The Long Way Home

I think this post will grow over time if things keep going the way they have. Our Four Corners monument detour was fruitless, and today we expended our energy and that of a helpful Tourist Information Officer, to get to Fridgehenge. An exact replica of Stonehenge constructed from old refridgerators – except it wasn’t there; removed for liability purposes as kids were pushing them over. I know you’re as disappointed as I was, so here’s someone else’s photo of it taken from the googleplex. For the best really, since the light we had today was nothing like this.

You’re liable to get bored of these shots of what we look at most of the day. But I promise to stagger them, with regular shots of Gemmola in between.

We needed to resupply today, and where better to do that than at WalMart. Martina had trouble picking a pickle – amazingly, she found some without high fructose corn syrup!

Meanwhile, I headed for the booze aisle to check out the local brews. Alas! “No liqour tell 12…”. How unAustralian.

Then I realised that I’d lost Marti. I even rummaged through these three piles of pińatas, but Tickle-Me-Elmo hadn’t seen her.

There she was! Ogling the guns in the hunting/killing section. Just in time too, as the salesman was about to start the hard sell, or try to chat her up -whichever seemed easier to him.

Awoke at 5:15am in our Farmington, NM motel in an attempt to get to the Bisti Badlands for dawn. We arrived just after sunrise, but the light was poor with light cloud cover. The scenery was amazing so hopefully some of the photographs capture the beauty. Clocking up miles now headed for Santa Fe – big skies all around, and we just passed through a town called Sky City.

Strange and scary looking Koalas on the road out of Grand Canyon NP. A good reason to keep going towards Monument Valley. Passed miles and miles of sad, desolate, and often spectacular Indian Reservation wasteland.

On to the four corners monument (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado) which was closed… A pointless detour but we did get to see a lot more ever-changing landscapes. Now into New Mexico – across miles and miles of more Reservation; all car washes, laundromats, and pawn shops. Arrived in Farmington to a good local IPA microbrew and our first night in a motel. It was too late to make it to the Badlands to camp – hoping to get there by sunrise tomorrow.

We ventured into it today, for an early morning hike before we hit the road for Monument Valley. A challenging hike, with some scroggin and a roll for brekky half way, before the hard part – heading back up and out.

Only day two – we haven’t even reached the Grand Canyon! – and Gemmola looks so much like a little mouse that she gets taken by an eagle. At least this trip’s coffee expenses just dropped by 90%.

It was hard to rouse the bride for the start of our trip today. But there’s no better way to get Gemmola out of bed than with the promise of a coffee at Joan’s – especially if it’s the last good latte between West Hollywood and Europe. Goodbye LA