Route 66 and Las Vegas

We left Flagstaff, AZ around 8:30 am for our 3 plus hour drive to Las Vegas. Our first stop is about 20 miles away for breakfast in Williams, AZ. Finally, we find a country restaurant which had a a great breakfast. After breakfast we left the beautiful little town of Williams and headed for Route 66 to Kingman, AZ, This route took us off the the interstate to a beautiful drive through old route 66 with some small towns with incredible scenery.

Gas Station in Williams, AZ

After driving for about 1 hour we discovered a wonderful little place off the side of the road with many memories and memorabilia about Route 66.    

Neat gas station

Beautiful woman with an old car.

Great photo

From here we headed to Kingman, AZ which was a bit of a disappointment.  So we headed out to Nevada  with a stop at the Hoover Dam and the new highway.

A great smile with the Dam in the background.

 We arrive at my brother's house around 3:00 pm and emptied out some items in the car so my mother would be able to ride around with us. My mother can not walk without aid any more which is sad. However, we were still able to get around town a bit. Three days is about my limit in this city.  Tonight the family is going out to dinner for barbeque. Tomorrow we will be heading toward California via Death Valley.

Leaving New Mexico and heading to Flagstaff, Arizona

On Wednesday, October 5, 2011 we left Santa Fe and our first stop was 50 miles away Old Town, Albuquerque. The old area was small and very easy to walk around in a couple of hours. The center square was quite nice and the shops were a bit more reasonable then Santa Fe. Interesting thing we learned in talking with one of the store owners is that New Mexico is the only state that has USA on it's license plates. I guess there are a lot of people who do not realize the New Mexico is part of the US. We made a few purchases and then headed out again.

We drove for a few more hours and then needed gas. I kept seeing a billboard advertizing a burger called Laguna . I had no idea what this meant until we came to this exit. There is a Native American tribe in New Mexico called Laguna. The stop for gas also had a dinner called Laguna. For $3.99 we had best freshest 1/2 pound burger ever.  We head out again for Arizona. This drive had some very beautiful scenery as shown in these photos.

We make one more stop for the elusive Native American pottery. This happens to be at the continental divide in New Mexico.

We arrived in Flagstaff around 5:00 pm. We checked into simple motel walking distance to downtown. After settling in we walk into town. We found a very popular Thai restaurant and had a wonderful, wonderful meal. On to Las Vegas.

Taos NM and the mountains

This was one a Elenita's suggestions and I have to admit I was not crazy about it. However, I was very happy we did this. Let's see this is Tuesday, October 4, 2011. Taos is a little higher up the mountain then Santa Fe. The drive was amazingly beautiful. We took one road up and a different route down. Taos is a bit more charming then Santa Fe. It is also a bit smaller however, we did notice a bit more pricey also.  After about 3 hours we headed back on the different but very beautiful mountain road.

Once we returned to Santa Fe we decided to eat at a recommended restaurant Tomasitas. This  is an authentic New Mexico cuisine restaurant. The food is similar to Mexican but different. In New Mexico a lot of food is cooked with green and red chiles. A lot of sauces are also made with these chiles and poured on top of the dishes.  The food we had this night was wonderful and memorable. Our next stop will be Flagstaff, Arizona. 

Driving to Santa Fe, New Meixo USA

Wow talk about a boring drive. Living in California I always thought that interstate 5 was a boring drive until this part of New Mexico.

This sign was at a rest stop in New Mexico.

After arriving in Santa Fe 2 1/2 hours later we decided to walk around town. Wow Santa Fe is filled with many high end art galleries,  restaurants and shops.  The town was nice but a little bit over the top. We then went back and checked in to our hotel . We rested a little and went back to the old town to look for a place to eat. But first we wanted to just have an appetizer and then walk around before eating dinner. We go into a place called The Shed at about 5:15 pm and notice that the place has a line of people waiting to have dinner at 5:30. This was an interesting town because a lot of the shops close and 5:30  and everyone just goes out and eats.   We did walk for a little while and were able to find some opened. We then want and had a salad at a small restaurant and then returned to our hotel for the night.

Driving toward Santa Fe New Mexico

On Sunday we left Texas for New Mexico. The drive started out beautiful for about two hours on interstate 10 then it became flat and desert for the next 6 hours. We arrived in Roswell, NM about 6 pm. We checked-in and the went out for a wonderful rib dinner.

Our next stop will be Santa Fe. But first we need to seek out the aliens in Roswell.

Saturday in Texas

In a small town outside of San Antonio there is a large German population, Fredericksburg. We decided to venture out and visit the area. It was also the beginning of Oktoberfest. The town was charming and quaint however, like most of the places today it was crowded and mostly had shopping. We never were able to eat in any of the restaurants because of the amount of people. After a few hours we headed back to San Antonio and stopped at another little town Boerne for dinner. This town was less crowded and was very charming.  

The 60 Birthday

Our drive to San Antonio took about 3 hours from the border. We checked into our very nice Best Western hotel about 3 blocks from the riverwalk. The hotel and the location could not be any better. We rested for a few hours and then headed out for a wonderful dinner on the Riverwalk.

To celebrate Elenita's 60th birthday here are some photos and a little music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpTR15iOACM

Traveling to the border

On Thursday, September 29, 2011 we started our 5 month journey through Mexico and the US. Our first stop was Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. This city is a nice 6 hour drive from San Miguel and 2 1/2 hours from the border. So this was a perfect place to stop for the night. We pulled into the recommended hotel Rancho el Morillo. The hotel had simple rooms but a very beautiful and extensive garden area.

After checking in we took a taxi to the central part of the city. We spent some time at the famous Sarape museum. We then walked to the Katrina museum. This museum was the work of one man and quite interesting, He not only made all the Katrina's, he was also our tour guide through the museum. Afterwards we walked around central and met a gentleman who spoke English and was very proud of his city. He explained several things about Saltillo and what to see. He is a teacher and a tour guide. He asked us to help him correct one of his students papers. We then walked over to the the Alameda park and spent some time walking around. Afterwards we went and had a nice dinner and then went back to the hotel.

Friday, September 30, 2011 we awoke to a beautiful day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then started our 2 1/2 hour drive to the border. The beginning part of the drive around Monterrey was absolutely beautiful with majestically tall mountains surrounding the city. After turning north toward the border the land went from hilly to flat but stayed very green. After crossing the border we then headed to San Antonio, Texas to celebrate Elenita's 60th birthday.