We Made It!

From Sedona we left for our final pushpin (see post #2), Tucson!


And when we got there, Jaime's mom took some pictures.




And I got up close and personal with a cactus!


One last shot of the road trip beard.


We made it! Until next time!

Don't Judge A State By Its Sign

As you can see, we were disappointed by Arizona's puny state sign.


On our way to Sedona, we popped into Utah, where I demonstrated my ski jumping form.


In Sedona, we had our minds blown by the scenery, and we went to Slide Rock park, where there's a natural water slide carved into the rocks. Awesome!





And then on our way to our final destination of Tucson, we stopped at an Amish kitchen. Because apparently Amish people get lost sometimes, and when they do, they open restaurants.

Four States At Once!

We drove way out of our way to go up to the four corners, but it was totally worth it. The view was fantastic, and we got all of these awesome pictures!

Snapshots From The Road, Pt. 2

Better Than Old Mexico

Driving through northern New Mexico was BREATHTAKING. The color palette is completely different from that found back east, and our pictures don't even begin to capture it. (See the following posts for our feeble and inadequate attempts to photograph the landscape.)


We stopped briefly at the National Vietnam War Veterans' Memorial (which we thought was rather randomly placed), where I posed next to a helicopter.


Then we went to Santa Fe, where we were cranky from driving all day and not eating. We faked expressions for this picture:


And took a picture of this bizarre statue, which we have dubbed the Patron Saint of Awkwardly Placed Limbs:



Then we went to Albuquerque and had dinner with Jaime's mom's colleague and his family. Next stop, four corners!

Into the West

We made it to Colorado Springs late in the evening after driving through Kansas, but there was enough twilight to take the obligitory state sign picture.


The next morning we went to pretty much the only attraction in Colorado Springs during the non-skiing months - the Garden of the Gods! It was just as cool as everyone said it would be, with more picture opportunities than our camera had memory for. Here are some selections we liked:







And then on our way to New Mexico, we stopped in Ludlow, marked on the map as a "ghost town." It was a little eerie, but we did take a picture of this dilapidated building before scampering back to our car.

Kansas Is Actually Awesome!

So everybody tried to tell us that Kansas was going to be totally boring, but none of them knew what they were talking about. We made three stops along Route 70 ("America's Main Street"). The first one was in Abilene (population ~6700, although it's supposedly "exploding"), where we signed the guestbook and went to the fashion museum. The woman running the museum was one of the most interesting people either of us had ever encountered, and we couldn't figure out what the HELL she was doing in Abilene, Kansas.




Later we stopped for a picnic dinner in a pretty field along the road (there were many to choose from).




And then we entered an alternate universe, where we walked amongst throngs of prairie dogs, witnessed a new-born (like, 30 minutes old) longhorn calf, and saw...well, just look.

Kanssouri + The Hands

Before heading out from Tulsa, we made a quick stop by Oral Roberts University, where the world's largest praying hands are found. Um, wow.




Then it was off to Kansas City, which (if you didn't know) straddles the Kansas/Missouri state line. While there, we visited Jaime's grandparents, took pictures in several ridiculous places, and hung out with Jaime's aunt, uncle, and cousins.