South by Southwest
A Tempchin road trip through the Southwest

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Date: April 16, 2009
Route: Flagstaff, AZ to Tujunga, CA
Highlights: Bagels, Rex Stout
Rating:
Notes: Left Flagstaff around 8:30. The weather was glorious - cool and clear with big puffy clouds. We went back to Biff's Bagels - this time I got the 9 grain bagel with hummus which was super delicious! Cori got the tried and true 9 grain with peanut butter.

Links: Rex Stout

Date: April 15, 2009
Route: Flagstaff, AZ
Highlights: Snow/Hail, another movie
Rating:
Bagels: 10/10b - 7.5/10c

Monsters vs. Aliens: 9/10b - 8/10c
Notes: Today's plan was to visit red rocks for a good hike. That changed when we noticed the light snow storm upon waking. We got breakfast at Biff's Bagels. I got a 9 grain with lox spread and Cori a 9 grain with peanut butter. The bagels were excellent and the lox spread very, very delicious. From there we visited a second hand store then to the Flagstaff downtown.
Links: Biff's Bagels

Date: April 14, 2009
Route: Santa Fe, NM to Flagstaff, AZ
Highlights: Burritos! Movie.
Rating:
Burrito: 8/10b - 7.5/10c

Observe and Report: 5/10b - 6/10c
Notes: Ben feeling sick (severe stomach ache). Cori drives. Another Winslow dust storm. Chips. Sleep. Lunch = Wendy's baked potato, salad, and chili in Gallup. Arrive in Flagstaff a little after 3 at our hotel, Rodeway Inn. Dinner at Black Bean Burrito Bar and Salsa co. Excellent foodies, let's go to a movie.
Links: Black Bean Burrito Bar and Salsa co.

Date: April 13, 2009
Route: Santa Fe, NM
Highlights: Santa Fe Brewing Company, Java Stout!!
Rating:

Santa Fe Brewing Company: 10/10b - 9/10c
Notes: Breakfast in a bag on the door. Lunch at the Brewing co. Excellent food!! Tuna Steak sandwich with super wasabi mayo, Veggie black bean burger, Java Stout & a Nut Brown Ale.
Links: Santa Fe Brewing Company

Date: April 12, 2009
Route: Wichita Falls, TX to Santa Fe, NM
Highlights: Sunrise Springs
Rating:
Sunrise Springs: 10/10b - 10/10c
Notes: Sunrise Springs is amazing! We seem to be the only people here. Beautiful grounds, the mallards (Algae and Stewart).
Links: Sunrise Springs

Date: April 11, 2009
Route: Plano, TX to Wichita Falls, TX
Highlights: Rain Storm
Rating:
Rain Storm: 10/10b - 8/10c
Notes: Brunch at Cantina Laredo with John, Kami, Jack and LeAnn. Nap X2. Thai food. Rain storm begins and a night drive to Wichita Falls. The rainstorm was superb! Heavy drops and frequent lightning.
Links: Wichita Falls

Date: April 10, 2009
Route: Van Horn, TX to Plano, TX
Highlights: The odor of Texas, Coffee, Oil wells, Abandoned buildings by the dozen
Rating:
The smells of Texas: 2/10b - 4/10c
Notes: We found good coffee (Starbucks) in Midland after looking for the last two days. There has been a distinct lack of good coffee (the only to be found being of the truck stop variety) and of non-fat or even low-fat milk. We've decided that the most common eateries have been Sonic drive-in, McDonalds, and Wendy's and Dairy Queen. We haven't even seen a grocery store since Flagstaff - but that's only what's been directly off the freeway and in the few small towns we've been through. Texas is officially the smelliest state so far. We've passed several refineries and a cattle yard and the wake of some large fire - all very smelly. We also drove through some part the oil fields and saw large open fields, as far as we could see, populated by a sparse forest of oil pumps. The trek through Fort Worth and Dallas started around 4:00, traffic time. We arrived at our hotel, Aloft, around 5:30. Our plan to surprise John, Kami, Jack and LeAnn was a bit altered by our late arrival. We decided to reveal our sinister plan. We headed to the Ingram house for dinner then to their next door neighbor's house for a true Cajun crawdad boil. It was awesome!! We met a whole mess of super friendly people and tasted some excellent food.
Links: Plano | Aloft

Date: April 9, 2009
Route: Silver City, NM to Van Horn, TX
Highlights: Gila Cliff Dwellings
Rating:
Gila Cliff Dwellings: 10/10b - 10/10c
Notes: From Silver City we headed north on the 15 towards the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The road was narrow and windy for quite a while and nicely augmented by the beautiful scenery. Cori spotted a Javelina (a peccary) running through the bushes on the way in. We arrived at the information center to see a Shwan's truck that had been tailing us on the windy road (I had to let the guy pass as he was being really aggressive for such a dangerous road) parked out front, its hot brakes smelling up the entire parking area. The information center had an interesting exhibit of native artifacts from the surrounding area, not from the cliff dwellings themselves, as they had been empty upon discovery. From the information center we drove 2 miles to the trail head and started up. The trail was short and mostly easy except for a steep bit right before the caves. The caves were huge and amazing!! We spent some time there before heading back down and then checking out the Natural History Exhibit in the parking lot. The exhibit contained skeletons, antlers, bugs, plant specimens, seeds, mushrooms, and rocks and gems from the surrounding areas. It was fascinating! We then drove back to lower scorpion campsite where there were several small trails, one leading to a small rock face covered with faded pictographs in red paint, and another heading to a Mogollan dwelling built under a rock overhang. We then left for Van Horn, a fairly uneventful trip. We passed through El Paso around 5:00, just in time for rush hour traffic, a laughing matter compared to Los Angeles. We arrived in Van Horn around 8:00, checked in and went out in search of food. We ate at Papa's Pantry, 1 of 2 non-fast-food eateries in town. The main street was really odd. It is fairly wide as to accommodate lots of traffic and is a mile or two long, lined with businesses which are mostly boarded up. Van Horn seems almost to be a ghost town, much like many of the towns we have driven through and by on this trip.
Links: Gila Cliff Dwellings | Van Horn

Date: April 8, 2009
Route: Flagstaff, AZ to Silver City, NM
Highlights: Sedona, Red Rocks National Park, Petrified Forest National Monument, Winslow
Rating:
Flagstaff: 9/10b - 8/10c
Sedona: 9/10b - 9/10c
Red Rocks: 9/10b - 9/10c
Petrified: 8/10b - 6/10c
Notes: We left Flagstaff early and headed to Sedona to breakfast at the Coffee Pot. The drive from Flagstaff to Sedona was amazingly beautiful, following a wooded canyon most of the way. We passed several campgrounds nestled among the trees. The Coffee Pot was a fun place, decorated with local native art. Cori had buckwheat pancakes and I had huevos rancheros and coffee (which consisted of a whole pot of coffee on the table). From Sedona we headed out towards the Red Rocks park - the red rock formations surrounding Sedona are exquisite. We stopped in at the park to buy a national park pass, were tempted to stay and hike around, but wanted to get to our destination. So we set out for the Petrified Forest National Monument. We entered the park through the southern entrance, making a pit stop at a touristy shop which was masquerading as a Visitor Information building. Liars. The park was at first a little of a let down compared to the beauty surrounding Sedona. We drove a little ways in to the Crystal Forest - I path leading through a good collection of petrified trees. The petrified wood is very interesting and around the Crystal Forest the park began to look more interesting. The barren hills changed colors from the plain off-white to off-white striped with shades of purple and the shapes becoming more alien and reminiscent of the lunar landscapes of the original Star Trek. Our .75 mile hike through the Crystal Forest was damped by the constant and strong wind which threw small rocks and bits of sand into our faces and left both of us with ear aches. From there we left the park and made our way to Silver City, passing through small towns in the middle of nowhere, fighting the wind the whole way. Around Winslow we ran into a dust storm which obliterated the freeway for about 10 minutes. Visibility was reduced to about 30 or 40 feet as we were caught in the swirl of red dust. At the last minute I remembered seeing a picture of a statue of a man with a guitar on the corner in Winslow, so we pulled off the free way and tried to find it. The town was small and rather dead. As we pulled up to the famous corner we spied 3 or 4 other people, obviously tourists as they stood around the statue awkwardly. We took a few photos and left town. We arrived in Silver City around 8:00, checked into the Super 8 after some trouble finding it. The town was pretty dark half of the business were not lit and just about everything looked closed. We then walked down a small foot path to the nearby Taco Bell for dinner. Once back in the room we noticed that the Taco Bell tostadas were a bit different than we were used to. A scoop shaped lump of bean sat in the middle of the tortilla and was sprinkled with 5 or 6 pieces of lettuce and a few pieces of cheese. Somewhat bleak and dry and welcome to Silver City!
Links: Sedona | Redrocks | Petrified Forest

Date: April 7, 2009
Route: Tujunga, CA to Flagstaff, AZ
Highlights: Barstow, wide open road, lack of traffic, Flagstaff, spicy as hell Thai food, Huge Cow
Notes: A mostly uneventful drive, at least for us, as the CHP seemed to be having a grand old time before the Arizona border. We saw 4 cars pulled over - 3 were being searched, luggage strewn around the car as the drivers stood away off the shoulder, talking on their phones and kicking dirt clods. The fourth was a sad white van, a woman standing by watching as the man she was with was being cuffed. Lunch and coffee was procured in Barstow, and it was here that the wind began. We arrived in Flagstaff around 6:00, found our hotel which was conveniently located near a mural of a giant cow - most likely warning the towns folk to beware of the monster heifer that roamed the haunted woods outside the safety of the wall. After checking in, we headed (with some difficulty) downtown to a yelp recommended Thai restaurant. The downtown was very nice and the restaurant was excellent. The 4 out of 5 spice rating I requested with my Tofu & Vegetables was almost inedible; very, very hot! Cori, wisely went with a 3 for her noodle dish. Both were fantastic and the service very friendly.
Links: Tujunga | Flagstaff