JAYSON'S 2004
AUTUMN VACATION
Arizona,
Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas
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The
ten day trip involved a short direct flight, followed by lots of driving.
The first day was spent flying from Portland, Oregon to the Phoenix-Sky
Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. Once I got into
my rental car, I immediately headed north of town. As I drove up Interstate
17 through the Agua Fria National Monument, my first stop was in Prescott,
west of the interstate. From there, I drove through Ash Fork, Williams,
and my final destination on day one, Flagstaff. I
began my journey in northern New Mexico covering Farmington, Aztec, Bernalillo,
Albuquerque, Santa Fe (a must see), Las Vegas, and Raton. I went through
southeastern Colorado (Trinidad, Walsenburg, Pueblo, Rocky Ford, La Junta,
Las Animas, and Lamar) followed by a ride through southeastern Kansas
including Garden City, Dodge City (visited the Boot Hill Museum), and
Liberal, and the Oklahoma Panhandle (through Guymon and Texhoma). The
drive continued into western Texas covering Stratford, Dumas, Amarillo,
Lubbock (saw the Buddy Holly statue), Lamesa, Midland, Odessa, Pecos and
Mentone (in Loving County, the least populated state division in the U.S.
with less than a hundred residents). I
entered southeastern New Mexico going through Carlsbad, the Carlsbad Caverns
National Park (Go through the natural entrance into the cave; it is worth
the visit.), Roswell (the International UFO Museum & Research Center),
Ruidoso, and Alamogordo before stopping in El Paso, Texas for the night.
I finished the trip by driving through Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg
in New Mexico, and through Willcox, Tucson and Casa Grande in Arizona. The
final day included visits to Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale in Arizona before
boarding the plane back to Portland. |
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
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