Road Trip 2014: Day 2 // part 1

Day 2 we got up pretty early and left Albuquerque, NM and headed for Arizona. Albuquerque is known for their hot air balloons and their hot air balloon festival in October so it was pretty cool seeing a bunch of hot air balloons in the sky at the same time. I couldn't get them all in one photo but there were 7 total flying around us that we could see. I'd love to go back sometime during the festival. I bet it's amazing!

First stop that day was the continental divide. It was a pretty random little roadside stop. We had fun taking pictures with the tripod though. It also had some amazing views. 

I made Fletcher do this jumping picture. haha!

The first stop we made once we got into Arizona I saw a lizard! Yes, we have lizards all over in Oklahoma but something about being in the desert and seeing a lizard running around just really excited me. So I chased it around taking it's picture. We actually saw lizards at the first two places we stopped in Arizona. Needless to say, I was stoked. haha!

So, we knew we'd come across a ton of dinosaurs in Arizona but we didn't really think about these being the first ones. When we saw them we got super excited and had to stop to check it out. Not gonna lie, it was pretty cool just because they are semi-famous Route 66 dinosaurs but this place was super sketchy. 

This sign is not a lie. Those ostriches were mean. I mean I know that ostriches are mean normally but these ones were terrible. We were probably 2-3 feet from the fence and they were still trying to bite us from the other side and spitting water at us which i've never seen an ostrich do before. It was very weird. 

As soon as we left the sketchy dinosaurs we saw some on the other side of the highway that were super awesome looking but we couldn't find a place to turn around to get to them so we kept going and headed to our next planned stop at the Rock Shop in Holbrook, Arizona. These dinosaurs were pretty dang cool and there were a bunch.

Also in Holbrook we stopped by the WigWam Motel. We were hoping it would time out right for us to stay the night in one but we got there around noon so we decided to keep driving and get a bit further that day. This motel inspired the Cozy Cones on Cars. We walked around and took some photos and Fletcher went in one that was open for cleaning. I didn't venture inside since the lady was right next door at another one. He said they were really awesome and cute so I'm sure we will end up back there to stay in one sometime. 

A little further down the road we stopped in Winslow, Arizona to visit the "Standin' on the Corner" park. It is a tribute to the Eagles song "Take It Easy."

We crammed a lot into day 2 and took a lot of pictures so I will split this up into 2 posts. Part 2 coming tomorrow!

Road trip 2014: Day 1

On August 1 we left for our 2 week road trip to Portland, OR. The first day we went through OKC, Amarillo, TX, Tucumcari, NM and ended up in Albuquerque, NM for the night. 

Our first stop was Elemental Coffee Roasters in Oklahoma City. I tried my first cortado. It was delicious. Fletcher and I will be documenting our coffee in depth over on Studio Coffee Co.'s blog. Keep an eye out for some awesome coffee we got to try.

After Elemental we stopped at a gas station on highway 40/old route 66 and hung out in a teepee and saw some buffalo. 

Our next stop was Shamrock, TX. We checked out the Conoco Tower Station that Pixar based part of the movie Cars off of. It was pretty neat. Definitely not as kitschy as most Route 66 things and very well kept. We had fun goofing off and taking pictures at the gas pumps.

Next stop was Cadillac Ranch. We were both pretty excited about stopping here. Unfortunately, it had rained recently and most of the cars were surrounded by mud. That didn't stop a lot of kids from running around in it but it definitely caused the few that weren't muddy to be extra crowded so taking photos was a little hectic but it worked out and it was pretty cool to see something that is pretty iconic. 

Once we were done climbing on cars we entered the land of enchantment. New Mexico is one of my favorite places. I definitely found a new absolute favorite but I still want to explore New Mexico more.

One of our last stops during daytime was Teepee Curios. It was a really neat little gift shop in Tucumcari, NM. We bought some postcards and a magnet. Ya know, the usual souvenir type stuff. They had a lot of neat stuff and Tucumcari had some awesome Route 66 neon still left up. Too bad we didn't get to see any of it at night!