Res Ipsa Loquitur

This being January, remember that northern Arizona is a wholly different climate from Phoenix: you might well run into some serious snow along the way before turning southward.

Try not to eat anywhere in Flag. It's all fast food and bad. Miss Sedona. In winter it closes down and gets some snow as does Flag. Avoid all malls in Phoenix. They are gathering places for Gangland Inc. Try to travel when traffic rushes are over. Have fun!

Thanks, Chaz. Yeah, I've checked the extended forecast for towns along the way, and looks like it'll be pretty clear. We're planning to take heavy coats & such just in case though.

Thanks, Paulus, sounds like you know the area well. I'll be sure to tell my daughter to stay out of the malls. We're starting to have the same problem here.

The view of New Mexico from I-40 is mainly incredible, and except for Albuquerque, sparsely populated. Tucumcari is a neat little town, generally a safe place to stay, and a great view of the mesa-lands. Santa Rosa is also nice, and very interesting. It is surrounded by lakes, has the famous Blue Hole diving site, and one of the strangest old villages ever, Puerto de Luna, is about 10 miles South (it is also dangerous). There isn't much from there to Albuquerque, and while I love that city, it is indiscriminately deadly. Try to avoid staying at places near the interstate, and especially avoid places with external doorways near the interstate. The junkies tend to view those as personal banks. From Albuquerque West is okay at first, then kind of dismal. It's kind of sad to see drunk people stumbling along the interstate, but not as sad as stopping for anyone could turn out to be. Grants is interesting but I've only stayed there with friends. Gallup is a very odd town. The El Rancho Hotel is a neat place to stay, and the number of pawn shops is interesting to comtemplate, but on the whole there doesn't seem to be a lot of positive attitude. I've been there many times and don't remember ever finding a good place to eat, and friendly service is out of the question.

Thanks Kenneth, I was hoping you could help me out. I'd heard Tucumcari was a good place to stop overnight. Apparently most of the guys from down home stop there on their way to southern Colorado to elk hunt. Sounds like we should avoid Albuquerque though. I figure we'll probably stop in either Amarillo or Tucumcari the first night, and Flagstaff the second. I doubt I'll be moving too fast the second morning. lol

Glad to hear the view will be great. I plan on making my daughter do most of the driving so I can use my camera. I've never been to New Mexico, and can't wait to see it. I did a flyover of our route on Google Earth, and it looked like a lot of it was uninhabited. My daughter will freak. The only place she's been out West is San Diego, and she flew there. And the only desert driving I've done was when Mike & I drove from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. So it'll be a new experience for us both.

Almost forgot to ask you Kenneth, how's the fire danger out your way?