The Southwest: Sedona, Albuquerque and Roswell

Sights en-route to Sedona

After leaving the woes and headaches behind in Vegas the clean mountain air and clear blue skies of Sedona were, quite literally, what the non-existent doctor ordered. The drive between the grand-canyon and the Sedona township took us through the interstate and onwards through yet another mountainous road into a deep valley awarding views of red rock and sandstone on either side. Driving through the township of Sedona on a beautifully warm and sunny afternoon with nothing but blue skies and the trails from passenger jets painting their presence against the cloudless sky gave us a really good first impression and one, which unlike others we have had on the journey so far, would not evaporate over the coming days.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

We are not sure if it was the warmer night time temperatures, meaning no more ice on the inside windows of Phoenix, or the friendly greeting we received at the RV park we were to occupy for the coming days, but Sedona was just what we needed. The next morning we decided another day on the road was in order and we headed for Chapel of the Holy cross, a church set on a bed of red rock overlooking the entire basin, and we know this does not really sound like our kind of thing, but seeing the simple architecture and the stunning views made this a very worthwhile stop. Our next destination took a little getting to and after another windy and lofty drive into the hills we arrived at Jerome, one of the first and original settlements in the area. Jerome’s buildings tell of a time more fortunate and the ruins of the hotel, bank and post office really gave the area a sense of history. We did wonder why early settlers took such and arduous journey up a steep hill to set up a village, but after parking phoenix and doing a 180 the panoramic view of the basin punctuated with various mesas, small table-top hills, explained it all. The fancy boutiques, antiquity dealers and art galleries made this destination a perfect distraction for the afternoon and after a pleasantly surprising lunch, one of the best we have had while away, it was time to make our way back to ground level.

Common Sense - Jerome Style

Our second and final day in Sedona would be spent in the back seat of a 4wd taking in some of the awesome sights Arizona has to offer and really testing the traction control and tread of the tyres as our guide expertly guided us through some of the geographic wonders surrounding us. The layers of red and white rock were separated by a band of stone running in a horizontal line through the whole valley as though the top layers of rock were cut off with unrealistic precision and replaced after the filling was spread over the rocks below. The other half of our tour, the Broken Arrow tour, was a little more extreme and saw the 4wd tackle impossibly steep climbs and at times had the bonnet of the jeep pointing to the ground at a 45 degree angle. The ride was as bumpy as you would expect it to be in a modified 4wd, but was an experience nonetheless. Our guide imparted stories of people coming to the area in rental jeeps and getting stuck in the most ridiculous of places, including a truck driver who thought the steep slopes and tight turns of a loose gravel road would be a good shortcut for his fully loaded semi-trailer [nice one anonymous American truck driver]. Arizona has some very common sense laws that make sure if you go somewhere you are not supposed not only will you have to pay for the hefty retrieval fee you will also get a massive fine, so hopefully this truck driver got everything the short cut promised him. For such a rugged landscape it is surprisingly fragile and delicate ecosystem that can be thrown out of balance, more often than not, by tourists who drive in the area unaware of the damage they are doing to the surroundings. There is an organism that lives on top of the soil, holding it firmly in place, at the base of certain plants and grasses that takes hundreds of years to form and can be lifted away unknowingly by the wayward tread of a callous 4wd enthusiast. The resulting loose sand can mean devastating sand storms when strong wind whip through the valleys and plains. We also discovered the desert is home to juniper bush, a key ingredient in Gin, and a certain type of plant used for making tequila so, needless to say, those would be some happy Indians if only they had discovered traditional distilling techniques. Like so many times before, we came to love a place just as we had to leave but we really did not know what to expect from Sedona and were grateful chance lead us here.

Overlooking Sedona

Our next stop was Albuquerque and again the drive was a sensational combination of desert plains and rolling hills. Our Las Vegas escapades, unfortunately, took their toll and we were bed ridden for three out of the four days in Albuquerque. One day in Albuquerque we were held captive inside of Phoenix for an entire day as gusty winds shook her violently from side to side. We did, however, manage to get out on our final day and we headed for the old town district. The district survives on tourism and supplies quality jewelry, pottery and other tasteful creations made by local indigenous artists to those willing to take the time to visit all the shops in the area. Overall Albuquerque was what we expected, a small American country town on steroids, and we were happy to put this town and our sickness behind us.

Roswell is an 'illuminating' experience

Roswell was the next destination for us and promises of UFOs and more south-western hospitality were the out of this world experiences we had in mind. After the 1947 incident involving the US Air Force, a couple of farmers and plenty of tales to wet the whistle of conspiracy theorists Roswell has survived with the notoriety of being the closest town to the ‘alleged’ UFO crash. There really is not much else [we even saw our first tumbleweed in a shopping centre car park] except for a main street crowded with UFO souvenir shops and a few badly themed stores, but if you come to Roswell you have to check out the International UFO Museum and Research Centre. The museum, if you can call it that, presents a lot of information on the 1947 incident and presents a variety of theories and perspectives on the events that took place on a ranch 40 miles outside of Roswell. It lets you make up your own mind and if you read all the information there are definite inconsistencies on both sides of the argument, but the other exhibits really did feel like people reading in between lines that do not exist. There are some interesting reads in the museum, but your own influences and opinions will dictate what you take away from this place.

Our immediate future holds an introduction to Texas before heading through the deep-south on our way to Florida, where we will be spending Christmas in Tampa and New Years in Miami, and onwards up the east coast. It feels good to be back to normal health wise and it makes it much easier to motivate ourselves to get out and draw in as much as we can before having to whisk ourselves away to make it to our next location. Such is the life on the road.

‘Till next time,

Antoinette and James.  

Nevada and Arizona: More than a money oasis.

Vegas Baby!

It’s been a while since we had the energy, or more precisely the motivation, to get you all caught up on our adventures from the last two weeks and the best place to start would definitely be Vegas. For those who do not know Las Vegas is in the Nevada desert surrounded by mountains on every horizon and is constantly rated as one of America’s best cities to let your hair down and let your wallets open.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon after a long drive from San Diego through some pretty amazing scenery. The way the American landscape changes so dramatically from urban jungle to desert plains studded with monoliths and mirages of mountain ranges in the hazy distance is quite something and we are so glad we chose to drive, rather than fly, across this unfathomably beautiful and rugged terrain. Las Vegas is as glamorous, in parts, as it is made out to be in the media and when the sun goes down the lights come on and the whole city awakes from its daytime hibernation.

Even strolling around the Las Vegas strip you get an appreciation for just how much money is in this city and many try to capitalize on that, some more successfuly than others. If you can look past the peddlers selling wild fantasies through to urban hip-hop jazz fusion artists pushing their latest audio offerings the streets are safe and alive with an electricity like we have never experienced. We were staying at a motel on the Las Vegas strip and we spent one day collecting tickets for David Copperfield and trying out an amusement park on the top of the Stratosphere Casino. The ride we went on was a rollercoaster wannabe and if the roller coaster was not 108 stories high the ride would have been rather lame, we were kind of feeling a little ripped off as it cost about $50 each including entrance to the Stratosphere observation deck, so we spent the next couple of days wandering around without any goal in particular. Antoinette developed a curious, and honestly tempting, craving for espresso martinis and this would take us a few days to stumble across, but we will save that tale and it’s consequences for later.

Each casino has it’s own theme and most are kept in pretty good repair. The MGM Grand has a lion enclosure on the casino floor, the Venetian has Venice inspired gondolas cruising the moat in front of the casino and well you get the idea. The temptation to consume booze most days was hard to overcome, as everybody else seemed to be doing it, but with money being tight for the time being it was probably a blessing in disguise. The shopping in Vegas is truly world class. Almost every major hotel has three things. A Tiffany’s, Gucci and Louis Vitton store either inside the complex, or adjacent to, but there are plenty of other stores to visit and we spent a good day or so strolling through a mall with clouds painted on the ceiling and indoor fountains supposed to fool you into thinking you are outdoors.

Delicious, but deadly.

We did eventually locate somewhere to get an espresso martini, which was delicious, but for some bizarre reason the waitress told us about a place we could get an even better one [which was pretty daring because the ones we had in front of us at the time were lush] and we decided that would be our destination for our large Friday night out on the town. We arrived at Blue Martini around 5.30 to take advantage of their happy hour specials [$7 cocktails until 8pm which included the shaker they were made in that doubled the amount of cocktail goodness you received] and the results were messy. After slamming down four cocktails each, and the extra from the shakers, we were uneasily intoxicated and barely had the sense or energy to make it back to our motel, let alone any casinos. It was a good thing, however, because we would have been cannon fodder for the highly trained fortune distributors behind the smooth felt tables of any casino. The hangover was disastrous and we spent most of the day flicking between anything and everything on a disjointed cable network while avoiding any mention or sight of the sun and the scary neon lit world that lurked metres from where we lay defenseless and in need of a miracle.

This afternoon held promise, not similar to the afternoon before it, but the thought of seeing David Copperfield at the MGM Grand was enough to lure us from our incapacitated state, although we were both hoping he could make our hangovers…disappear. The show was brilliant and Copperfield really does things that defy logic and leave you scratching your head thinking ‘How?’ Even though the show did not seem too important to Copperfield he was still having fun, mostly at the audiences expense, and the show was worth the money. So after succumbing to the temptations of Las Vegas, perhaps a little too much, it was time to escape the strip and head to the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon 1.0

After another eastward drive we found ourselves on highway 64 50 miles south of the Grand Canyon in a town called Williams. We were a little bewildered when we checked in and were given a sheet saying ‘freeze warning,’ but we quickly figured out why. This place was freezing. We woke up in the morning to find ice on the inside windows of our RV, seriously it was so cold we could not sleep, but after a hot breakfast and an hour long cruise down highway 64 we arrived at our destination. Photos really do not do justice to the Grand Canyon and although you can capture, preserve and display portions of the canyon in great light and detail the vastness and gargantuan space this wonder occupies can not be described by any single image. The park was really well run, with free shuttles running constantly through some of the parks better spots, and we found ourselves walking within metres of the canyon rim in no time.

Grand Canyon near Desert View

We took as many photos as we could before deciding it was time to head somewhere else and we tackled the 30 minute drive to Desert View where a lone tower watches over the plateaus and crevasses and forgoes magnificent views deep into the canyon and over the plains. We do not know what it was, maybe the extended hangovers, but for most of the trip we were both speechless and did not feel the need to gasp and gape because the views said it all for us. Even though the light for most of the day was horrid with shadows stretching through almost every shot the journey out here was really worthwhile and even though we might never come back the majesty and immensity of this place really is something you have to see for yourself.

After another cold night in Williams we headed south for warmer weather to a small town called Sedona, literally a blip on the map, and found a strange affinity with the red rocks and desert hills that make up so much of what we are now seeing. For us the south-west really feels like the real America and being able to drive through such mind blowing natural phenomena makes us realize just what we are doing and makes us really glad we are actually doing it. We have a couple of things to take care of in Sedona before heading through to Albuquerque, Roswell, Senora and beyond, which, undoubtedly, will hold plenty of sights, sounds and tastes for us to write about, but you will just have to wait a while.

‘Till next time,

Antoinette and James.

California: Childhood Adventures and Remembering Ron Burgandy

So, when we left you last we were on the cusp of fulfilling every child’s dream and entering what is arguably the most famous theme park on the planet, Disneyland. Antoinette could hardly contain herself the morning of our departure and after loading our pack mule, James, with sugary supplies and a really atrocious coffee we arrived at the gates about 30 minutes prior to the park opening. This, as it turned out, was a really good move because if you want to experience everything this park has to offer it will take more than a full day and we found it was not until half way through our second day we had seen all the different areas in Disneyland. We decided not to tackle the California Adventure Park because it just would have meant we would have to split our time between the two destinations and not be able to get the most out of our Disneyland experience.

James hanging on for dear life.

After waiting for the park to officially open and hearing the ‘strategies’ of people standing next to us and how they were going to go to this ride, grab fast passes for this ride on the way, while the family continued on, and how walking through the park with a stroller was about being ‘firm, but fair’ we did not know what to expect. We quickly realized how lame and unentertaining it would be to have a strategy and we just decided to do everything in the entire park and we were always joking about having a strategy while waiting in line for the rides, which was a good way to pass the time. Even in off season there were lines for pretty much everything, but the lines all move really quickly and we would hate to come to this place during peak season because you would definitely end up feeling like a herd of animals as the lines crawl to the departure point. Some of our favourite experiences included when Tigger, the sneaky and unsubtle so and so, covered James with Antoinette’s scarf during a photo to get James, quite literally, out of the picture, completely overdosing on sugar for the two days and James holding on for dear life while Antoinette drove carelessly around a closed circuit. Some of the rides were, obviously, better than others and Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Madhatter were some of the best and we made time to revisit these on our second day.

The place itself is all done really well, with the exception of a few of the older areas, and each theme is executed near perfectly and the décor in these sections really does make you feel like you are in the jungle, in the wild west, a futuristic land of tomorrow or part of a Disney fairytale yet to be told. After two days of strolling around, tackling the exciting and authentic attractions and having all of our childhood fantasies fulfilled it was time to say goodbye to Disneyland and say hello San Diego, the birthplace of Ron Burgundy, the greatest fictitious news presenter the world has ever known.

Antoinette with her recently acquired friend, Samuel.

Those of you who have seen Anchorman will now be thinking of plenty of ridiculous quotes from the most eccentric scotch loving, suit wearing and mustachioed character ever produced, but San Diego has more to offer than entertaining news anchors. After two non-stop days at Disneyland we spent one afternoon on Pacific Beach, just a 10 minute drive north-west from the city centre, lazing about and it was great to be able to get outdoors, relax and forget about everything to do with traveling for a few hours. The beautiful white sands, gentle sea breeze and warm sunny conditions made this just what we needed to get our heads back in the right places after the swarming mass of crying children and angry parents that was Disneyland.

The San Diego Zoo was also another reason we came this far south and it did not disappoint. The place is massive and there are so many animals here and although it is always a bizarre feeling to see such majestic creatures behind bars, prisoners for our own enjoyment, it was still an enjoyable experience. This zoo has elephants, polar bears, tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars and so much more it was hard cramming it all into one day, but after walking without a break from end to end and side to side we had seen everything there was to see, except for the animals that spent their days hiding just out of view. After two days of drinking down the smooth delights of San Diego it was time to get amongst the city centre and we found ourselves dragged towards the Gas Lamp Quarter.

The Entry To the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego

The Gas Lamp Quarter is a 16-block sanctuary in the centre of San Diego overflowing with restaurants, shops and night clubs nestled in some very classic Victorian architecture. The energy around this place on a Saturday was quite electric and one could only imagine what would take place here once the sun went down, but we could only imagine because the 300 mile drive the next day limited our debauchery to a late lunch and, yet another, average coffee experience. Overall San Diego is definitely worth visiting if you ever find yourself this far south and had we been privy to a couple more days here there was more we could have done, but with Vegas beckoning with its bright lights and promises of unclaimed fortunes it is time to say goodbye to California and hello to Nevada.

‘Till next time,

Antoinette and James. 

Los Angeles: Broken Dreams and Happiness

One of the most iconic Los Angeles Images

A long drive and a really dodgy motel, or hotel as the owners prefer to call it, was not the impression of Los Angeles we were hoping for. The room was without doubt the oldest and most neglected we have stayed in. We had to park Phoenix, our camper, in an alley way opposite a dumpster with ‘fuck life’ sprayed badly on all sides and the smell of disinfectant was everywhere in the room from the yellowing floor tiles through to the sandpaper-esque towels and bed linen. It took a little getting used to, but the homemade vegetable vindaloo seemed to get rid off, or at least mask, the strange odours of this motel room in disguise.

Our first day was spent strolling through the down town area of L.A., which was a little disappointing in all honesty, and the shopping was all oriented to wholesalers and the area was full of tacky discount stores. It was not what we were in the mood for. We looked into being part of a studio audience and after reserving tickets online, two days prior for those of you wondering, we headed out to Sony Pictures and after a hour and a half bus ride and a further 30 minutes waiting around in the carpark we were told the studio was full and we had to go home. They did offer tokens that would see us certain entrance to an audience of our choosing, which was great because now we can see a show we do not really give a shit about the next time we come down the road from Australia. The whole experience was really disappointing and was the pinnacle of a number of let downs we have had to endure and we were both pretty pissed. 

Legends from the Rock Wall on Sunset Boulevard

The night’s adventures did not end there, however, we decided to pick up some supplies [corn chips for nachos, pineapple juice, vodka] and write our own hilarious sit-com. Downtown L.A. is not the trendiest part of town by any stretch of the imagination and while picking up the supplies from a convenience store with bulletproof glass around the register James was told he was going to hell for being greedy and that he needed to read the bible after declining a Hispanic guy, who ‘just got outta jail’ [his words, not ours], spare change. So our first L.A. escapade saw us travel pointlessly for three hours on public transport, get turned away from a show with tickets in hand and been told our futures were not so bright in the eyes of someone who, obviously, lives his life according to the good word…NICE!

Killer mural along Venice Beach

This city is renowned for it’s glitz and glamour and a trip to Hollywood was enough to get our moods back in the right place. The tour we settled on took us through Hollywood, Beverly Hills and down Sunset Boulevard on a two-hour loop around some of the city's sights and attractions. The sights mainly revolved around celebrity existence and for two people who hold only the slightest of interest in what celebrities worked where before they made the big time the highlights were few and far between. The walk of fame is pretty cool, but again did not really do it for either of us, but if you dig your celebrity gossip and want to tantalize your senses with the lifestyle of the stars then this is the place to do it. Our favourite place was the 'rock wall,' a storefront crowded with handprints of very influential music stars from previous eras. Beverly Hills’ meticulously manicured lawns and shopping centres with no sign of wear and tear were impressive, including the world famous Rodeo Drive, but were awash with a pretentious and almost inaccessible aura.

The highlight of Los Angeles, by far, are Santa Monica and Venice beaches that are shining examples of what the city has to offer. The beaches were hemmed by distant images of mountains and the white sands were tamed by blue water on one side and a whole range of crazily unique stores selling everything from urban artworks through to cooky giftware. We finally picked up a mascot on the Venice Boardwalk, a little Wall-e figuring made out of recycled hardware, and wandered around until we decided it was time to move on to the Santa Monica pier. The pier is the western most point on Route 66 and was a fitting destination seeing we will be crossing the country using parts of this historic roadway. It was nice just taking things a little slower than in the centre of Los Angeles and the coastal vibe was a welcome change after the trials of the previous couple of days.

Kick ass figurines made from scrap metal at Venice Beach.

Our last days in L.A. were spent people watching in Santa Monica and overdosing on burgers for our ‘last night dinner celebration,’ and we were both ecstatic to be putting the badly lit and interesting aromas of our lodging for the previous seven nights behind us. We are currently in Anaheim, after a shorter than expected drive, in a much nicer motel chain and are set to fulfill all of our childhood dreams with two days kickin’ around in the grounds of Antoinette’s future house, the Disney castle. With San Diego and a week in Las Vegas on the horizon, not to mention all the happy snaps with idols from an age gone by, there are plenty of tales to come.

‘Till next time,

Antoinette and James.