The Drive
We left Saturday morning from I-Hop (great breakfast) saying temporary goodbyes to many of the people we love. Driving away was just about the hardest thing ever. Looking back, we knew it was the last time we would see our family, at least for awhile. I knew that I couldn't do it, so Duffy had to drive!
We slept in Roswell New Mexico, which isn't far after you cross the border. This whole town is themed around aliens. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking how miserable I would be if everything was this corny...That's an Arby's sign.
Even some of the hotels had entrance signs with an alien waving that say entrance. Though I must admit, I understand why Aliens are all they talk about...there is nothing out there. New Mexico has more nothingness than I could have imagined.
We didn't get much sleep, Grayson woke up 5 or 6 times throughout the night. As you all know, he is a very active boy, and being cooped up in the car he didn't burn as much energy as he usually does. Grayson didn't sleep all day in the car, but he sure did have more energy than Derek and I combined at 3am. Needless to say, we got a late start on the day. However, it was a fantastic morning because we found a Whataburger for breakfast! I thought Whataburgers were only in Texas, so this was an awesome surprise!
As we drove, I kept thinking that New Mexico really lives up to all of its stereotypes. Every gas station had lots of people dressed in bright clothes with Indian prints, long dark hair with it tied in two braids (both men and women). The state also painted the highways a rust color, with teal accents.
There were times when it was 30+ miles between towns. And when I say town, I mean lots of little shack houses with one gas station on the highway. How that constitutes as a town I will never know. In between there were mostly is not only cedar trees, which started to look a lot like bushes. Sometimes cedar trees were all you could see!
We saw a few people riding bikes along the highway between small towns. That got me thinking...David Hanes would totally love riding his bike here, with the hills, beautiful scenery, and even a "bike highway." And that's about it for New Mexico.
Driving into Colorodo was great! There was an obvious change, there were suddenly other types of trees! YAY, a change in scenery. It was gorgeous, you could see mountains in the distance. There was unmelted snow on the ground in shaded areas. We drove on the US Million Dollar Highway, which is named because it was so expensive. This highway goes between and through mountains, literally. This is not from the section we drove on, but it's an awesome picture.
We stopped just before sun-down to take a beautiful picture with mountains and the sunset.
We stopped soon after, and checked in to our hotel for the night. The night in Cortez Colorado was much better than the one before.
The last day of driving...awesome! We woke up quite rejuvenated, not because we slept well (Grayson prevented that) but because we didn't have nearly as far to go! Mountains, mountains, mountains. That's a pretty good summary of Utah. They were around every turn. There were also some awesome places to stop. The beauty and magnificence is unbelievable, and our pictures don't do it nearly enough justice. Being in such a big world makes you realize just how small we are. It puts into perspective just how great God is.
After we got outside San Antonio, it was a lot of driving still in Texas. We started to wonder if we were ever going to get to the border. Texas scenery had lots of hills surprisingly, and oil. We passed through a real ghost town, and Pecos Texas (think Pecos Bill) where they claim to have had the first rodeo. Got some neat pictures
We stopped at the border for a photo op. Here you can see our roof bag, which was a life-saver, and the only reason we made it with all our stuff.
My pouty face, I don't want to leave, and Derek waving goodbye.
We slept in Roswell New Mexico, which isn't far after you cross the border. This whole town is themed around aliens. The whole time we were there, I kept thinking how miserable I would be if everything was this corny...That's an Arby's sign.Even some of the hotels had entrance signs with an alien waving that say entrance. Though I must admit, I understand why Aliens are all they talk about...there is nothing out there. New Mexico has more nothingness than I could have imagined.
We didn't get much sleep, Grayson woke up 5 or 6 times throughout the night. As you all know, he is a very active boy, and being cooped up in the car he didn't burn as much energy as he usually does. Grayson didn't sleep all day in the car, but he sure did have more energy than Derek and I combined at 3am. Needless to say, we got a late start on the day. However, it was a fantastic morning because we found a Whataburger for breakfast! I thought Whataburgers were only in Texas, so this was an awesome surprise!
As we drove, I kept thinking that New Mexico really lives up to all of its stereotypes. Every gas station had lots of people dressed in bright clothes with Indian prints, long dark hair with it tied in two braids (both men and women). The state also painted the highways a rust color, with teal accents.
There were times when it was 30+ miles between towns. And when I say town, I mean lots of little shack houses with one gas station on the highway. How that constitutes as a town I will never know. In between there were mostly is not only cedar trees, which started to look a lot like bushes. Sometimes cedar trees were all you could see!We saw a few people riding bikes along the highway between small towns. That got me thinking...David Hanes would totally love riding his bike here, with the hills, beautiful scenery, and even a "bike highway." And that's about it for New Mexico.
Driving into Colorodo was great! There was an obvious change, there were suddenly other types of trees! YAY, a change in scenery. It was gorgeous, you could see mountains in the distance. There was unmelted snow on the ground in shaded areas. We drove on the US Million Dollar Highway, which is named because it was so expensive. This highway goes between and through mountains, literally. This is not from the section we drove on, but it's an awesome picture.
We stopped just before sun-down to take a beautiful picture with mountains and the sunset.
The last day of driving...awesome! We woke up quite rejuvenated, not because we slept well (Grayson prevented that) but because we didn't have nearly as far to go! Mountains, mountains, mountains. That's a pretty good summary of Utah. They were around every turn. There were also some awesome places to stop. The beauty and magnificence is unbelievable, and our pictures don't do it nearly enough justice. Being in such a big world makes you realize just how small we are. It puts into perspective just how great God is.
Finally we arrived!!!
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