Pinto

On my way to Monument Valley I saw this horse munching bitter grass by the side of the road... Just thought that he looked as though he should have an Apache warrior on his back.

Big Girl's Blouse...

... Monument Valley, sunrise, 28/6/2008.

The hotel I am staying at is half an hour's drive from Monument Valley. I set off at 5.30AM and when I first saw these famous lumps of rock rising up from the horizon I began to sob. I'm not sure why, (here it is only fair to warn you that anyone who feels uncomfortable with a 50-year-old's musings on his response to a geographical feature should just look at the photographs in the right hand column under the heading "Monument Valley") I think it is a combination of things; entering Monument Valley is a bit like going to New York for the first time, it is such a famous movie landscape that it feels as if you have been there before, like coming home in some strange way; it is also a landscape impressed upon me in childhood, even infanthood, and seeing it I felt the years fall away... But maybe it is just that this place is unimaginably beautiful, unforgiving but that doesn't interfere with the splendour. The tears were, as is usual with me, tears of joy and my favourite photograph of the trip so far is this one below, my faithful boots covered in the dust of Monument Valley.

Unbelievably vast...

... or some views of my drive from Gallup, New Mexico to Kayenta, Arizona


and a film too...

Route 66 in Gallup

Including one of my Hotel in the evening...

Tip No 6

A cold beer and a shot of tequila is a very good nightcap... 2 cold beers and 2 tequilas are even better.

Zuni homeland

Obviously to be kicked off your traditional territory and to be herded into one corner of it is outrageous, but if you had to pick a corner...


The language is extraordinary, lyrical but full of glottal stops... Imagine someone singing the blues while simultaneously drinking from a bottle.

El Rancho Hotel

I stay here for the next two nights...


http://www.elranchohotel.com/


Each of the rooms is named after an actor that stayed here, I'm in Betty Grable, I guess it must be because of my legs.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway

Listen to this...



Isn't that beautiful? A BNSF train makes its way through Gallup, New Mexico.

Public Sculpture

Even in beautiful Albuquerque the town-planners can't resist putting up appalling street sculpture... I think this is supposed to be inclusive and witty, as you can see it is neither.

Crosby, Stills and Nash

As Graham Nash said "Now isn't this a nice place"

Well they were certainly playing in front of a home crowd, New Mexico seems to be ageing hippy central, more Native Indian dress and jewellery than you would see on the reservation... Every anti-war or anti-Bush song was greeted with howls from the anti-establishmentarians; I did notice however that when there was a bit of argy-bargy it took seconds for the crowd to call for the police (A.K.A. "The Man") to sort out the troublemakers.

But down to business David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash are old, and it seems that whereas a lifetime's alcohol abuse has pickled George Jones' vocal chords so effectively that they are untouched by time... The various narcotics have really hammered away at these guys' pipes; I suspect that Marijuana, the great dehydrator, is the main culprit. But that doesn't mean that it isn't really nice to see them, the songs are good and packed with personal memories, the harmonies are perhaps even sweeter with the three voices showing the injuries of experience... Nash is the one who seems in best shape and he combined singing, leading the band and his role as Master of Ceremonies with gentle charm, his Mancunian accent untouched by years in the States; Stills is perhaps the one whose voice is showing the most damage, he recognises this and has taken on the role of Guitar God despite his gammy leg; David Crosby, who seemed hell-bent on ignominious self-destruction just a few years ago, is now the smiling, quiet apex of the triangle. They seemed to be enjoying themselves too, Nash said after one particularly boisterous reception "This is great, I think we'll play every song that Crosby can remember"... All very touching, I don't seem to be able to go to a gig without crying these days, "Our House" was the one that unlocked the lachrymal glands last night.

The venue is amazing, a small, low-slung, amphitheatre in the shadow of the Sandia Mountains, I hope that this film gives a hint of it's splendour...

Change

As I am no longer going to Big Bend National Park (115 degrees Fahrenheit so I would be cowering in a motel) its picture has been replaced with one of New York City, my starting point; more appropriate as the picture at the bottom is of San Francisco, where this trip is due to end.

Tip No 5b

As we are talking hotels another couple of thoughts... Holiday Inns are always slightly better than you think... and La Quinta Inns are a bit worse than you expect (especially in Houma, Louisiana).

Tip No 5

If you are coming to the USA and want to stay in luxury hotel rooms and you don't want to pay luxury prices use Hotwire

http://www.hotwire.com/

They sell off the major hotel chains' excess rooms e.g. If you go to the Hyatt site my room tomorrow would be $209... I'm paying $79

Bloody Luxury

I'm staying in the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque (if you want to know how see Tip No. 5). My definition of a luxury hotel is one with a big comfy bed

reliable wifi and a desk for the laptop

a big television with lots of channels

a nice bathroom with a good selection of products

(notice the massaging bobbles on the bath soap) and finally a good view

Tip No 4

One industry which has boomed since my last visit to the USA is the gambling business... Most of the casinos are in the Native American lands as they can make their own rules and it is a money spinner e.g. Each member of the Seminole Nation receives $3,000 per month from their casinos (they recently bought the Hard Rock Casino chain).

Casinos have an economy which is not based on reality and you can benefit; they receive enormous amounts of money from working stiffs who "invest" their wages in the slot machines, this allows the Casinos to provide other services at amazingly low prices to draw people in... So if you want a cheap and decent meal, stop at a casino; as long as you don't mind benefitting because poor people are losing their money next door... It's like the National Lottery, the government doesn't want to raise taxes to pay for Sports and the Arts so they get poor people to buy £1 lottery tickets.

Lucky Break

On my way back from the Sandia Mountains I stopped off at the Sandia Resort and Casino

http://www.sandiacasino.com/

to get lunch and take advantage of the casino economy (see Tip No. 4) and as I wandered in I noticed that they hosted events too... I had a look at what is coming up and I am going to see Crosby, Stills and Nash tomorrow evening at the amphitheatre

Entertainment

Travelling round the States I have learned that there is an occasional form of entertainment in places where people get out of their cars... and it is completely free.

Here are a couple of examples from the Sandia Peak Tramway carpark...


The drivers were nowhere to be seen... This wasn't "stopping" it was "parking", whatever it looks like.

Sandia Peak Tramway

You have just seen 9% of New Mexico... This is the top of Sandia Peak, 10,678 ft up and 35 degrees cooler than the city in the bowl below.

You get up to here via the world's longest aerial tramway... Here's a bit of the trip back down again.

Last night...

OK excuses first... I'm in Albuquerque, not drinking for a few days (I have been having too much fun for two months after all), only music around last night was one of those "Heavy Metal Manqué" teen bands and I really can't stand that, so I went to the cinema... My choice; films I have already seen; Zohan (I would need to be paid a substantial sum to see that); The Love Guru (there is not enough money in Albuquerque); The Happening (I have vowed to stop financing M. Night Shyamalan's extraordinary ego trip); Sex and the City (I see enough commercials for women's clothes and accessories on TV) or...


and the truth is that it looks very good; imaginative and stylish animation and I laughed out loud in the cinema for the first time in ages... Three times.

Route 66 in Albuquerque

Just some photographs... Old Route 66 is, I think, very beautiful and not a little poignant...

Mile High Club

I have been a little concerned while I have been here that I have lacked energy and been a bit breathless. I have just discovered from Wikipedia that...

Albuquerque has one of the highest elevations of any major city in the United States, though the effects of this are greatly tempered by its southwesterly continental position. The elevation of the city ranges from 4,900 feet (1,490 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande (in the Valley) to over 6,700 feet (1,950 m) in the foothill areas of Sandia Heights and Glenwood Hills.

That would explain that then... Doh!

Rattlesnakes

I think this says it all...


Loads of snakes, which was fine, one got his rattle out, which was great, but without warning and for no reason at all they also had a collection of tarantulas... Revolting or should I say terrifying?

Tip No 3

There is almost a complete absence of good, strong coffee outside the major cities in the USA, so if you are staying for more than a couple of days you will need three things...


A mug of a decent size ($1.33 from the supermarket), a filterpaper-less coffee filter ($2.49 from the supermarket) and some coffee of your choice. Almost all hotels/motels have coffeemakers, just ignore their coffee sachets, heat the water and make your own coffee.

The Mall ("Mawl")

Trip to the mall for some necessities...


Notice the four Mall Rats to the right.

You've heard of Pizza Hut and Radio Shack, I offer you...

Tip No 2

No matter what is on TV you end up watching the Weather Channel more than anything else.

Hot Dog, Jumping Frog...

... Albuquerque.
In a storm... Along the old Route 66 which is strewn with boarded-up Motels

Tip No 1

I am starting an occasional series of things I have discovered during this trip that might be useful to others visiting the USA.

No. 1 is...

The luggage trollies you find in Motels/Hotels have a set of fixed wheels at one end and a set of wobbly wheels at the other end (much like those in supermarkets or on old-fashioned, self-made Go-Karts)... The trolley is best manoeuvred by pulling it from the end with the wobbly wheels.


No 1B is... Some, more fancy, hotels don't let you handle the trollies at all because they want you to tip the bellboys and when this is the case they say it is because of "health and safety issues".

Amarillo to Albuquerque

This trip of about 300 miles drops you off the edge of the Great Plains


into an enormous bowl and then up into the Sandia Mountains, here are some more shots.

And then out of nowhere...

... Palo Duro Canyon.

Driving along Interstate 27 which drives into the southern segment of the Great Plains (like Norfolk but the size of Western Europe) when a sign appears to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, it seemed so unlikely that I followed the road. The canyon in question is the second largest, after the Grand Canyon, in the American continent... This is the first view I got.



And here are some pictures at the bottom...