It had seemed like the day to leave on the road trip was so far away and would never come, but it was like I closed my eyes and BOOM it was here! The day before I left, my neighbor (Don) helped me pack the car. When I showed him the pile that I wanted to take, I told him that it’s okay if it doesn’t all fit and that I would either get rid of it or ship it. He takes one look at the pile and says, “I can make it fit.” And he did! I was so impressed with his packing skills. He even made sure my tire pressure was good so that we didn’t have a blow out on the interstate. I’m going to miss all of our neighbors. We loved Don & Shiri’s two little boys (Andy & Kyle) a few doors down. Such sweet boys 🙂
We were looking to depart around one. I spent the morning finishing up a few loose ends – I had things to recycle and wanted to drop off a few items at the Interpretive Center (the place I volunteered). When I was at the Interpretive Center I was able to say goodbye to a few more friends that I had volunteered with.
Then I headed over to Gemma’s to pick her up! I showed her the small space that I had made for her (it was a squished ride for the both of us) and we were off! 
Our first stop was Williams, AZ. We stayed the night at the Best Western and decided to head down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner since it was already pretty late. The funniest thing about this stop is that Gem wanted to know if the salsa/soup was spicy. Three separate people (including the chef and manager) came to our table to make sure that she thought it was spicy enough. I don’t know I guess maybe you had to be there 🙂
I forgot to mention that as we were driving at night there were a few semi-trucks that had honked at our car. I told Gem that we probably had a gremlin on our car and that they were probably trying to warn us. However, as we were filling up gas the next morning I kept trying to figure out why they would be honking at us. I decided that maybe we should check the tail/break lights. Sure enough, one of the lights was out. We decided that we would get it fixed later down the road.
After filling up with gas, we set course for the Grand Canyon. I’m really glad that we decided to make this detour. We only drove along the South Rim, but it was still really cool to see. Hopefully I will make it back one day.
For one photo we stopped to take, Gem decided that she wanted to do a yoga pose (crow I believe). She was on top of the rock getting into position when I heard a lady behind me say, “Oh my, she’s going to do a hand stand. I can’t even watch.” I called out to Gem, and said “Wait, you’re not doing a hand stand are you?” She replied no, but the lady still was pretty uncomfortable.
At another stop, we decided to venture way off the designated path. In that spot it felt like we were the only two people in the vastness that is the Grand Canyon. Pretty cool feeling if you ask me.
The next destination was going to be Four Corners Monument. We made a pit stop in a small town to buy a bulb for my tail light. The lady at the Best Western in Williams had mentioned that there was a place along the way to the monument that had dinosaur tracks. We found the location, but decided not to stop. Maybe I was being silly, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving all of our possessions in the car to venture out to see the tracks basically in the middle of nowhere. I do want to check it out if we make it back though.
As time ticked on, we realized that we weren’t going to make it to Four Corners Monument before they closed, so we decided to just head straight to Albuquerque. As we were heading into town, Gem commented on how there were so many stars! We decided to pull off on a side road to stop and take a look. The road we drove down ended up being near a prison. We realized this because we saw a sign warning that hitchhikers might be escaped inmates. At the end of the road we pulled over and admired the stars. On our way back to the main road, I decided that I thought it would be funny to get a picture of that sign warning of hitchhikers. Gem hopped out and ran over to take a picture of the sign and then we were on our way to find a hotel.
As we pulled up to the first hotel to check vacancy and price, Gem started to freak out saying “Wait, what is happening?! OMG!? Something is attacking me!” Come to find out, she had tracked in a bunch of cockleburs when she took a picture of that sign near the prison. It took a while to get the car clear of all of those lovely presents 🙂
The next morning, we headed out to find a few locations where they filmed Breaking Bad. We got to see Walter White’s house and the office of his lawyer (Saul Goodman).
As we pulled up to Walter White’s house we encountered others doing exactly the same thing. The lady that owns the house came out for a bit and told us that she had lived there for many years and one day got a knock on her door about them using her house in the show.
I actually just recently finished the Breaking Bad series. For some reason I couldn’t get into it after the first few episodes, but once I started watching it for the second time I was hooked! Great series and I highly recommend it!
The next stop in New Mexico for our road trip adventure was Roswell! We ate lunch at a Thai restaurant!
Then we ventured over to take a tour of the UFO Museum. 
Being the tourist that I am, I asked the lady at the museum if she had ever experienced anything extraterrestrial. She replied no, but that she believes the story and all of the facts/info provided in the museum. It really was a pretty cool little town! Sorry to report, no aliens though. Maybe if we come back at night…
After Roswell, we began our journey to San Antonio! But I will save that story for another post!
Btw, my friend Gemma is also posting about our road trip!! You can read about it here: Jessica + Gem’s Grand Road Trip Adventure: Hot, Cold, and Super Cool!
Redness Adventures 