Albuquerque, New Mexico If I gain nothing else from this trip, at least I’ve finally learnt how to spell Albuquerque 🙂 A very long and adventure-packed day. We’ve only just got into Albuquerque (ok, now I’m just showing off ;-)) at the very late hour of what we thought was quarter to 10, but we…
Flagstaff, Arizona Apparently the time here is the same as it was in Nevada – no idea what those signs were about then. Leaving Las Vegas (hmm, wasn’t that a film?) took a lot longer than we’d planned., Firstly because we all slept in after our night on the town, but also because the crack…
I’ll continue with the series of travel journal entries soon (I’m just pasting together some montages of the Grand Canyon), but first a wee pause for today’s news. Not that there’s much, but it’s good to come back to the present occasionally. We’ve just come back from Riccarton, where we almost but not quite bought…
Somewhere in New Mexico Incredibly wide flat land, covered in dry yellow grass and very little else. Almost no trees or bushes as far as the eye can see. We did see some antelope though! A mini-herd of 5 of them grazing just off the road, their brown and white coats camouflaging them so well…
We’ve just crossed the state line into Arizona, and according to the signs we’ve also crossed into a new time zone, but I’m getting confused about time zones now, so I’m not sure which way we’ve changed. So it could actually be 12.30, or maybe 2.30. Who knows. Anyway, so yesterday. I think I left…
Las Vegas Yesterday was such a full day I don’t know where to start. I should really have written it up last night, but it was well after 1 am by the time I got to bed, and I just couldn’t stay awake long enough. So, we left Ventura yesterday morning (wow, that seems such…
Ventura. Happy birthday Mum! The view from my motel room. A small hedge separates the carpark from a multi-lane road, busy with traffic (all going the same direction – right must lead towards work for everyone). That’s not the freeway, though – that lies beyond, a concrete monster towering over the road, I don’t know…
Dinner at El Pollo Loco (which translates as Crazy Chicken! :-)) – a chain version of the taqueria we stopped at for lunch. We’ve decided on a change of plans for tomorrow. Instead of following Route 66 out of LA, we’re going to head into Nevada and go to Las Vegas! Hmm, I suppose I…
Ventura As we drove south, the landscape changed from the fresh spring greens of northern California to a dustier, drier look. Instead of strawberry fields there were oil wells (literally hundreds within an area of a few square km on land, and a few much bigger ones out to sea) and citrus orchards. The roads…
On Route 101, somewhere between Santa Cruz and Ventura Amazingly, we achieved our aim of being up by 5 am and on the road by 6 (or 6ish, at least). Having left too early for breakfast, our first stop was a little roadside cafe in an old railway caboose for necessary driver caffeination. Very cute….