long. We opted to sign the stone wall in front of the home, take a photo and move on north. Or as Hannah says "RUN"! We have gotten used to people coming up to the car. But when your in a Pink Cadillac outside the home of Elvis, you become part of the show. Just a little to weird, even for us.
After leaving Graceland, we rumbled through downtown Memphis where the Blues were born. I would love to see Beale Street at night with all its Neon. Well, not this trip. We did find a Starbucks and our first cup of real coffee in 12 days. Yes, ... we all know it is a chain. But for 12 days we have drank hot brown water. Those Mom and Pop diners have great food and friendly people but the coffee............

On the road again. We stopped in Jackson, TN to have some good ole' Memphis BBQ and the local Jackson Cheerleaders washed Matilda while we ate. It was a fundraiser to go to camp.

This was the first time on the trip the girl's watched TV. Four movies in a row. Their favorite, “Wagons East”. We drove till late Saturday night. We stopped on the side of the road outside Chilhowie, VA to watch the fireworks. They were fun, and an appropriate end to our day. Except we haven't stopped yet. We drove till well past midnight and stayed in Salem, VA. It was a long day but a fun day just the same. We are all now excited to get home to see the dogs and cat. Ella is convinced they are having a party, sleeping on the couch, drinking out of the toilet, you know breaking all the rules. BUT little do they know the dog/house sitter is a retired K-9 officer, so there will be no little pet parties. Even though we miss the pets we are already making plans for our next adventure in the pink caddy "Matilda".

July 8,9, OK and a belated Update

We left Santa Rosa and the La Loma Motel early.   Sorry to be missing our motel host, Eddie and his great stories.  (did we mention that Eddie has an extensive collection of vintage 60's furniture and a three wheel bike, with two brakes on the front tire?)  The La Loma Motel parking lot was interesting it was built with just paved strips for your car to park on.  In between the paved strips is gravel to collect any drippings from your car.   Not that this matters to anyone. However; Eddie works really hard to maintain his little Motel and it and people like Eddie are part of the Route 66 charm.  He was friendly and the La Loma Motel safe and charming.  We made Tucumcari for breakfast.  We stopped at a very cute, very small diner, named Rudee's.  The food was great.  We met Archie Mower, "as in lawn mower"when we walked in.  Archie is charming man wearing Red, White and Blue suspenders.  He eats breakfast at Rudee's every time he visits from OK.   After some discussion and photos he revealed a secret.  The tip of his cane conceals an American flag.  Just the right size for waving in a parade.  We stopped at the Teepee curio shop and at an ice cream shop on our way out.  And yes, Rick managed to find a western shop to buy a lasso.  He has wanted one every since the Will Rogers Memorial stop showed footage of Will Rogers roping.  Then again maybe he has wanted it his whole life.  So, here we are way behind schedule.  We have talked to everyone, stopped everywhere and generally not stayed on course.  We have had fun but we need to move.  Debbie, I am sorry, I am not going to be able to stop in Amarillo for lunch.  Maybe next time.  

We did stop long enough to run out to the Cadillac Ranch west of Amarillo.   The landmark has changed a bit since I lived here.  For one, it has moved it's location and second the cars are more stripped and more brightly painted.  The Cadillac Ranch is another fun place to sign your name.   We bumped into a fellow there who stated, "i knew for 87 miles, I would see you all here" I guess the car was a dead give away.   Anyway a quick run to the cars through a Texas farm field, some quick photos and back onthe road. 

We made Shawnee, OK in time to have pizza at a local shop.  It was so good we got one to go.  First Pizza in over two weeks.

The car has decided that it likes traveling at 75 to 80 and is now getting well over 15 MPG.  Woo hoo, if we had figured this out earlier we may have made California.  Maybe next year and there will be a next year.

July 7, 2004 Canyon de Chelly

July 7, 2004 Chinle, AZ

They call this place Tseyi which means "the place with in the rocks"
Our guide arrived to the hotel at 8am to take us on our journey into Canyon De Chelly.  His name is Stanley Yellowman and told to be on of the best guides. Stanley, his brothers and sisters grew up in the canyon and now are guides.
We did not really know what to expect with this tour.   All I can say is it was incredible!!!  This was by far the best detour we ever took.
The canyon was beautiful, the ruins amazing, so inspiring and peaceful.  The pictographs and petroglyphs were wonderful.  It was amazing to stand next to ruins and paintings dating back to 200- 1300 AD.  Our guide was excellent. He told stories from his childhood growing up in this beautiful place.   He told the  stories of the rocks and ruins as he had been told by his forefathers that lived here.  This was a great side trip.  The photos don’t do this sacred place justice. After our tour we drove and drove.  Made it to Santa Rosa NM for the night.

Now we really need to make time, to get home.  We decided to come home on 40 through Tennessee.

Heading home with a detour July 6, 2004

July 6, 2004

We left the Grand Canyon this morning heading out over the East Rim and then through the reservations.  First a couple more stops to buy trinkets. 

Then out in to the wide-open spaces.  Our first reservation to go through is Navajo, then the Hopi and then the Navajo again.   The countryside is beautiful.  Red sand stone and the Painted Desert are all around us.  Hannah is driving again.  She put in over three hours on twisty roads with high cliffs. We stopped at the Hopi Cultural Center for lunch.   I had a Hopi Tostada, made with frybread, it was really good.  So tasty, it had been a long time since breakfast, so we were all starved and the food tasted so yummy.   After filling up our bellies we are back on the road toward Gallup.  We stopped in Ganado for gas and nice man named Earnest told us to go to Canyon de Chelly at Chinle.  Of course it is out of our way but he was pretty convincing so we turned north to see Chinle.  Got a room and hired a Navajo guide for tomorrow morning. We have just for a quick swim, well we did have to pull the car out front so that two local families could take a photo with the car, then time for sleep.

July 5, 2004

July 5, 2004

Hannah’s Birthday!  We really need to make some time if we are going to make the Grand Canyon.  The temperature is hot and feels best moving fast.  So, we packed up all our belongings and headed out.  NO STOPS.  Oh well, we did do laundry at a local Wash-o-Mat while the girls had breakfast at the El Rancho.

 

OK, one or two stops to buy jewelry from the local merchants.  Well, a third stop to pick up just one more piece of jewelry.

OK, we have to get gas.

OK, the Petrified Forest would be nice.

OK, the giant dinosaur is funny.

OK, your right lunch at Joe and Aggie’s is a must on route 66.

OK, a quick stop in “Winslow, Arizona such a fine sight to see.”

OK, time for gas again but really no more stops.

Wow, we made it to the Grand Canyon, Woo Hoo!!  And it was perfect timing for sunset.

The canyon was of course breath taking.  And at one of those stops we bought Twinkies and candles for Hannah’s Birthday.  Could there be a better place to make a birthday wish than looking out over the vistas of the Grand Canyon.  Kind of makes up for the fact that, its just twinkies.  Happy Birthday Hannah!!!!!

As the sun finally set we went to our car.  Only to be surrounded by a bus load  of Japanese tourist, who were more interested in our Pink Cadillac, than the canyon vistas.   After lots of photos and smiling, we were allowed to go on our way.

 

One more stop for dinner and a slice of cheesecake with a candle, before checking in to our hotel. 

Tomorrow we start to drive home????.

Happy Birthday Hannah

ITS HANNAH'S BIRTHDAY TODAY JULY 5, 2004
She is sweet sixteen and we will have lots of photo when we find another connection!

Leaving Tucumcari and reaching Gallup

July 4, 2004

We left the Blue Swallow this morning after highlighting Hannah’s hair. We made a quick stop at Teepee Curios for more and the scenery is changing quickly.  The vistas out the car windows are incredible.  We stopped in Santa Rosa for breakfast the food was wonderful but we caught them on a slow day.

Several miles down the road we pulled in to San Fidel, NM.  Our first greeter was Mike Molina at the White Arrow Garage; he was a charming man in an old pinto filled with dogs.  He was so happy to see the “pink Cadillac” he said “This is a fourth no one will get but me, Thank you wonderful people!”  We promised to send him a photo.   Next to the White Arrow, is Gallery 66.   It is a very quaint and charming gallery. The owner/artist Mary Trask is a New England transplant, who purchased the historic building and land off the internet three years ago.  She represents local artists and artist from around the world.  Her specialty is mosaic. work.  Her friendly and warm storytelling will entertain and delight the traveler looking for a break.  But for the traveler looking for local art and the stories to go with it, this is the place to go. She has a wide range of “Garden Art”, jewelry, pottery and mosaics and if you visit at the right time of the year she will send you on your way with fresh apricots from her orchard.

By nightfall we arrived at our hotel in Gallup, NW.  The El Rancho: Home of he Movie Stars, a fabulous old hotel full of character.  We paid 6 dollars more to get a room with a balcony!  The Hotel touts its self as having the “Charm of Yesterday, Convenience of Tomorrow” but no Internet service here. Not quite that advanced.

Gallup closes on Sundays so we had dinner in the Hotel.  After dinner we got directions to the fireworks show and took off to oooooh and ahhhhh with the locals.  I have to say the people of Gallup love their fireworks.  Besides the sanctioned fireworks, that were pretty darn good, the hills were filled with sprays of light all night long.  Another day on the road, another day of fun and laughter.