Route 66 Archives : Tranquil Trekker

An Amazing Southeastern US Road Trip

I review a road trip to Florida, and discuss thoughts I often have on the open road, and why I enjoy lengthy road trips so much!

On an amazing, southeastern road trip one Thanksgiving, the Trekkers experienced 9 days, 13 states, 4,433 miles, 1 snowstorm, 3 seasons and numerous ecosystems. We were invited to spend the holiday in Florida, with family. Neither Mr. Trekker, nor I, had been there in at least a decade, and we realized we’d never visited together.

We also figured out a route that allowed us, both, to check off another item on both of our “bucket lists”…after this trip, both Mr. Trekker and I have visited all 48 of the continental US states! {Note: the Trekkers are currently accepting donations to fund trips to States #49 and #50… 😉–Based on my above statement, you should be able to guess which two states these are. 😉}

Oil Refineries, Route 66 and the Ozarks!

We enjoyed some unique experiences on this trip:

–We saw oil refineries that twinkle across the bays as they hug the coast. I prefer green energy, but, there’s a certain beauty connected with these structures (at least at night).

They remind me of the old, steel factories you see in Gary, Indiana, near where I grew up. There, an eerie, orange glow emanates from them and the reflection glitters on nearby Lake Michigan. In Louisiana, the bays of the Gulf of Mexico proffer a similar effect.

View from a car on a bridge: bright lights shine and are reflected across a bay of water at night — Some of the refineries are HUGE!

–We drove another portion of Route 66! I had forgotten it runs through Missouri until we stumbled on it while surveying the map. We had last seen that route on a trip through New Mexico in 2017.

–I was also able to experience the beauty of the Ozarks for the first time (Mr. Trekker had been there before.) I had no idea how lovely the majority of Missouri and western Arkansas are with their rolling farmlands and forested hills. Fall also runs a little later in those states, so we got to enjoy the late, remaining foliage as well! (Note to the Missouri Department of Transportation, your snow management on your highways could use some work. 😝)

–We experienced multiple seasons on this trip. When we left South Dakota it was 15 degrees out! We enjoyed fall colors in the Ozarks and through beautiful, northern Georgia. Then, at the end of the weekend, we fast-tracked it back to South Dakota to outrun the impending, winter storm that was bearing down on the lower Midwest. 😳

THIS is why we drive rather than fly (this, the TSA and the fact that I hate those cramped machines! 😉)–I’m not afraid of flying, per se, it’s the crashing-to-a-fiery-death-in-a-cramped-metal-tube-from-30,000-feet-up that scares me. 😝

Cross-country travel in a car also allows you to truly experience the varying landscapes and cultures that are present throughout our wonderful country. In addition to the US being a “melting-pot” of various people and religious identities, it showcases a cornucopia of landscapes as well. On every road trip we take I’m always amazed at the various scenes and inhabitants we encounter.

Things you’ll notice when you visit the “Lower 48”:

The South

This region is characterized by cotton fields, salt marshes and flat, coastal plains. Comprising a portion of the “Bible Belt”, folks here are friendly, though they’re often quick to spot that, “ya’ll ain’t from around here are ya?” 😉

The Northeast/New England

Highlighted by rolling, hilly, farmland, heavily-forested mountains and flat, coastal plain; many think of this region as sporting “city-folk” with fast-paced lifestyles. There’s plenty of “country folk” outside the urban centers who may disagree with that assessment, though.

The Midwest and Great Plains

This area is comprised mostly of flat farmland. Many think of it as boring, flyover country. It may not be as exciting as other regions, but this area has a unique beauty of its own. Being that I grew up there, its charmingly simple way of life will always hold a piece of my heart. And you can’t beat their sunsets over the “amber waves of grain” (and cornfields). 😉 The folks who live here, residing fully in the ‘Bible Belt”, are known for their friendliness (and tornadoes! It’s THE place to be, in the country, for storm chasing! 🌪)

The West

I would define the borders of this area as the country west of the Missouri River (excluding the West Coast) and north of the Desert Southwest. In my personal opinion, you can’t beat the beauty of the craggy mountains that are found here. They don’t call this area “God’s Country” for nothing.

In my experience, some of the friendliest people I’ve encountered live in the rural West. This is an interesting contrast to, what can be, a difficult life. Living in the West is a whole other ballgame. The land is rugged, the weather is harsh, and its residents have to be tough. It’s a place that, even in the 21st Century, has to be survived. Maybe this fosters kinship among those who choose to brave its challenges? Here, the weather and nature–both flora and fauna, can, quite literally, kill you. But the people who call this, immensely beautiful and often desolate place, “home”, won’t make you regret a visit.

The West Coast (ie: the western halves of the West Coast states)

It’s amazing how different the various sides of these states can be! The eastern halves of Washington, Oregon, and California are comprised of more rural, scrub and farmland, and the people trend toward a more conservative ideology.

**The two halves are split but rugged mountains!**

The western halves of these states are flatter, far wetter, coastal plains; sometimes ranging to a temperate, rainforest climate. The people who reside there are usually categorized as metropolitan. I was, pleasantly surprised, though, by the light-hearted lifestyle of the LA area.

Texas/the Desert Southwest

Texas is one area I can’t speak much to, as we haven’t spent enough time there for me to get a feel of it (a problem we’re hoping to correct). 🤞 I do know it’s hot and dry, though. 😅 The rest of the Desert Southwest shares characteristics with the West!

The statements above are just generalizations, of course. As we’ve traveled around the country, I’m always amazed how cultures vary within these local regions, as well.

As you traverse the states, rural areas are usually more conservative, and the larger cities tend to trend more liberal. The change from urban to rural can be stark and often occurs quite quickly. Many living in the rural areas of Illinois, Virginia or New York may not feel they have much in common with their counterparts living in the DC suburbs, Chicago or New York City.

“Transplants”, people who move from places like NYC to more conservative states, like North Carolina (and others), make those places a melting pot of cultures and ideologies within their own right. One place we visited several years ago was the small town of Willits, in northern California. It was one of the first places we’d visited in the state, and I was surprised how charming and “Midwestern” it felt.

Let’s embrace our similarities!

What am I trying to get at here? The bottom line is, none of that sh*t really matters. I think we often forget that we’re all in this together. We all vary, but we all share similarities as well. Often times, those similarities aren’t categorized by skin color, religion, politics, etc. Regardless of where we live, what church–or synagogue, or mosque, or temple–we attend (or don’t); who we vote for, or who our favorite sports team is, we’re all human.

We all live in the same, magnificent country. I firmly believe, we’re all, for the most part, good people (one generalization we all share). As our country remains divided on numerous issues politically, religiously, racially, culturally, I think it’s important to keep this fact in mind. THIS is what makes road trips so enjoyable! I LOVE traveling the country, and experiencing how much we all have in common!

The late chef and world-traveler, Anthony Bordain, felt food bonded us, that our connection with it could bridge divides between cultures, religions, politics, etc. I think we need to seek out other “bridges” like this, as well. Whether that be a common love (or hatred? 😳) for a specific sports team, a love of the outdoors, whatever. I don’t care who you voted for in the last election (or if you voted at all); if you cheer for the Yankees or Red Sox; if you say “pop” or “soda”.

I. DON’T. CARE.

Those things aren’t important in the long run. What is important, and what we need to focus on, are the commonalities we all share. We need to seek out the things that unite us, not those that divide us. We need to realize how blessed we ALL are to live in this incredible, messy, complicated place.

We’re all stuck on this big, beautiful, blue ball, hurtling through the dark, cold, emptiness of space. We’re all in this together, so let’s make the most of it, be kind and try to get along, yeah? 🤠

See below for some more pics from our cross-country adventure! (Thanks, as usual, to Mr. Trekker for some of these):

A drawbridge is raised on a road bridge in the background. The blue water in a bay flows in the foreground and under the bridge. — Drawbridge!

A white bird with black feathers sweeping from its head pecks at the sand on a beach. — Is it just me…

A white bird with black feathers sweeping from its head stands on a beach. — A white bird with black feathers sweeping from its head pecks at the sand on a beach. …or does this bird look like Bernie Sanders? 😳

A large tree (with moss clinging to it) hangs over an old rest stop building — I love the moss!

A road sign is lit by lights at night and reads, "Welcome to Mississippi, birthplace of America's music" — State #48 for the Trekkers!

A radial elevation dial held in a person's hand over water--where a foot sits in the water--reads "0 feet" (sea level) — The lowest altitude we reached on the trip. You can see my foot is in the Gulf of Mexico if you look in the lower left corner…

A radial elevation dial sits on a car consul and reads, "12,100 feet" — …contrast that with the highest altitude we reached on our road trip the previous summer, at the top of Independence Pass, in Colorado!

Multi-colored (mostly white) shells sit on the sand as a wave comes into shore — Seashells!

Two peoples bare feet stand in water to their ankles — “I got my toes in the water…”

Florida Beaches:

The shadows of two people stretch across the beach. Multi-story buildings stand along the beach in the far background — Beach Trekkers!

Goodnight Florida!

What have you learned from traveling around the country (or world)? Let me know in the comments!

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5 “Don’t Miss” Places for Your New Mexico Road Trip

We spent an interesting few days in New Mexico on our 2017 road trip. Included is our trip to the International UFO Museum in Roswell, an excursion at White Sands National Monument and…the flu?

New Mexico was next on our list for our 2017 road trip after the Great Plains. Originally we had planned on visiting Amarillo and the Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the Texas panhandle. However, with the expected 90-degree temperatures and plenty of scrub-land ahead of us, we decided to press on into New Mexico, instead–as we found out later, this was a VERY wise choice…

Tucumcari, New Mexico

We stayed at the Tucumcari KOA, in the northwest corner of the state, for our first night.

Aside from a two-hour rain delay in the tent setup, it was a decent campground, though it was noisy. It is actually located on Route 66, but, unfortunately, is literally only a few hundred feet from the coursing vehicles on I-40 (Route 66 runs with the highway in this area).

The tent sites all came with grills and protected picnic tables, though again, firewood was hard to come by and there were no fire rings.

I was unclear as to the discouragement of campfires in this part of the country. It is the desert, to be fair, but it’s comprised mostly of sandy scrubland. It’s not entirely clear to me where the concern about the spread of wildfires lies (but I will defer to the experts on this).

Lack of tent sites in “campgrounds”

Another frustration we encountered in the early part of our trip was what seemed to be catering to RVs by the parks. There’s nothing wrong with RVing, but if a park’s facilities are better matched to an RV and not a tent, then proprietors, you are an RV park, not a campground. I say this because when travelers who are unfamiliar with the area locate a “campground” on Google, it is frustrating to then find they offer no tent sites. 😡

When daydreaming of road trips, it’s easy to drum up iconic images of a station wagon pulling a tiny camper, cooking outside, and even sleeping out under the stars. But until we reached the more remote parks in Colorado, we saw very few tents. Does no one tent camp anymore? Is it a bygone pastime? For the first half of the trip, we felt like “tenters” were just an afterthought to many of the campgrounds we visited.

Strange Animals in New Mexico

We encountered several new fauna in this state. One, a Western Kingbird, is a beautiful bird that resembles a robin, though it is grey and has a yellow rather than red breast. It’s also apparently known to be quite social. Our new friend planted himself on a tree branch only a few feet from us for the majority of the morning and proffered us a lovely serenade while we packed up camp.

I found favor with another local while washing dishes that morning. I saved a Carolina Wolf Spider from the outdoor sink! (I found the name ironic as I don’t remember seeing them when we lived in the Carolinas.) As I learned later, this is the largest of the wolf spider species. For a fervent arachnophobe, I thought this rescue was quite an impressive feat! Its body was grey and tan and it appeared to have black “socks” on its feet. I could also see black mandibles that it was unsuccessfully attempting to use to clean the water off its legs.

I’m not usually a fan of spiders in my home—though after learning that a favorite food of the benevolent wolf spider is the fearsome black widow, I do try to release them in my garage. Feast my friends! My zeal for killing “those that skitter” has been lessened by sage advice I received from my father-in-law, “When a critter comes into your home he’s trespassing on your space, but when you go outside you’re trespassing on his.” So, I try to uphold this mindset and maintain a tolerant coexistence with our creepy, crawly, outdoor cohabitors.

International UFO Museum, Roswell, New Mexico

Later that day, I was able to knock another item off my Road Trip Bucket List when we visited Roswell, New Mexico, and the International UFO Museum! Yes, it is just as wacky as it sounds!

I was a little disappointed with the actual town of Roswell. It’s a fine place, but it is, in fact, just another town (with the occasional alien waving at you from a hotel sign). They do have a McDonald’s shaped like a UFO, but even that was underwhelming as it’s just the playground portion (apparently the inside is rather cool as it is alien/space-themed, but we chose not to partake).

The actual “alien crash site” is located on private land so we weren’t able to visit, but the town is missing out on great revenue potential. The Deep South has ghost tours, the Plains has tornado-chasing tours, and Roswell should have UFO-viewing tours! (Seriously, an enterprising person should get on this, you’d make a killing!)

The museum was interesting. I’ve long been a fan of Unsolved Mysteries, X-Files, Ancient Aliens, etc. so nothing we saw or heard was really surprising. Mostly it was comprised of a lot of suppositions and hearsay (though my coworkers used it as a prime opportunity to make numerous jokes at my expense upon my return).

A colorful large sign on a building with a green, alien head. The sign reads, "International UFO Museum Research Center Roswell, New Mexico". — The International UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico!

We reached Alamogordo in the southcentral part of the state that night with plans to camp at the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park which we had heard many good things about. However, as we pulled into town and storm clouds were again becoming entrenched directly over the park (and we still suffered from a lack of firewood), we opted for a shower and a hotel instead.

White Sands National Park

The next day we ventured to the White Sands National Park to tour the sand dunes. We were EXTREMELY lucky as the high for the day was only going to be in the mid-80s and there was a breeze and a fair amount of clouds to provide respite from the sun (I honestly couldn’t think of better weather in that area in early summer ).

We got a bit of a late start, not beginning our trek until around 10 am, though we were well-prepared with plenty of water, sunscreen, light clothing, and sun hats. We also had a plan to not venture too far, to watch each other for heat stress, and to only be gone an hour or so (there is NO SHADE at the dunes and the reflection of the sunlight on the white sand makes heat stress an even greater risk—as do the dry winds that increase the chances of dehydration).

The dunes were fascinating! The sand was a beautiful light cream color (hence the name) and we saw several similarly colored lizards that would have been perfectly camouflaged had they not been dashing across the hot surface at the time. There’s an airbase and missile range nearby so we were treated to military jets zooming overhead, the thunder from their engines ricocheting over the heat waves as the San Andres mountains loomed in the distance.

Sick while on vacation

We ended our hike around noon, just as we were both starting to feel the sun’s effects and went to the shaded picnic area for lunch. I was feeling a bit queasy, but that’s not unusual when I get overheated and hungry. We were out of the sun, getting some food and a cool drink, and relaxing in the shade, so all should have been well…

…after lunch, we drove around a bit more, took some pictures, and then started to make our way across the rutted road back to the Visitor’s Center (we had plans of camping that night at the State Park)…and then it hit, hard and fast! I’ll spare you the grisly details but let’s just say I’m not proud to admit that I failed miserably in my “Leave No Trace” practices on the dunes that day. 🤮 We thought it was just the heat so we made plans to go to a hotel that night so I could have a cool shower and recover in the air conditioning. Eight hours later, with the illness still racking my body, Mr. Trekker wisely suggested we visit the urgent care just a scant five minutes away.

I’m a fairly healthy person and I usually prefer to allow nature to take its course in these types of situations but, 1000 miles from home, in a strange place, in the middle of vacation, and facing a possible trip to the ER for treatment of dehydration, I decided to heed his astute advice.

I am happy to say the Urgent Care treated us very well–side note, whoever invented Zofran (anti-nausea med) should be Sainted! The medicine worked like a charm and rehydration/rest finally began!

We ended up spending two days at a lovely Fairfield Inn, playing several card games of War and watching COUNTLESS hours of Last Man Standing (the hotel also had a lovely patio I was able to enjoy the next day). See, even a severe stomach ailment on vacation can offer some opportunities for enjoyment (a wonderful traveling partner turned incredible nursemaid didn’t hurt either!)

We still don’t know what made me sick. The urgent care didn’t run any tests, they didn’t seem too concerned about why I was sick, they just wanted to make me better. It could have been heat exhaustion, something I ate or drank, or just the basic flu (Mr. Trekker had ingested basically the same things I had with no negative side effects).

We did drink strange water at the National Park that day that tasted TERRIBLE (due to chlorine) but it was marked for drinking. I have a sensitive stomach and heat sensitivity that I’ve noted in previous posts, but this seemed different. I’m hopeful it was just a badly-timed case of the flu–and continuing proof of our bad luck on this trip–that won’t be making a reappearance any time soon!

Related Posts: Lessons Learned on a Road Trip; 11 “Don’t Miss” sites in Colorado; 10 “Don’t Miss” Places for your Great Plains Road Trip

Giant Pistachio, Alamogordo, New Mexico

By that time we were ready to throw in the towel on this vacation. It just seemed that we were stymied at every turn. We did manage to stop at “The Giant Pistachio” on our way out of Alamagordo—which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a pistachio ranch with a store where you can buy various food items (including delicious green chile salsa and of course, pistachios). It also has a giant statue of a pistachio out front!

Don’t let frustrations derail your vacation plans

We drove north with plans to cancel the rest of our trip, hit I-25, and be home the next day…however, almost as soon as we left town, the terrain seemed to change. The dry, soulless scrub-land filled with nothing but dirt and cacti that we had been experiencing the last several days transformed into an area that, while still dry, also sported dark green pines, bushes, and tan prairie grass all set against a backdrop of bright red earth! This in conjunction with the sun that had finally broken through the rain clouds, and the desert mountains towering on either side of us as we traversed the valley, brightened our hopes a bit.

We had already canceled our plans in the Great Sand Dunes (see this post for info regarding our rescheduled trip there)*, but I casually suggested to my loyal driver that maybe we could still try to push for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado…and I got a hearty, “I was just thinking the same thing!” in reply. The Adventure was back on!

*A side note, apparently the last week of May/first week of June is when the Medano Creek runs high from spring snowmelt and it’s an INCREDIBLY busy time at the park. We weren’t aware of that until we canceled the reservations but it is something to keep in mind if planning a visit.

The Flora of Northern New Mexico

This trip allowed me to verify again for myself that the desert isn’t my favorite place to visit. It’s hot…it’s dry…it’s hot…there’s pokey plants…did I mention it’s hot? 😓 I’ve discussed on several occasions that heat and I are not the best of friends, so I was looking forward to trading in the dry deserts of New Mexico for the lush forests of Colorado.

But I learned something along the way…northern New Mexico is absolutely beautiful! The mountains and plains surrounded us in a verdant spring green which contrasted with the black volcanic rocks. I assume we were lucky to be there so early in the summer season so things were still green (it also seemed that they had an unusually wet spring, who would expect to see standing water in fields in New Mexico? We had rain almost every day we were in the state!)

Capulin Volcano National Monument

Did you know there is an extinct volcano in northern New Mexico? From my extremely limited understanding of volcanology, an “extinct” volcano simply means it hasn’t erupted in a REALLY long time…but that in no way ensures another eruption isn’t possible! (For more information on this national monument, click here.)

So, we arrived at the Capulin Volcano, in northwest New Mexico, with plans to hike around it a bit before heading to Colorado for the night. FYI, the park closes at 5:00 pm promptly, even during the summer months. We learned this when we arrived at the park…just as the ranger was locking the gate. *sigh* Seriously, at this point our bad luck on this trip was becoming laughable! 😜

So instead, we took the long way back to the Interstate on back roads, enjoying the beauty and solitude of the northern New Mexican countryside on our way to the hotel in southern Colorado that night. Yes, after 1600 miles, we had finally reached the Interstate (this was by choice. We could have continued on back roads but this was actually a more direct route to our destination and we decided for that short time we wanted to get where we were going quickly).

With that, after five days of chaos, we left New Mexico behind. We do intend to return though, at least to the northern section, as I still want to investigate that volcano and there are more places (like Taos and Sante Fe) we want to explore!

A two-lane, paved road stretches to the horizon amidst desolate, desert scrubland — The barren New Mexico countryside

Desert scrubland in the foreground leads to dark mountains in the far background — The scrubland against the mountain backdrop was beautiful!

A dark picture where desert scrubland in the foreground and dark mountains in the background are barely visible. In the far background appears to be a white, shimmering lake. — The white mirage shimmering in the distance is the sand dunes at White Sands National Park.

Have you enjoyed any of these destinations? Tell me about it in the comments!

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10 “Don’t Miss” Places for your Great Plains Road Trip

In this post, I review our adventures while traversing the Great Plains on our 2017 road trip.

The Trekkers had an adventurous, 2017 Road Trip. It included 3500 miles (only 185 on Interstate and that was by choice); two days sick in a hotel with one trip to the urgent care; a nasty road rash; difficulty locating firewood; countless cows; interesting people; beautiful countryside and one “Close Encounter of the Furry Kind”!

We spent two weeks roaming a landscape that spanned almost 1000 miles north to south and almost 700 miles east to west. It was an interesting, frustrating, challenging, exhausting, wonderful trip that I can’t wait to share with you. So, without further ado… let’s get started with our first portion, The Great Plains!

Note: This was more of a sightseeing trip rather than our usual recreational adventures. We did some hiking, which I’ll touch on, but I’ll mostly be drawing attention to family-friendly, roadside attractions available in small towns throughout the Great Plains and the West. I hope this will inspire you to visit these sometimes little-known areas, and that the challenges we faced will encourage you to persevere when the going gets tough (or well-intentioned plans get altered) as grand experiences may be waiting just around the corner.

Carhenge and Chimney Rock in Western Nebraska

On the first day, we visited Carhenge and Chimney Rock (we learned throughout the trip there are several Chimney Rocks in the country). Carhenge is a unique art sculpture in the middle of the Nebraska plains near Alliance.

It looks exactly as it sounds! It is a sculpture made of old, half-buried, American cars arranged in a pattern resembling the ancient European relic, Stonehenge. It’s been on my Road Trip Bucket List for some time, so I was thrilled to visit, and it did not disappoint.

A circle-monument made of gray cars sits in a green field on a dirt path — Carhenge

We also stopped at Chimney Rock near Scottsbluff, a key landmark used by pioneers on the Oregon Trail on their westward trek into the frontier. It looks about like the name sounds (the old American Indian name for it basically translates to “elk penis” which is apt as well…hey, I’m just the messenger! 😇)

A red rock spire rises from a red rock hill on a green plain — Chimney Rock

Enders Reservoir State Recreation Area, Enders, Nebraska

The first night we arrived at our pre-determined stop, Enders State Park in southwestern Nebraska. The park is nice, though the website was a bit misleading. It highlighted “showers and modern toilets”. We never found the “modern” toilets–unless in Nebraska a pit toilet is considered “modern”–and the only “showers” we saw were outdoor cement slabs, with drains, that would be suitable for hosing off.

As we didn’t arrive until after six on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, there were no attendants on duty and registration was self-pay. That was fine, though it was confusing as to where exactly you should pay as there were multiple entrance points/camping areas.

A Frustrating Road Trip

We encountered quite a few frustrations on the Great Plains portion of our Road Trip…

Lack of Firewood

Unlike the Black Hills, where firewood is available at just about every corner gas station/grocery store, we found locating it in the Plains to be almost impossible. As it turned out, the camp store just outside the park sold firewood, but it closed at 7 pm. We arrived around 6:50, not knowing when the store closed or that it was our only option to acquire firewood. Needless to say, by the time we realized our error…it was about 7:15 (this lousy luck would become a pattern throughout the trip). 😝

Lack of nice tent-camping areas

Enders State Park provides plenty of tent-camping areas, the problem was they were difficult to locate, all terribly overgrown and extremely primitive–to the point where you’d have to walk a large distance or take your car to reach the nearest pit toilet. Fire rings were also not available in the tent camping areas. We ended up disperse camping in a nice picnic area which allowed us a covered picnic table to prepare dinner (there were no signs forbidding us from pitching our tent there and the ranger we saw the next morning didn’t chastise us for our choice).

A surprise event!

Needless to say, by this point, we were getting rather frustrated…not a good way to start the trip. That was until we were packing up for bed, and we noticed faint blue flames in the northern sky, wisps dancing from left to right…the Northern Lights! At one point they resembled pillars rotating around a cylinder, like a campfire. They were eerie, awesome, and utterly beautiful. Needless to say, our bedtime was delayed that night!

Sometimes lousy luck is just a prelude to grand things to come! If we had found a different campsite that wasn’t as isolated or had sat by a roaring fire that night, we may have missed the pale light show dimly burning in the night sky…

Related Posts: Lessons Learned on a Road Trip; 11 “Don’t Miss” sites in Colorado; 5 “Don’t Miss” Places for Your New Mexico Road Trip

Monument Rocks and Dodge City, Kansas

On Day 2 we visited one of the most interesting sites I’ve ever seen, Monument Rocks near Oakley, Kansas. These are large, sedimentary rock formations that rise out of the middle of the Kansas cornfields! They reminded me of those found in Badlands National Park. They loom oddly out of place as they rise from the Kansas prairie, though they are quite beautiful.

White, rock spires rise from the ground in a sandy, desert-like area — Monument Rocks

A large, white, rock rises from the ground with a large hole in the middle in a sandy, desert-like area — The Keyhole at Monument Rocks

Later, we visited Dodge City, Kansas. For anyone who’s been to the tourist trap that is Keystone, SD, that’s what I was expecting, but on a grander scale. Sadly, I was disappointed.

There was an interesting “Pioneer Town” which offered a museum you could tour, but it was in the middle of town. You could literally see the double arches at the McDonald’s across the street through the clapboard fence. 🙃 The town did have a nice downtown area with trendy shops, but we decided to press on.

Meade State Park, Meade Kansas

That night we attempted to stay at Meade State Park in extreme southern Kansas, but to no avail. It was our own fault for not making reservations on Memorial Day weekend (and as it turned out it was one of the only state parks in the area), though I was rather glad we didn’t. The place was absolutely packed!

Meade State Park was lovely, shaded, and situated around a lake. Unfortunately, not just every campsite was full, but people were also pitching tents almost on top of each other in picnic areas, music was blasting from every corner, and people were milling about so badly it was difficult to drive through them in some spots…not very tranquil. Needless to say, due to this and the fact we still hadn’t located any firewood*, we ended up having a lovely dinner at Arby’s and staying at a hotel in Liberal, Kansas that night!

*It’s not that we’re terribly unprepared, we intentionally planned to acquire firewood along the way rather than bringing it with us. This is because many parks that we’ve visited out West don’t allow firewood from outside the state due to the concern of spreading pests. As we learned, this was not the case in the Plains. Not sure if the lack of firewood is due to fewer trees on the Plains, or if it’s just that the regulations are so lax everyone just brings their own, but either way, come prepared!

Liberal Kansas

Day 3 was one of the highlights of the trip, we visited Dorothy’s House (along with the Coronado Museum) and the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal, KS! As it turned out, not camping the night before and having already made the hour drive to Liberal meant we could start the morning touring straight from there!

Dorothy’s House and the Coronado Museum, Liberal Kansas

Dorothy’s house was as cheesy as you can possibly imagine such a place would be…and I absolutely LOVED it! I was impressed with how in-depth it was.

You actually tour a historical home from that area that was built around the time the book, Wizard of Oz, was originally written. It was laid out just like Uncle Henry’s and Aunt Em’s home from the movie.

Then you meander through the Land of Oz, complete with Dorothy as a tour guide. She gave us the choice of hearing the story again or getting random trivia from the making of the movie. The group agreed that we’d all seen the movie so we opted for the trivia!

There was a good amount of movie memorabilia, including the actual model of the home used during the tornado scene. Our tour guide gave us plenty of unique tidbits, but I won’t ruin those surprises. You’ll have to visit this fun roadside attraction yourself if you’re ever in that area and offer patronage to Liberal’s Historical Society to boot!

While we were there we also toured the neighboring Coronado Museum and saw many unique figurines from that era, including some disturbing medical/dental equipment!

Mid-America Air Museum, Liberal Kansas

If you enjoy air museums, this place has quite a bit to offer. It was started by a former pilot from Oklahoma City who donated his collection of over 50 planes. The Mid-America Air Museum offers a mixture of military and civilian aircraft in a spacious, air-conditioned hangar. They put on quite a show for such a small non-profit!

**I was also able to knock two more items off my Road Trip Bucket List in the early part of the trip. I can now say that I’ve visited both Oklahoma and Texas. We only drove through the panhandles of both states, they were flat. 😉

The “Mother Road”, Route 66 in New Mexico

We ended the 3rd night on the famed Route 66 in northeastern New Mexico. Otherwise known as “the Mother Road”, Route 66 was one of the first highways to span the country, connecting Chicago with the California coast, and it’s definitely worth a visit!

Locating the actual Route 66 can be difficult due to the current highway systems (sometimes it runs with a current highway, other times it almost disappears completely). The road has also been re-routed throughout the years, making its “true” location even more cryptic. Truly enterprising adventurers can track it, though a high clearance, 4WD vehicle may be required to navigate what’s left of the pockmarked, scrub-covered pavement in some areas.

Fortunately for us, where the route traverses northeastern New Mexico is one of the easier portions to locate. It serves as the main drag for several small towns—including Tucumcari and Santa Rosa—and parallels I-40 as a service road in this area.

There are still some signs of life on this section of the old road, some still-functioning hotels and gas stations lit with neon lights that maintain the motif of ages past. Without the large, classic cars of that era though, it’s hard to imagine the atmosphere is anywhere near comparable.

Unfortunately, most of the still-standing buildings are dilapidated skeletons of their once-great selves, frequently forming ghost towns with other structures of that bygone era. We ended our 3^rd night, traveling Route 66 westward into a bank of thunderheads in Tucumcari, New Mexico.