We managed a fairly early start departing from our San Juan Capistrano, CA home at 5:45am PDT. Heading south on the I-5 toward San Diego, the rare sight of pre-dawn thunderstorms reared their ugly head, both over the ocean and over Camp Pendleton. (A great way to start the morning!)

Nearing San Diego, we briefly transitioned to I-805 before hitting our highway of the day, I-8. On this highway we rushed east to meet the rising sun blazing through the Imperial Valley. It's been 13 years since I've traveled on this road.

After crossing the border and a quick breakfast in Yuma, AZ, we continued east on I-8 until it terminated with I-10, and reached the outskirts of Tucson just over an hour later. Despite arriving at our hotel at 1:00pm MST, way earlier than projected, they still let us get our room before the standard check-in time. We took advantage of the extra hours and decided to visit the smaller west district of Saguaro National Park.

Finding the Red Hills Visitor Center wasn't an easy task, as my GPS failed me trying to convince us of a road that didn't exist. (So glad I downloaded the map from the official NPS website as a backup plan.) After 30 minutes of U-turns I gleefully ignored the vocal GPS instructions and headed down Picture Rocks Road, following the signs to our destination.

We watched the 15-minute slideshow featuring different species of wildlife before heading out and taking a few strolls down some Nature Trails. I was kinda hoping to see something besides flora, but in late afternoon with 95 weather, all the animals were probably not on the prowl yet. We made up for it with some decent pics of oddly-shaped Saguaro cacti.

All we have to worry about for the next day is heading through downtown Tucson (not using I-10) and visiting the east district of Saguaro NP. I have this feeling we'll be seeing more of the same, but hey at least I can say I set foot in both.

We didn't make too much haste booking it from our hotel this morning. At 9:00am MST we headed down Silverbell Road, which parallels I-10, thus avoiding massive construction that closed all the I-10 ramps through the city limits. We used Congress/Broadway to fly straight through the heart of downtown Tucson.

Like most metro areas, there are always interesting murals on the side of buildings that are worth taking pictures, along with passing by the Unisource Energy Tower, the (current) tallest building of the city. We then used the Old Spanish Trail which leads to the eastern district of Saguaro National Park.

We hit up the Visitor Center, and another 15-minute slideshow, before heading out into the park. The 8 loop was at least paved so we wouldn't have the bumpedy-bumps suffered on the loop from the west district. It was basically more of the same, but found some photo-worthy areas. The Nature Trail offered views of Tuscon backdropped with the Santa Catalina Mountains, and even found a place to briefly climb on the Javelino Rocks on the south end of the loop. Again, this was in the middle of the day so no species to gaze upon. Good stuff, regardless.

Not much more to do here. We left at 1:15pm and headed due south on Houghton Road until reaching I-10, then continued our trek eastward. I haven't been on this stretch of Interstate 10 before, and it's probably safe to say that I wouldn't be again. There really isn't much to see out here at all, save for a brief rocky mountain display near the state line rest stop.

We entered New Mexico and paid for the privilege by setting our clocks back one hour. We arrived in Las Cruces, NM just after 6:00pm MDT, with dinner at Chilito's a block down the street. Once again we're not too far from the main freight line that runs through town. But the train horn didn't bug us last night and I'm pretty sure with the help of the usual earplugs, it'll be a decent night's sleep once again.

We left Las Cruces, NM shortly after 9:00am MDT, rounding the jagged Organ Mountains and cruised up US 70 to the much-anticipated White Sands National Monument. I myself have been wanting to visit this area for over a decade.

Once again we started off this visit with the usual visitor center/17-minute video/gift shop tourist trap business. It was then time to head north on the 8 road that leads into the heart of the Sands.

Our first stop was the 1 Dune Life Nature Trail. I didn't think my folks would have the energy for hiking this, but as the white sands reflected most of the heat, it was cool enough for the entire run and they proved me otherwise. We found ourselves overwhelmed by the plethora of white sand that surrounded us as we traversed our way onto the dunes. BTW I highly recommend sunglasses to avoid sand blindness (not that many of you would go without such things in a place like this).

Next was the 1950 Interdune Boardwalk, which shows you the hard life of all the plants/animals that live their life in between the dunes. We only managed to spot one blue-tailed lizard, otherwise the only other interesting thing was trying not to get shocked as the recycled material on the boardwalk generated static electricity much too easily.

The last thing was going to the end of the loop, glancing in the Nature Center and watching people try to sled down the sandy slopes, mostly without success. By about 2:00pm or so, it was decided we'd seen enough sand for one day and booked it out of there. We finished off US 70 north to Alamogordo, NM, and then chose US 54 for our southern passage to El Paso, TX, arriving at almost 3:00pm MDT.

After settling in, we headed out for a few quick places to visit before sunset. Our hotel is less than 1 from the New Mexico/Texas border, so we drove down into Sunland Park, NM for a glance of the racetrack/casino. Next was re-entering Texas and going up to Scenic Drive, with a 240° viewpoint overlooking the entire city of El Paso, as well as the Rio Grande and neighboring international city of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. We topped the evening off with an excellent meal at the State Line BBQ, which is literally on the New Mexico/Texas state line on Sunland Park Drive, less than a mile from our hotel.

Before our trek out of El Paso, TX, we decided to visit one of the landmarks we passed on the way in. A little stroll on I-10 east led to Concordia cemetery, which has some antiquated markers dating back to the late 1800s. After a little sleuthing, we were able to find the grave of famous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin. (I didn't know who that was, but I'm sure you western history buffs do.)

The US 62/180 corridor was used to sneak out of the El Paso area and make way for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The view of El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak (the highest point in Texas) came into view as we rounded the many curves leading into the park.

I knew ahead of time there was not really much to do here by vehicle, as this park caters mostly to hikers and other recreational activities. We did have a chance to visit a few landmarks, such as the Pinery stagecoach station ruins and Frijole Ranch museum.

We then continued our northeast pace on US 62/180. The next National Park on the list is a place we've heard quite enough about. We arrived at Carlsbad Caverns National Park just 20 minutes before their 2:00pm guided tour. I never made reservations, and going to their website the night before didn't show any availability, so I was hoping for last-minute cancellations or something of equivalence. We went up to the counter... lo and behold, there were tickets available. Woo hoo!

We paid up for the guided tour (with free self-guided passes thanks to dad's Golden Age card) and headed down the elevator 750 to the beginning of the walk to King's Palace. The restrooms and snack bar in the main cavern were a nice touch. We spent over 2 hours going through King's Palace and Big Room caves. I'm surprised my camera battery didn't run out, although flash was off and I was trying to shape the pics with dim artificial light. It probably goes without saying, but yeah this is one of the best cave formations I've seen, hands down.

We didn't want to wait another 2 hours for the Bat Flight so we decided to finish our route off, continuing up the highway, stopping for a Sonic dinner in Carlsbad, and then using US 285 to finally arrive in good 'ol Roswell after sundown. On deck will be the UFO museum, with a head start to arrive in Albuquerque as quickly as possible, since I'm pretty sure there'll be loads of people settling in early as well. There's also forecast reports of possible rain in the area late Saturday and all day Sunday. Ruh roh...

We woke up to the shadows of alien figures hovering over us... Hahaha ok not really, but seriously.

Out the door we went at 9:00am MDT and down a block to the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Although the exhibits and timeline were interesting, it wasn't as exciting as anticipated. Maybe I'm just not good enough of a conspiracy theorist! We didn't spend more than 30 minutes in the museum but did purchase enough merchandise where you'd think we stuck around all day. We hit a few other stores and then left Roswell about 10:45am MDT.

We decided on a last minute change to the route on this leg (thanks to a roadtrip advisor) and took US 380 due west, to the historic town of Lincoln, NM. Here we viewed Lincoln State Monument, with landmarks that revealed stories of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln War back in the 1800s. We spent a few hours here touring the different structures, some original, and some renovated. But there was plenty of history here to be learned.

So much for trying to be early! I thought if there was enough time we could take more scenic routes, but this spontaneous stop kept that out of the cards. We continued westward on US 380, dumping onto I-25 north, with another hour or so spent shooting up to Albuquerque.

We're stationed about 4 from the balloon park, and personal call time is set at 4:00am MDT. Ho boy... I hope the weather stays favorable long enough for a successful opening day.

Sleep and I were not best friends during the night. I kept waking up several times, probably due to consistent paranoia about oversleeping. It appears there really wasn't much to worry about, since both my folks had the same problem. At 3:50am MDT we realized we probably weren't going to get any more shut-eye, and ended up just getting our stuff ready and leaving close to 4:30am.

Getting to the Balloon Fiesta park wasn't so bad, as the local traffic enforcement did an outstanding job of directing everyone to available lots, right down to your own parking spot. Most residential and business streets were closed off, probably from years of too many people trying to buck the system. We were able to park right in front of the main Gate 14 (easy as pie!) and entered the park shortly before 5:00am.

There were already thousands of people here sitting around waiting, eating, shopping, or walking on the field. Man, this should be good if all these folks are dedicated to sacrificing half a night of sleep. The 11-man Dawn Patrol began around 6:00am, with their own "mini-glow" show and then the ascension to test wind speed and direction for the balloons to follow. The opening ceremony then commenced with the National Anthem and ascending lead balloon with the American flag, signaling for the mass ascension.

Over the next 90 minutes we literally stood in awe watching hundreds of unique balloons take formation and float away in the dawn sky. We assumed the "special shapes" would be absent during this ascension, but luckily about 50 balloons provided a variety of shapes, which of course received the most hoots and hollers, and about half of the balloons were branded with sponsors. It was non-stop excitement. I especially loved feeling the rumbling "bass" in your gut as the burners from nearby balloons fired off. Pretty sure I took more pictures here than at Carlsbad Caverns.

After the last of the balloons floated away, we bought the usual souvenirs and then rushed out, as the crowds were now in the tens of thousands and none of us are used to things like that. We rejuvenated at the hotel and then headed for Old Town Albuquerque, a 300 year-old area of the city along Route 66 which had quaint little shops and of course carried on with festivities for us "Balloonists" from around the world.

Next came the Aerial Tram to Sandia Peak. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea and the line to get tickets was 2 hours long. Ummm, no. We decided to eat at the Mexican restaurant near the base of the mountain for lunch, and then book it. Dang it all...

While my folks spent the afternoon getting their second wind at the hotel, I was off to meet a long-time (huge train nerd) friend at the Amtrak station downtown. He was doing his own cross country vacation and happened to be heading home via Amtrak's Southwest Chief from New York to Fullerton, CA. And what do you know, he also just happened to have a 45-minute layover in ABQ the same day I was there. Nice. His train pulled in at 4:00pm, so we met for a few minutes and got to see his quarters in the Sleeping Car aboard the train. Hmm, maybe I'll do that some day.

No time to doddle. I raced back to the hotel, picked up the parents, and bulldozed my way back to the park for evening festivities. Unfortunately our luck turned sour. I completely ignored the oncoming rain clouds and ferocious winds, and after we got there (paying another US$6 fee again) we got the announcement that due to high winds and occasional rain, the Glow event was cancelled. The entertainment and fireworks were still scheduled, but not until 8:00pm.

We tried to fill in some time, but we already walked up and down the row of vendors, and the Balloon Museum was just closing so couldn't make that. We really didn't want to wait over 2 more hours, so the hard decision was made to forfeit the evening. Of course as we exit the park, they're no longer selling tickets and letting everyone walk in. Blast it all. On the bright side, our tickets are now rain checks but who knows if there's another chance to use them before leaving ABQ early Monday morning.

Ugh. Such a long day. I had to jump in the hotel spa for 20 minutes to relax, and it was much needed. More rain forecast during the weekend make Sunday balloon events very "iffy" but we'll be in Santa Fe most of that day so it may not matter. If we get back early enough and the weather is kind, we may witness the Glow show after all.

OK wow, I foamed at the mouth today. I'll try and go easy on everyone in the future. I mean, how much can I possibly talk about for Santa Fe? (Don't answer that...)

Not that it mattered much, but the Sunday morning events of the Balloon Fiesta were cancelled due to pouring rain. Fine with us, as we weren't planning on going anyway. Our focus for the day was 50 north. At 9:00am MDT we headed up I-25 to meet one of mom's friends she's known since grammar school. She and her husband were on their own roadtrip and we timed it right to meet them for the day in the capital of New Mexico: Santa Fe. We rendezvoused on Canyon Road and cruised up and down the street looking at the various art galleries, finding some tall wind sculptures I wished I could afford.

From there we dropped by the capitol building to get my picture in front of it and knock off another one of the 50 capitols to see. Immediately after, we all headed to the central Santa Fe Plaza with more shopping to be found. Finally we all ate a late lunch at Tortilla Flats before saying goodbye to mom's friends and departing back south on I-25.

I had been keeping tabs on the status of the Balloon evening events during the day via the toll-free number. At 4:00pm the message finally changed to say the Balloon Glow and fireworks show were scheduled to go on. With that, we shot straight to the park from Santa Fe, arriving at 5:15pm and once again found a place in the center of the park to sit. Shortly after sundown, 10 rows of anchored balloons started lighting up the park grounds. It was largely random burns and flickers, but every once in a while you'd hear a countdown and most balloon teams made an "all burn" or an "all flicker" which was great for taking pictures. This only lasted an hour and all the teams moved out from the field before our final event of the fireworks. They were, as expected, spectacular, and topped off a great day.

We prepped for the day a little earlier than usual since it was going to be jam-packed. We left the hotel at 8:15am MDT and stocked up on food at the local Wal-mart in ABQ before heading west on I-40. Our first stop for the day was 60 beyond the New Mexico/Arizona state line and a gain of one hour, at the Petrified Forest National Park, where we arrived at 10:55am MST. After the Visitor Center, we took the entire 28 road from north to south and observed many of the scenic points, the minor highlights, and the Great Tree forest near the end. I expected a "forest" of sorts, not knowing it was just located in the Painted Desert and filled with what remains of petrified trees, but geologically interesting nonetheless.

We used Hwy 180 to get back to I-40 west. The next stop was another 45 west, at the Arizona Meteor Crater landmark. We arrived in the late afternoon so there wasn't much time left. The first thing we did was head out toward the crater. Yikes, that thing is huge. The fixed telescope points were a nice touch. After the quick view, we watched the 10-minute movie, viewed the museum exhibits, and did our usual tourist-buying rigamarole. We left as they were shutting down the landmark.

Despite the one hour gain, we still didn't arrive in Sedona until after sundown, using I-17 south to Hwy 89A. I could see the shadows of the sky-scraper rock formations as we descended into the narrow valley. As we passed downtown Sedona, the multitude of shops was eye-popping, to say the least. The folks, who were here 35 years prior, were blown away as well. We may go back up to Flagstaff and check out a few things, then come back to Sedona for some afternoon gazing. Sounds like fun...

The timeshare rental in Sedona was pretty nice, but not quite roomy enough for 3 people. We headed out around 9:00am MST to go back north on Hwy 89A/I-17, through Flagstaff, and toward the Snowbowl. There was a 1.5 trail we read about in a travel magazine, using Hwy 180 to Snowbowl Road, called the Lamar Haines Memorial. This trail contained loads of aspen trees, some of which were starting to take on their fall colors. Also on watch were old structures dating back to the late 1800s built by Ludwig Veit, which are still standing. This was a 2-hour leisurely hike, and would have been a nice quiet stroll were it not for the noisy kids on a school field trip. Nice.

Back down through Flagstaff we drove, headed again for Sedona. On the way we stopped several times to snap pics of the awesome rock formations seen in shadow the night before. We found a remote Dairy Queen with Indian Wares and a Visitor Information booth. At the booth, upon getting some Sedona fun facts, I was offered a 7-day condo vacation in exchange for viewing timeshare options. I figured it was one of their ploys to get me to buy something, but I was genuinely curious about how this whole timeshare process worked, since I've only heard the usual anecdotal experiences. I could always say no and still get the free vacation. I dropped off my folks at the rental and decided to take a look.

Yeah yeah, they strong-armed me for about 3 hours, tempted with all the free bones they were throwing, but with current circumstances I couldn't justify any kind of big purchase like that. I felt bad keeping them way past their closing time, but yeah that's the way it goes. I never ever make those kind of spontaneous decisions. But knowing what I know now, a timeshare in the future may work when I'm in a better position to do so. Yeah this doesn't really have anything to do with roadtrips, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. Our westward route comes to a finish soon.

Dad had better intuition than I this morning, figuring it was better to leave at 8:00am MST rather than the hour later I was proposing. Since we were all up and ready to go way earlier than usual, I conceded that the extra time may be needed (and it was).

We headed out of Sedona, which in our opinion is nice but there's way too many people, even for an off-peak-during-the-week session out there. Overall, the parents were kinda disappointed, but they're trying to compare to when they were there 35 years ago. I think there'll be a difference, hehe.

We kept our southward direction on Hwy 89A towards Prescott, AZ. Even though it's in the general direction of our destination, the overly winding curves kept speeds no faster than 25. Nice views for sure, but it took 3 hours to get over the 2 passes carrying us through the mountain ranges. We used Hwy 71 to cut over to Hwy 60 west, which finally dumped us out on I-10 headed back into California.

After another hour, we reached the exit introducing us to the southern entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. The Cottonwood Visitor Center was our arrival point, just before 2:00pm PDT. I had been to this park earlier in the year, rock-climbing with some friends, but that was only in the northern Mojave Desert section of the park. I had never seen the southern Colorado Desert portion, and this was my chance to complete everything. I had assumed the entire park looked all alike.

Whoops, yeah. The south side of Joshua Tree NP is pretty much just like what we've been seeing throughout the entire southwest. I didn't realize that the general Colorado Desert extended into this section of the park. Driving through the barren basin, I kept promising my folks, don't worry, it gets better than this. So yep, I've seen the southern part, and probably don't need to see it again.

As we ascended north across the ecological border into the Mojave, it quickly turned into a completely different park. Massive piles of boulders dozens of feet high seemed to spring out of the ground, accompanied with thousands of those trademark Joshua Tree yuccas. We stopped at a few of the rock formations (with a little basic climbing) and some of the bigger yuccas. It was a little too hot for hiking so we kept most of our sight-seeing in the car. After exiting the north end of the park, we stopped at the main visitor center and a general store around 4:30pm. From there Hwy 62 west eventually led us back to I-10, overlooked by the plethora of wind turbines dominating the valley. We hit up Guy's Italian Restaurant in Banning, CA before making the usual familiar highway pattern to our residence in San Juan Capistrano, arriving at 8:25pm PDT.

This has been my 4th road trip in as many years, and I'm glad to say there hasn't been any major catastrophe on the road as of yet. I believe this comes with advance planning, preparation, and cautious optimism. The end result can be very rewarding.

Favorite Places: Where else? The Balloon Fiesta! There may have been a lot of people, maybe too many, but it's what helps events flourish. To actually be a part of the action on the field instead of spectating from a distance really makes a ginormous difference. I'm glad the weather didn't completely ruin our chances, as we got to see at least one morning and one evening show. Other honorable mentions during the trip would be Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands.

Least Desirables: I wouldn't say that any of the places were undesirable. If I had to complain about something, I guess it'd be the long uneventful stretch of I-10 from Tucson, AZ to Las Cruces, NM. Also, the southern Colorado Desert portion of Joshua Tree National Park was uninteresting to me. I'm not even sure why they chose to preserve that area when there's so much more of it out there. But hey, I don't run the Department of the Interior.

Statistics

Total stops: 20
States Visited: California, Arizona (briefly), New Mexico, Texas
National Parks Visited: Saguaro, Guadalupe Mts, Carlsbad Caverns, Petrified Forest, Joshua Tree
National Monuments Visited: White Sands
State Monuments: Lincoln)

Type of rental vehicle: 2008 Chevrolet Uplander
Average efficiency: 22.85

Total cost of trip: $1,014.58 (includes my share of hotels, rental, gas, food, entry fees, and merchandise)