Tag: #airbnb

Fort Worth Texas

23 March 2018

What a fun place Fort Worth is!!!

This morning I went to my favourite department store “Macys“. The clothes are so well priced and different to home.

Then I went to the Fort Worth Stockyard for the longhorn cattle drive

I was held hostage by a ferocious gunslinger.

Enjoyed a drink at One of the oldest establishments Lil Red’s Longhorn Saloon

Met Kristen from Seattle in the cowgirls’ room which has the Texan flag shower curtains for doors.

I haven’t had a chance to do this yet

The Cowtown Coliseum Stockyards Championship Rodeo is a must. This is where the real cowboys are.

Stephen and Bo from Georgia have instructions to introduce me to their single uncles. The uncles must be cute with those genes don’t you think. 😁

I ended the day with a live band (Aaron Lewis) at Billy Bob’s. This is the biggest venue I have ever been to with a dance hall, saloon, bull riding, restaurants, pool tables (lots). Enjoyed dinner and a drink with these local ladies Pam, Paula, Kathy and Leticia.

Fort Worth is a fascinating city with parks, skyscrapers, bridges, lots of cars, pretty suburban areas, country music playing everywhere, friendly people, historical and haunted areas but most noticeable are the cowboys and their big trucks. Yep. I will return one day and stay at least a week but probably longer. Thank you for some great memories Fort Worth.

Geronimo’s Grave

22 March 2018

I left Oklahoma City at 10:00am wanting to get to Fort Worth for some dancing.

I took a 1.5 hour detour which ended up being a 2.5 hour detour so that I could go to Geronimo‘s Grave inFort Sill.

To enter Fort Sill you need a visitors pass and go through a process similar to border control but processed by the Army.

The pass is free and it is issued for a specific period. I only needed the one day.

Fort Sill is an Army training facility with everything for a town including hotel and supermarket and lovely housing for the personnel based there.

I had no idea Fort Sill would be a large town, thinking it would be a small fort area like the western movies. That was very ignorant of me. If I had known I would have spent a whole day in Fort Sill which has lots of museums covering all the wars including the Mexican revolution, civil war and WWI.

Geronimo’s Grave is in a section of the Army Base which includes graves for Apache prisoners of war.

When I pulled up at the cemetery I was drawn to the most beautifully haunting Indian singing. It was so moving. I went up to the Indian who was singing and told him it was so beautiful I felt his emotion. He told me his family just buried their grandfather and that they were descendants of Geronimo and that was the reason the grandfather could be buried on this site.

I arrived in Fort Worth at 7:00pm exhausted and decided no dancing tonight. Rest up for a good day tomorrow with minimal driving.

Groom Texas/Oklahoma City

21 March 2018

On the way to Oklahoma City I made a stop at the quaint town of Groom on Route 66. A small population of 574 with a big Cross and statues depicting the last supper, stations of the cross and other religious items of interest and it is free.

Welcome to Oklahoma

Beckham County Allanreed Oklahoma. More Route 66.

Elk City Oklahoma

Bootscooting and 2step in Chisholm’s Saloon Oklahoma City. I love how the cowboys Stetson stays on their head when dancing even when they do duck under moves. When the hat does get bumped off they have a real smooth move to slide it back on the head.

Amarillo Texas

20 March 2018

It is no warmer here and I have learned that Amarillo is “the windy city” not Chicago. It is -2c (29F). When will I find some warm weather!!

In the meantime I am wearing lots of layers and hopefully my discoveries will distract me from the cold.

I started today with a drive to Palo Duro Canyon.

35 minutes from Amarillo is the most spectacular terrain! This is what you see when driving through Texas for hour after hour mile after mile. Flat nothing.

Then out of nowhere the road falls away to this.

Cadillac Ranch also known as Carhenge.

I encouraged an 11 year old to graffiti my name. Luckily it is legal in this area.

2nd Amendment Cowboy

Legs sculpture

Helium time columns monument

I wish I could have stayed for the weekend to dance with some cowboys .

Although this lovely gentleman, Wayne, spontaneously danced with me in a restaurant which was fun.

New Mexico/Texas

19 March 2018

I had a lovely breakfast with my airbnb host, Sheri, and her guests from Scotland and England who are a Scottish folk duo Alan Reid and Rob van Sante and they tour the world including Australia. They wished me well on my “Odyssey” which sounds much more exotic than ” road trip”. I think I will use that.

I left Albuquerque behind with -2 C (32F) and looking forward to some warmer weather in Amarillo.

On the way I found this lovely spot on Route 66 at Santa Rosa New Mexico “Blue Hole”

Next stop was Glenrio Texas. A ghost town and first town over the border of New Mexico on Route 66.

Old Town Albuquerque

18 March 2018

An easy day today as it is cold, a little snow, lots of wind and I will be off to Amarillo tomorrow.

I started the day with a very interesting historical free walking tour of the Old Town.

I found this exhibit in The Albuquerque Museum of History and Art very interesting Through the Repellent Fence. In 2015, three Native American artists set out to construct a two-mile-long outdoor artwork that straddles the U.S. and Mexico border.

Last tourist item in Albuquerque was a photo of the Rio Grande. I went to a clifftop to get a good view but it was so windy I was worried I was going to be blown off the cliff.

Finished off Albuqueque with a salsa dance class and social dancing at Maple Street Dance Space.

Santa Fe New Mexico

17 March 2018

As dancing was a serious letdown I got to sleep early last night and was off to Santa Fe by 9.00am. I went to the casino nightclub in Alberqueque and it was the worst casino I have ever been to. The people are so poorly dressed, the casino, as many casinos in the USA allows smoking and the smell is awful, and the gamblers look like they don’t have the money to gamble.

A plus was the band was wonderful and played great covers, not as good as The Kamis though. But the dancefloor was full of drunk over 40s couples and it made me so grateful for all our wonderful over 40s venues in Sydney and the people who attend.

So I drove the one (1 ) hour to Santa Fe with a list of places to see. Once again the scenery was breathtaking. I miss sharing this beauty with someone.

Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. It is quite an affluent area with beautiful Adobe dwellings as well as hacienda style.

I completed some of the unusual things to do from the Atlas Obscura list.

109 East Palace Street is the premises used to screen all people working on the Manhattan Project between 1942 – 45. The atomic bomb was developed and tested in New Mexico.

I was keen to visit the La Cieneguilla Petroglyph site which is Indian rock art dating back to the 13th century. The tour guide recommended I not go at this time of year as there would be a good chance I would come across rattlesnakes and their babies. Okay I struck that off my list.

The Loretta Chapel has an interesting story which I actually saw many years ago on a documentary “Unexplained Mysteries” I never thought I would get to see this staircase said to be a miracle.

I drove up to the Sante Fe Opera as there is a stunning view of The Rockies which still had some snow. Santa Fe has an elevation of 7199 feet and I found it a tad difficult with breathing at times.

I got back to Albuquerque at 7pm and my air bnb host invited me toContra dancing which is a type of square dancing. What energetic fun that was!!

We topped off the night with some salsa at The Cooperage. The people here were the opposite of what I experienced at the casino. Wonderful fun friendly people.

Albuquerque New Mexico

16 March 2018

My first scary incident was reminiscent of a movie robbery scene surprisingly and fortunately without a gun. I was lined up in a gas station to prepay my petrol (gas) when someone calmly walked in, took a 6 pack of beer and walked out with people swearing and chasing him. I quickly did what they do in the movies, backed up to a rear aisle and made myself inconspicuous. Nothing violent happened, but it was a reminder that there are some questionable areas I need to be careful of. I also thought that if this was one of the NRA States the man would probably have been shot. I didn’t wait there to buy petrol, I walked out to the car and noticed that the area was a bit dubious. I will be more careful in future.

I wonder how these signs work? They were throughout Flagstaff as Well.

I had spent the morning visiting unusual spots recommended in the Atlas Obscura.

First I went to the spaceship house.

Then the Musical Highway, a spot on Route 66 which, when you drive at the correct speed, you will hear “America the Beautiful” played. Unfortunately I could not hear it even when I stopped the car and I expect it is a joke or the cars weren’t going the correct speed for it to play. I got this pic though.

I then went to find the Atlas I

Described as “This pseudo-steampunk weapons facility is the world’s largest wood and glue structure, and packs quite a wallop“.

With an address of Kirtland Air Base I set my GPS. I thought I was going to a display at an unused airbase. I was a little surprised when driving up to the air base, I encountered the obligatory road block and security check. The poor guard must have thought I was a crazy Australian until I showed him the website. I was gently escorted off the air base with a recommendation of where to get something to eat if I was hungry. ??

Then I proceeded to the next item the De Anza Motor Lodge which holds American Indian Artefacts. This is actually being demolished, contrary to what the website states. A consolation, it is on Route 66.

I got lost looking for Little Beaver Town so decided to go for walk around the neighbourhood Where I am staying in without expectations.

And I found the Flintstone House!!

The homes in this area are Mexican influenced Adobe house. I suppose that’s because they are in New Mexico.

The gardens are on the treacherous side. You would want to be careful not to fall into the garden while drunk or otherwise.

Hopefully I will be more successful looking for dancing tonight

Meteor Crater Arizona/New Mexico

15 March 2018

I was meant to go to the Grand Canyon today but I was feeling so unwell I couldn’t face the 1.5 hour drive each way. I looked into getting a bus but left it a little late. I realised that I was feeling unwell because the airbnb I stayed in was really stuffy and I am not very good with stale Indian cooking smells. When I opened my window the host asked me kindly to close it to keep the place warm. Thankfully I was not tied to the airbnb for more than one night so this morning I was looking for another place to stay in Flagstaff.

While having my pancakes for breakfast at the Flagstaff iHop ( I was feeling much better) it started snowing. As pretty as snow is, my trip never included snow as I am not fussed on the cold.

So I booked an air bnb in Alberqueque New Mexico and started the 5 hour, 455 km (285 miles) drive.

On the way I stopped off at the Meteor Crater in Winslow Arizona.

I wanted to stop at the Petrified Forest but missed the turn off and it was too far to loop back. As the temperature was 0 C (32 F) wind chill I was not overly concerned I missed it.

Along the way the scenery changed many times. I escaped the snow in Flagstaff and as soon as I crossed over to New Mexico I had hail, snow and ferocious winds which caused the huge rigs on the motorway to sway precariously.

Arizona

New Mexico

Seligman/Williams/Flagstaff Arizona

14 March 2018

I just drove 1,600 km (1,000 miles) in 7 days.

First stop today was another Route 66 Historical area, Seligman including the Road Kill Cafe OK Saloon.

Then on to Williams where the scenery changed and the weather was very cool and windy. Williams is known as the gateway of the Grand Canyon and another historical Route 66 town.

Flagstaff is 40 minutes away and at 2106 metres (6190 feet) the temperature changed dramatically from Bullshead City’s 30 C (86F) to 0 C (32F). The landscape is pine trees and snow topped mountains. I arrived at 5:00pm and as I did not have any daylight for exploring I went on Meet Ups and found a trivia night on at the Uptown Pub. Met some lovely people and were impressed with coming 1st at half time but then it deteriorated and we came 8/12.

Tomorrow Grand Canyon.