Father & Son Road Trip Of 2011

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We had so much planned to do in Memphis and knew we had a 2 and a half hour ride to get there so we got packed and ready to go by around 7:30am.

Sounds easy right??  Those with 17 yo sons know it’s a miracle if it happens.

But we did it ;o)

We rode out of the town and headed south down route 167 with the goal of reaching Bald Knob before stretching our legs.

The scenery had again changed from yesterday with farmland on either side for the majority of that section of road.

The farms were mainly very lushes green crops and the occasional field that was completely dead, looking like they had been deserted for years.

To The Town Of Bald Knob

We reached the town of Bald Knob which was a very small, rundown looking town with a small sign at the front making it an obligatory photo for us – that’s because getting the word “Knob” into a town name is always hilarious.

We stretched our legs for a little while and then we began following signs for Memphis which was now only about 100 miles away.

We headed along Highway 64, which was a 1 lane flat highway with farmland on either side.  Pretty cruisy as we hit the Cruise Control button and cranked up the stereo.

We got to within 4 miles of Memphis and we noticed a massive increase in traffic and that we had entered swampland.

All around us were rivers running through the lushes green bushland.

Over The Mississippi

We then went onto the Hernando Desoto Bridge which took us into Memphis over the Mississippi river and across the border into Tennessee.

We rode down through the CBD and noticed that it was a lot busier than most of the other city centre’s that we had been to such as Wichita which was practically deserted.

We then headed to the outer suburbs where we planned to find somewhere to have a short stop and then have a look at the GPS to find the hotel we had planned on staying at.

We headed to Heartbreak Hotel – my review on Trip Advisor – (which, believe it or not, is at the end of Lonely Street) which was 8 miles away.  The hotel has a security checkpoint to keep the non-Elvis lovers out (I assume).

Next door to the hotel was a section of the Graceland tour with Elvis planes, cars, etc and the place to buy tickets for entry to Graceland.

The hotel was quite nice with an Elvis theme throughout as you’d expect, Elvis music playing in the lobby and Elvis videos and music in the bar/eating area.

24/7 Elvis

It’s was 24/7 Elvis.

Once we’d dumped our bags we headed over to the entry point for Graceland and bought a couple of tickets.

We then began walking to the main looking building but instead we were shuffled into a line where we were forced to have our photo taken infront of a fake background that had the Graceland’s logo infront of various pictures.  You feel like a complete idiot.

The line turned out to be for a shuttle bus, we were handed an audio set with headphones and drove out across Elvis Presley Boulevard to Graceland.

We got out of the bus and the staff quickly organised us with an introductory speech telling us not to touch anything and to follow the directions of the audio tour.

Graceland Tour

You then go inside and do the tour at your leisure.

For some reason I was expecting it to be a dodgy, sleazy sort of tour where they extract every last dollar from you as you go.  But it wasn’t like that at all.

It was a very cruisy, nicely put together tour that was laid back and comfortable.

Graceland was a lovely, comfortable and tasteful house (remembering it was decorated in the 1970’s).  It wasn’t as huge as I’d always assumed.

The outside buildings were nicely done with lots of Elvis memorabilia, the pool and graves.  Never knew that Elvis’ grandmother outlived Elvis and Elvis’ parents.

We then caught the tour bus back to the museum based section of Graceland.

Great Car Collection

Elvis’ car collection is well worth a look – some pretty crazy cars, motorbikes and assorted toys. including his mum’s legendary pink Cadillac.

We were pleased to see that Elvis had the good sense to ride a Harley Davidson Electra Glide, just like we were riding but 40 years older model.

There’s seating where you can sit and watch all of his movie roles that included his cars.

Once we reached the end of the collection we went into the gift store which sold all of his CD’s, DVD’s and tons of other memorabilia.  All if it was pretty reasonably priced.

I talked 17 yo Harry out of buying those crazy big assed Elvis glasses and we headed over to Elvis’ 2 planes.

Elvis Was Flying High

Pretty groovy planes nicely done up.

The bigger plane had everything you’d wan, including the place where the magic happens (if you didn’t get that reference you are way too childish to be reading this).

Off To Sun Studio

Then it was back on the bike and off to Sun Studio, about 5 miles away.

Sun Studio was where Elvis recorded his first song and was ‘discovered’.

A really friendly studio with a great little tour.  The guide insists you sing into the same microphone that Elvis used, so you have a nice little story to go home with.

While we were waiting for the Tour to start we had the greatest milkshake ever – the studio entrance is a little gift shop/cafe.  Very small, but super friendly place doing a great job with the punters wandering through the door.

I had a little business to do in Memphis, so met up with my guy in Sun Studio and we organised dinner for later that night.

Visited The Civil Rights Museum

Then it was off to the Civil Rights Museum situated at the Lorraine Motel (where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated).

Along all the walls there was a chronological history of civil rights in the USA, along with tons of info focusing on the violence and problems of the past and present.

Now Time For Gambling, Drinking & Smoking Cigars

It was approaching dinner time so we headed my my business mate Rudi’s house in the suburbs.

Rudi fed and watered us and we sat in his ‘Man Cave’ and watched sports Rudi was betting on whilst drinking beer and smoking cigars.  Not a bad life!

Not a bad day!

Next up we were heading for the Mississippi.

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I’ve done some amazing riding but this day over the Ozarks from Missouri into Arkansas ranks up there with some of the best.

We hit every back road we could from the start of the day down Route 37 for about 20 miles until we reached the town of Cassville.

Then the road became a spectacular mountain road that went through a forest of leafless trees that was perfect riding – bend after bend after bend.

The road seemed to go on and on with the views getting better and better.  We were in the Ozarks, a very highly regarded road for guys and gals on motorbikes.

We got into the tiny town of Eagle Rock at about 11am and fueled up with petrol and food at ‘Uncle Roy’s’ General Store.

We had a chat with the friendly owners and enjoyed a cheeseburger each.  Now, the cheeseburgers come with chips.  Which in the US means a packet of crisps.  Not entirely sure why they provide crisps with hot food.

Out of Eagle Rock and headed to Eureka Springs 11 miles away, which is most popular tourist destinations in Arkansas.  It’s a Victorian resort village, with Victorian style buildings.  Seems weirdly out of place in Arkansas.

Took Harrison To Harrison

In one of those idiotic things you do when you’re traveling, you see a sign for Harrison so take your son Harrison there because there’s got to be a “Harrison” sign, surely?!

Glorious Mountain View

Mountain View is a small town that lies on Route 66 with the town covering about a half mile section of the road.

Into PJ’s Rainbow Cafe and had chicken burger, toasted ham and cheese with fries and 4 Hot Chocolates – cost was a crazy low $10.

Back onto Highway 14 for around 25 miles through some incredible forest’s that had some ranches scattered along the side of the road which meant that there was a slight increase in traffic but nothing to major.

The forest wasn’t as spectacular as the Ozark’s but it was still gorgeous and the fact that we were now following a valley meant that we were surrounded by mountains.

Heading For Batesville

The scenery seemed to change rapidly as we approached our destination of Batesville (pop. 9,556), with the sides of the road becoming green fields and large farms which was nothing like anything we had seen all day.

Tried a Ramada this night for $85 for a double.

Then we went off exploring the town till dinner time at an awful BBQ joint and then a late night into bed.

We wanted to be up early the next morning because we were off to see The King!

 

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Jumped on the bike and headed for Catoosa – and our old friend Route 66.

There was more traffic on this section of road but just a little way away beside it was the interstate which connected much the same places in a smaller distance which meant it was only used by tourists and local traffic.

We passed all of the deserted towns and then reached the small town of Chelsea, a small, slowly decaying town with many a closed shop.

The centre of town was just 50m from the main road and it was mainly closed down shops even though it was their peak time.

We went into a diner which at first glance seemed closed but at closer inspection was open.

It had loads of old Route 66 memorabilia and we were seated by one of the 2 very friendly ladies working there and we sat in at a normal table for basically the first time on the trip.

There were quite a few customers about, that all said “Y’all” a lot!

Gun Shop

We ventured into the Gun Shop up the road a little and ask about the guns and laws in America.

We had a friendly chat with the owner and his mate and they showed us various guns and we had a long chat about the different gun laws between the US and Australia.

The guys were perplexed at the regulation of Australian laws, whilst we were equally as surprised at how easy it was to get hold of a gun in the US.

Back On Route 66

We then rode through the main street back to Route 66 which we followed out of the town and into farmland.

The long, slow country roads had relatively little traffic and were a joy to ride on.

I always see a spot or 2 on a trip where you just have to take a photo – with the highway stretching into the distance, the cloudless blue sky contrasting with the rolling grass and a Route 66 sign, this was a spot for such a pic.

Back onto the bike and more farmland before reaching Interstate 44 which we followed all the way into Missouri.

We’d picked out the small town of Monett, Missouri to stay in – we were always keen to see small town USA.

Through more rolling hills and easy country roads, the ride into Monett was bliss and a wonderful part of the trip.

Into a hotel chain we’d hadn’t tried before – Days Inn $66 for a double room) – and Hari, the manager soon had us settled.

Off to The Bayou restuarant where we ordered Alligator amongst other things.

The waitresses, some patrons and the owner all came over for a chat as they wanted to hear our Aussie accents.

Harry swears it was because he is so good looking, but a mirror would suggest otherwise.

 

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We wanted to see a bit of Wichita so we woke up at around 7 am and quickly packed the bike and got fully prepared to leave for the 3 hour or so ride in.

Some sections were purely desert but mainly it was farmland with the occasional small town. Most of it, it was pretty cold.

We lasted for 2 hours before we stopped for breakfast at a roadside diner named “Rick’s”.

We went and sat in a booth that was exposed to the sun so that we could get warm.

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast of the usual Hot Chocolate and Ham Steak and Eggs, whilst Harry stammered for words every time the cute young waitress came over.

The Usual Super Cheap Meal

The bill was $13 for 4 Hot Chocolates and 2 Ham Steak and Eggs.  Great value and fairly indicative of the cheap food and drink all across the USA when compared to Australia.

Another 35 miles right into the centre of Wichita on the Interstate 400 through a section of grasslands, farms and bush.  We continued on right into the CBD which had a heap of large high rises, but there were hardly any signs of life and it seemed like a ghost town with hardly any traffic.

Time Out For A Massage

We found a local shopping mall and went in to load up on a few supplies.  I ended up spying a massage place in the centre and enjoy 40 minutes of a blissful massage.

We left Wichita for the small town of  Winfield, which was a fairly nice town but again the town centre was fairly deserted with only a few pedestrians passing through.  The ride to Arkansas city was the same as the earlier part of the day with stretches of grassland, desert and hills.

Once we reached the border we had a quick stop and did the usual photos under the border signs.

We then rode through farmland to Ponca city, passing a lot of small dirt roads leading to farmhouses

It was getting dark so we pushed on to Tulsa, where we planned to stay for the night.

Bustling Tulsa

We expected Tulsa to be a small town because it wasn’t very big on the map and we had never heard of it but when we arrived we found that it was bigger than Wichita. It had a lot of high rises and the centre of the city was actually very busy which we weren’t expecting.

We fueled up at a Sinclair’s (it’s the name you see) and headed to the Holiday Inn Express.

We Had Rain Explained To Us

It was in the Reception area here where we had one of the lighter moments of the trip.

Got chatting to an older guy who, hearing we were from Australia, explained what rain was because he thought it didn’t ever rained in Australia.

“Rain is moisture that drops from the sky…..”

We pretended that he was teaching us something with enthusiastic nods, but the Receptionist had lost it by then and was cracking up laughing.

We’re Bad People Without A Moral Compass…..Apparently

Bobby from the Holiday Inn recommended Baxter’s for dinner a few miles away.

From Harry’s Journal:

“We parked at the entrance and were approached by a homeless man who was asking for money.

On the way out we were again approached by the homeless man, we again refused to give him anything because we are bad people and have no moral compass.“

I hope the lad is kidding!

Then Karma Got Us

And in a perfect example of instant karma, we went to get on the motorbike only to discover it was absolutely covered in bird shit from the birds in the tree I’d parked under.

Bastards!

 

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As a kid, every Western movie I ever saw had Monument Valley in it and Dodge City.

So I got me the hell into Dodge.

We headed for Boot Hill and found the nearby Tourist Info Centre – we went in and had a chat and got the low down on what to do in Dodge City.

First up was the Boot Hill Museum and Front Street ($10 each entry fee).

Starts off with a movie about Dodge City and then you walk onto Boot Hill itself,  which was the reputed burial spot for the dead cowboys of the 1800’s when the cowboy period was in full swing.

Really just a car-park now with a mock old style Western facade put up.

The museum itself was an interesting experience of information and artifacts.

We were most astounded by a thing on Buffalo which showed that 4 million buffalo were killed in 2 years.

We left the museum and followed the instructions of the ladies in the visitors centre by doing a self guided walking tour. It took us through all the sights of the city centre and past some statues of famous cowboys and police officers.

The tour took us past some shops that sold purely cowboy outfits with ridiculous looking boots on display out the front.

Onto The Dalton Brothers Hideout

We then rode 40 miles to the town of Meade, which is most famous for having the hideout of the infamous Dalton Gang – a particularly nasty bunch of lads.

We went in and paid our $4 each entry fee to the lady working there and then we headed upstairs to the excellent museum.

The Dalton gang who were killed while attempting to rob a bank and this house belonged to their sister, Eva.

A hidden tunnel ran from the house to the stables and it’s thought that this was so the Dalton Gang could easily hide out at their sister’s house without being seen to enter or leave.

It was a great value museum and an interesting look at the hard life it must have been in these parts in the 1800’s.

Getting the Hell Out Of Dodge

In the morning we were getting the hell out of Dodge and heading for Tulsa, Oklahoma.

 

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I need to fix up the map above.  We went from Las Vegas, New Mexico (not Nevada) to Dodge City, Kansas.

We woke up at around 6:30am and went downstairs to where Shirley had prepared a hot breakfast with soup, sausages, eggs and other things for us.  Nice start to the day.

We then headed out of Las Vegas, New Mexico and took the mountain roads past the Conchas Lake which met up with the Interstate 40 after 30 miles.

After this, the road was a fairly deserted bush road that was completely flat with nothing but dirt and the occasional grass shrub sticking out of the ground.

We continued on along more flat road until we reached the Interstate 40 at Tucumcari.

We then followed the interstate for another 30 miles, passing the famous Cadillac Ranch on our way into Amarillo, Texas.

It was lunchtime and we were freezing cold, so we stopped for lunch and a warm up.

The riding to here was all the same – stretches of lonely highway, with flat desert on either side.  Nothing really to see, nothing to stop for.

We’d been told that most people just blast across Texas on across America trips – I can see why.

There ain’t a lot to look at.

Push On For Dodge City

I was keen to head towards Oklahoma and push on for Dodge City in Kansas, so after jumping off the interstate highway 40 we grab a bite to eat a Subway and waited till we’d stopped shaking from the cold.

We then drove across the road to a BP petrol station, filled up with petrol and put the small Texan town of Dumas into the GPS to get us out of Amarillo.

We reached Dumas, took the right hand option at Stratford and then followed more desert road to Texhoma on the Texas/Oklahoma border.

Guymon was 10 miles into Oklahoma and it was there we found that it was 30 miles to Liberal – just over the border in Kansas.  It was 4:30pm and we only had 1hour of light left.

We pressed on along the Route 54.

We arrived in Liberal, Oklahoma just after dark.

Weighing Up Risks & Benefits

As you do on a journey like this, you’re continually reassessing.  Weighing up risks and benefits.

We were about 2 hours out of Dodge City and thought it would be great to reach there, then spend a full day there the next day.

The trouble was the getting there – it was dark and whilst the road was a highway, there were stretches where we’d be on our own without any cars for cover.

That made us a lot more susceptible to nocturnal animals crossing roads and us getting cleaned up.

As much as I hate riding in the dark, on we went.

We’d traveled so far that I figured let’s just keep going and get it done.  I’m stupid like that.

Almost Cleaned Up By A Deer

Just outside the small towwn of Minneola, as we’re riding along at 60 miles an hour, a deer darts onto the road from about 20 metres in front of us to our left and starts to run across the road.

He sees us and decides against reaching the other side – if he had made a dash for it, things were going to get interesting!

We stopped to refuel in Minneola and ask the Gas Station attendant how far to Dodge City.  She told us 1 1/2 hours, which turned out to be a lot of nonsense as it was another 30 minutes up the road.

We Rode Into Dodge City

So we rode into Dodge (always wanted to say that!).

We saw a Super 8 sign on the main road Wyatt Earp Boulevard and checked in for a couple of nights.

We quickly unpacked the bike (takes about 30 seconds) and went and showered to warm up.

We headed out into the night on foot and found a shabby looking Italian restaurant across the road.

As is often the way, we were then served up great Italian food with excellent service.  A couple of beers was enough, after 450+ miles, to have me ready for a nap to get freshened up to explore the old town of the Wild West the next day.

All up we rode 470 miles (750 kms) making it our longest day of riding for the entire trip.

 

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Out of Durango in -4 C (25F) to Pagosa Springs on Highway 160 (the old Route 66), with snow on either side of the road.

With signs telling us we hitting 8,000 above sea level, we knew we were in for a fairly chilly day.

There were farms on either side of the road as we headed to Pagosa Springs which were covered in snow and all the lakes and dams at the farms were iced over.

We passed through the town passing heaps of holiday homes that would get a lot of use in the summer; they all looked like they were supposed to be on a ranch in the forest rather than in a town.

We went back to the lake and had some photos in front of it and the mountains. We noticed that a whole section of the huge lake had completely frozen over and the rest of the water looked close to freezing.

 

McDonalds Great For WIFI & Warmth

After warming up in the local McDonalds – McDonalds are great for free WIFI, clean toilets and warming up in – we hit to road to Highway 84 for the Colorado – New Mexico border.

It was easy riding through the mountains with picture postcard scenery, easy roads and hardly any traffic.

More photos here at the border signs, with plenty of snow about,

We then headed out of the town into New Mexico and followed a desert road at around 7,000 feet. We  reached a section of road which was a long, steep and winding that dropped us out of the mountains down to about 6,000 feet.

There was now no snow and it was purely flat desert with towns becoming further and further apart. We then went into the Carson National Forest which was had heaps of mountains surrounding the road and caused the road to weave in accordance to them.

Although we had dropped out of the mountains we were still freezing cold so we had a painful ride through Espanola and we arrived at Santa Fe at around 3:30pm and we began looking for somewhere warm to stop.

Java Sounds Like Lava, Lava Is Hot

We saw a place called Java Joe’s Coffee Shop used the logic that Java sounds like Lava, and Lava is hot which means that this coffee shop must be warm inside, which convinced us to go in.

Clever, huh?!

We walked over and headed in.

Coupe of Hot Chocolate and Muffins later and we were feeling better.  We used the heat to warm us up but, sure enough, we had to leave eventually.

Santa Fe is a beautiful city, with the city scape blending in beautifully with the surrounding landscape.  A pretty place I’d love to return to – has a very relaxed vibe.

Onto Las Vegas, New Mexico

It was along Highway 25, dual carriageway zipping along at 70 miles an hour.

The scenery was very nice with desert roads and mountains all around.

We got into Las Vegas, New Mexico late afternoon and took a look around.

The place seemed very run down, with abandoned buildings, wrecked cars and empty streets giving a sense of a dying town.

There’s not a lot to do in Las Vegas, other than try and avoid stray cats darting across the road, so after a good look riding around the town we sought out a motel.

Super 8 In Las Vegas, NM Is Sensational Value

The Super 8 motel in Las Vegas (read my Trip Advisor review here) is probably the best value motel I’ve ever stayed in, with the best service.

The perfectly clean rooms had every convenience and Shirley (the Manager) provided us with some free hot soup to warm our cold bones.

Our room was the same set out as all the other rooms except it had a colour coordination going. We then went downstairs and had the free hot soup that they had prepared for all the guests, I had the tomato and dad had the chicken which were both really nice.

After a long day we headed to the restaurant next door and had a great steak, a few beers, then it was time to throw out some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

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Ooooh, this was a cold day!

It dawned with perfectly blue skies, but with a ride hitting over 6,600 feet we were always going to get chilly at some stage.

It started off a great day riding as we went south out of Blanding onto:

• Hovenweep Road,
• Reservation Road and
• Indian Route 5068.

Mostly winding roads through the small desert communities, the contrast of the deep brown desert with the blue sky made the ride very beautiful.

Then it was into Aneth and from there we made our way to Cortez.

Wonderful Riding

Just wonderful riding on mostly deserted roads that are smooth and wide.

It was out of Cortez and towards a distant mountain range which was covered in snow.

As we got closer to the mountains we passed through a lot of towns which were all deserted with abandoned cars everywhere and it all had snow covering the rooftops.

We then entered the mountains and enjoyed the beautiful countryside into the town of Durango.

From there it was up over the mountains into Durango, Colorado.

The scenery for the most part was flat desert with the mountains of Colorado providing a stark contrast to what we’d been looking at for the past few days.

Durango, Colorado – Tourist Town

We found a cheap motel (Knights Inn for $60 a night) and dropped our gear.

Then it was into the town, which was very pretty and well set up for tourists.

A quick stop in Starbucks – Dear Americans, I love you and your country is wonderful  But Starbucks is seriously shit coffee.  Sorry, but it had to be said 😉 – and then we took in the sights for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Dinner was at a Mexican Restaurant

Harry’s been writing up his journal from the trip and I’ll let his words describe dinner:

“We went and had a look at the menu and it was mainly Mexican food and some people leaving said it was good so we went in.

We got seated in a booth by a very attractive young lady and we ordered our drinks, as usual I had a coke that was refilled all night and dad had a local beer. I then had an enchilada for main which was in a packet that showed it was frozen with the rice as well and it tasted like crap.

Overall it was a fairly bad meal but the waitress made up for it with her appearance.”

Good to see the lad will forgive a bad meal as long as the waitress is attractive ;o(

 

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This was one of the day we were really looking forward to.

The plan was to head to the Grand Canyon and then see if we could enjoy Monument Valley the same day.

It was off on an early start out of Williams, Arizona heading up Highway 180 to Grand Canyon Village, firstly through forest and then desert highway.

Really no traffic to speak of and the roads were smooth and straight.

We weren’t sure how to view the Canyon so headed into the National Park ($15 each) and parked the bike in the car park.

From there you jump on one of the many buses that does the loop around the south east side of the Canyon.

You get dropped off at one section of the Canyon and then, once you’ve taken in the views, head to the bus stop to get picked up by the next bus passing by.

It’s all free and part of the entry.

The Grand Canyon is one of those places that doesn’t fail to amaze.

It’s just so bloody huge that you’re in awe.  A really incredible place.

A few hours later we headed out of the Canyon and along Highway 64 to Tuba City.

As you head out of the Village you drive right beside the Canyon and see many views that are as good, or better, than the views you saw inside the Village.

We pulled over a couple of times for more of a look and a few photo opportunities.

Then it was onto Monument Valley.

Mostly, there’s not a lot to see, but the pure expanse of desert is view enough as you wonder what would have encouraged early settlers to think they could eke out an existence here.

You leave the 160 and head left into Kayenta on the 163 and the very start of Monument Valley.

Sure, you’re miles away yet, but you get an inkling of the majesty of the view you’re about to experience.

It’s as if the whole area knows what’s coming up and slowly gives you breath-taking scenery as you go along.

Sure, you pass through a few pretty dilapidated areas, but nothing really detracts from the natural beauty of the pure nothingness around you punctuated by monuments rising from nothing into the desert sky.

You just wonder how the hell this stuff happens.

Into Monument Valley

Then it was into the Valley itself.

With giant rock formations rising up.

They’re familiar because of every Western I’ve ever seen using them  as a backdrop.

At the same time it’s the very first time you’ve seen them because you can’t really believe your eyes.

We had the happy accident of riding in as the sun was settings, casting long shadows as we rode through.

The light played off the monuments and made them appear alive.

It was an eerie view.  A magnificent view.

Lots Of Different Views To Enjoy

We took our time along the road and took in different views – all enjoyable, all unique.

It was then on the great desert highway that’s the 163 to Mexican Hat, a tiny town with a few buildings scattered about – including some accommodation.

It’s a few miles out of town on the brown desert plains and hills that you see the unique rock formation the town is named after.

More rich brown desert views awaited us along the US-163 Scenic as we rode first to the town of Bluff.

It was getting dark by this stage and we were low on fuel, but we had enough to get to Blanding, Utah.  So we pushed on – with 30 miles to go the Fuel Gauge hit ‘Low’ and told me we had enough fuel for 40 miles.

No problem.

A few minutes later we had 28 miles to go and the Fuel Guage said we had 32 miles to go.

By the time we had 20 miles to go, the Fuel Gauge told me we had 4 miles of gas left.

Oooh, this could be interesting – another night in the desert by the side of the road!

We kept pushing on and, about 8 miles out of Blanding we came across a closed Gas Station – no problem as it has, like they all do, the ability to pay at the pump.

Whilst this one knocked back my credit card because it wanted a 5 digit zip code of my bill mailing address as the usual extra verification, my ANZ Travel Cash card worked (that worked about 50% of the time).

Off to the beautifully named Blanding – a small town in Utah with not a lot happening.

With it being Thanksgiving there weren’t any cafes or restaurants open and we ‘enjoyed’ a pizza from the Gas Station a few doors up from the hotel.

We reflected on the amazing views we’d seen today – without question, some of the best view I’ve ever seen.

 

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