A Cross-Country Family Adventure with Two Teenagers, a Camper, and a Cat
Eleventh Stop(s): New Mexico and Texas
After a fun stay in Arizona - a state that happily surprised me with its stunning landscapes - we crossed the border into New Mexico. Still stunning but…good golly, the free roaming dogs! I knew this occurred in Mexico but had no idea it carried across the border.
We saw our first “gang of dogs” as we pulled into the tiny, sad town of Shiprock, NM. Five ragged dogs casually rambled across the highway near the gas station where we stopped. They were oblivious to street signs and traffic rules, and the residents ignored the furry, four-legged street walkers. With our cat Baxter safely strapped in the back seat receiving constant head rubs and loving affirmations (who's a good kitty?!), we felt like hypocritical assholes. But I convinced myself these roaming dogs were happy with their vagabond lifestyle and were well-fed.
(In reality, it’s a nightmare. It’s been estimated there are approximately 250,000 stray dogs who live on Navajo land. Some of the dogs are violent with attacks on livestock and people. Packs of strays have even killed humans.)
The one highlight of driving across this part of New Mexico were the incredible rock formations spaced across the landscape.
TIP #1 - Keep your cellphone handy during drives with the camera app open and the camera set to "live." There are so many photo opportunities on long trips. By using the live feature, you can go into Edit and scroll through the different frames from that one image and choose the best capture. This is really helpful when you're flying by at 60 mph.
We drove past the road to Monument Valley but didn’t have time to drive over. Adding it to the list for another time. We were headed to Santa Fe!
We reserved three nights at the Flagstaff KOA Journey based on reviews. The majority were great but I should have focused on the few that were not.
Tip #2: When most reviews mention a fantastic staff, you should really question who’s submitting them, especially when they mention the staff by name, several times.
Our issues? Verizon wasn’t covered for the campground area and the wifi was abysmal. Plus, our cable hookup was fuzzy and hard to see. So it was impossible to run a business and do virtual school without wifi or phone. Crappy cable, a laundry room that closed early and a game room that wasn't open at all, made it miserable. A very agitated email to KOA corporation made me feel slightly better.
Because of the lack of wifi, we spent the first part of our Santa Fe stay at Starbucks for school and work. The second part of the day, we took the boys to thrift stores (their favorite activity) and drove through Canyon Road Arts District - an amazing street of art galleries and restaurants. That night, the boys and I left their dad in the camper to work and headed to Santa Fe for supper at The Pantry, a local favorite. I recommend the chili rellennos.
Santa Fe is an amazing place for photos. But due to our campground experience, I only took a few photos with my cellphone. As a photographer, this pains me. But it just means we'll have to go back!
The next day, we had tickets for what looked to be an amazing exhibit at Meow Wolf but the horrible service at the campground had us checking out early and heading to Texas.
TIP #3 - Thoroughly read ALL reviews for campgrounds before booking. Check RV forums, ask friends for their favorite campgrounds and use www.goodsam.com. A bad campground can ruin and shorten a stay.
When we started this southwest leg of our trip, I was hoping to see remains of historic Route 66. On maps, it looks like Interstate 40 follows the old route. But a quick Google search as we left Santa Fe led us to Tucumcari - a small, tired town of less than 6,000 with a segment of Route 66 listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This can be seen with a quick detour off I-40 through the town. It’s totally worth the extra 10 minutes or less to capture some “Instagram-worthy” shots with your phone from the car.
(I would've used the "real camera" and spent hours photographing the sites, but teenage boys can be very convincing to keep moving. Adding Tucumcari to my future to-do list!)
On to Texas! First stop - Amarillo.
Even though we pulled into town that evening, I was singing George Strait’s, “Amarillo by Morning” on the drive there. I really thought this would be a quick stop because, well, it’s Amarillo. (Sorry, locals.) But I was wrong. For a photographer and lover of all things kitschy, Amarillo did not disappoint.
Kitschy: of art, objects, or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way. Thank you, Oxford Languages website.
On the way into Amarillo, we pulled off the interstate to do a quick tour of Cadillac Ranch.
I’m sure you’ve seen the photos. And the photos had me envisioning a charming parcel of land set aside with numerous installations, great parking, maybe a gift shop. Nope. Cadillac Ranch is simply a line of 10 Cadillacs buried halfway in the ground in the middle of a farm field. Off the interstate. Along a frontage road.
But it was still really, really cool.
Cadillac Ranch was built by a group of art hippies, called the Ant Farm, with an Amarillo millionaire - Stanley Marsh 3 - as their silent partner. (Marsh apparently felt that Roman numerals were pretentious which is why he used the standard Arabic numeral in his name.)
The Ant Farm artists, with a request from Marsh to create a unique art installation for his farm, came up with the unusual idea to celebrate the evolution of the Cadillac’s tail fin. In 1974, they took 10 Cadillacs from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan de Ville and buried them halfway in the dirt, nose-down on one of Marsh’s fields. Over time, visitors defaced the automobiles taking parts as souvenirs and spray-painting the cars. The artists accepted this and now consider the grafitti as part of the installation.
The cars were moved to its current location in the late 1990s due to city expansion. It's a quick exit off the interstate and down the frontage road. There’s even a truck set up in front that sells cans of spray paint for those who want to add to the art. It was freezing when we stopped but we made the short trek to the cars stepping over used spray paint cans and interstate trash.
TIP #4: Cadillac Ranch is about a 10-minute stop. That’s it. But it’s worth it for a photo. Bring your own cans of spray paint to leave a mark but know that it’ll quickly be covered by the next visitor. And please pick up your trash!
After our brief stop at Cadillac Ranch, we headed to the Big Texan RV Ranch. I chose this one because it looked like the best option in Amarillo but I had no idea of its affiliation. The RV park is part of the world-famous, competitive eater’s Mecca - Big Texan Steak Ranch and Brewery.
And how do they define "big?" That would be "72 ounces of steak" big!
Everything IS bigger in Texas.
(Brief history - The restaurant was started in 1960 by Bob Lee. Apparently, a cowboy wandered in, said he was hungry enough to eat a cow, and Lee decided to test that theory. The cowboy stopped after 72 ounces but Lee was impressed and declared that anyone who could eat 72 ounces would get their meal free. And so it began.)
Man Versus Food featured the challenge and numerous others have tried to complete it. We did NOT and opted instead for the 48-ounce Tomahawk, Bone-In steak, the giant chicken fried steak, and the fried mushrooms to share. Among the four of us. It was enough.
But if you are interested in the challenge, remember this…challengers must finish the steak WITH sides (a shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad and a roll with butter) in one hour, seated at a raised table, with a live stream capturing it all. So when you make use of the puke pail, it’s recorded. And if you don’t win, it’s $72.
(A 120-pound woman completed the challenge in 10 minutes. She was challenged by the restaurant to come back and attempt 3 of the meals in under an hour. She did it. That's more than 13 pounds of beef and three portions of all the sides. She's a mom of four. I wonder if she's stress eating. Check her out here.)
So what made the Big Texan RV park so special? It wasn't the giant steak. It was the FREE limo ride to the steakhouse!
We were picked up outside our camper by a Texan in a cowboy hat and boots. And this wasn’t your typical limo. This was your 1970s, Dukes of Hazzard, "Patrick Swayze Roadhouse" limo, complete with a set of Texas Longhorn hood horns. An added bonus? The ash trays in the doors! Parenting moment...exposing your kids to the world, one nasty yesteryear habit at a time! Did we seriously grow up that way???
After stuffing ourselves at the Big Texan, visiting more thrift stores (we recommend Back & Forth thrift store), and spending an afternoon doing schoolwork at Starbucks, it was off to our last stop in the Lonestar State - Six Flags over Texas.