US Southwest road trip: numbers & memories (2018)
Above/featured: NM I-25 southbound, between Rosario and Budaghers – 5 Oct 2018.
In October 2018, we embarked on a visit and modest driving trip through parts of New Mexico and Arizona. We began in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, drove west towards Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, south to Tucson, and finally, northeast on the return to Santa Fe. With our first-time attendance at the Balloon Fiesta and first-time visit to the Grand Canyon accomplished, we’d like to examine further the Grand Staircase geographical formation beyond the Utah-Arizona border region and the historical remnants from old highway US route 66.
Numbers:
- 15 driving days, 5th to 19th October inclusive (arrival 4th, departure 20th).
- 3138 miles (5049 kilometres) driving distance recorded by odometer.
- 3 sights of Little Colorado River1 in Arizona: Cameron, Point Imperial, Springerville.
- 211 miles (340 kilometres) straight-line distance separate Pt. Imperial & Springerville.
- 5202 total images: 3019 (58%) with a Canon 6D, and 2183 (42%) with a Fujifilm X70.
- 10-k image counter reset (“flip”) on the X70: at the junction of US routes 89 and 89A.
22 places:
- Santa Fe, NM
- Albuquerque
- Tucumcari
- Abiquiú
- Taos & Taos Pueblo
- Embudo
- Continental Divide
- Gallup, NM
- Petrified Forest, AZ
- Holbrook
- Winslow
- Flagstaff
- Cameron
- Marble Canyon
- North Rim (Grand Canyon)
- Little Colorado River Navajo Tribal Park
- Grand Canyon Village (South Rim)
- Phoenix
- Tucson
- Salt River Canyon
- Springerville, AZ
- Pie Town, NM
5 memorable experiences:
- 100s of hot air balloons launching in morning light in Albuquerque, NM.
- Georgia O’Keeffe Home-Studio in Abiquiú, NM.
- Echo- and Vermilion-Cliffs, along US-89/89A between Cameron & Marble Canyon, AZ.
- First-time at and -view of the Grand Canyon, from North Rim, AZ.
- Chat with Kathy Knapp in her pie kitchen at Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town, NM.
5 memorable places to eat:
- Mary & Tito’s Café in Albuquerque, NM: carne adovada sopapilla draped with green chili.
- Taco Fundación in Santa Fe, NM: lengua taco, beef cheek taco, deep fried avocado taco.
- Santa Fe Bite in Santa Fe, NM: home of the “green chile cheeseburger”.
- Satchmo’s in Flagstaff, AZ: shrimp po’boy sandwich, spicy tots, red beans and rice.
- Pie-O-Neer Café in Pie Town, NM: delicious pie, made with a lot of love.

Mapped distance 2821 mi (4539 km), recorded odometer distance 3138 mi (5049 km). Difference of 317 mi (510 km) from intracity drives and stops in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, and Tucson.

Red Entrada sandstone cliffs northwest of Continental Divide, NM – 12 Oct 2018
1 “Paayu” in Hopi, “Tółchíʼíkooh” in Navajo, “Colorado Chiquito” in Spanish.
I made both images with a Fujifilm X70 fixed-lens prime; alle Fotoaufnahmen sind mit Wasserzeichen versehen worden. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-czc.
19 Responses to “US Southwest road trip: numbers & memories (2018)”
Nice introduction about this recent road trip. I am currently making similar plans, but slightly different. We’ve done Grand Canyon and other Utah national parks, but we want to see the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, and then north to Colorado (they have 3 national parks and numerous National Monuments) and finish in Denver.
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Hi and thanks, Tom. I like your plans because they’re ambitious. I’m sure you’re already aware, but I’m still gonna say it: give yourself and your family plenty of time. You’re spending a lot of time driving between destinations, and you should allow yourself more time in a given location in case you really enjoy the visit. I thought we might do a quick dash in the Petrified Forest, but our fantastic visit lasted hours. Thanks for your comment and for stopping by!
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