We stayed in Amarillo, TX, and then continued down Route 66 until branching off towards Taos, NM. We first saw Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo, and then came across a ghost town called Glenrio, right on the Texas/New Mexico border...
The rest of Route 66 was a bunch of old buildings and souvenir stores, old motels and rundown shacks. It was cool to think what it may have been like back in the 1930s-1950s, but now it's not much more than old roads next to newly built highways.
We stopped at the Hotel La Fonda de Taos for the night, in Taos, NM.
Eclectic lobby of the Hotel La Fonda de Taos, in Taos, NM.
Me fake reading in front of this elaborate fireplace...
Sunset light coming through the window and curtains...
The next day we had a few things we wanted to see around Taos. First, a couple gravesites...
Actor Dennis Hopper's grave. (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010)
Frontier legend Kit Carson's grave. (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868)
Then we went north to Taos Pueblo, a Native American reservation that's kept in similar condition to how it originally was hundreds of years ago. There were a lot of cute dogs running around, friendly people, and very interesting mud structures.
We left Taos and headed towards Moab, UT. We saw the Rio Grande Gorge on our way out, and a pack of Bighorn Sheep crossing the viewpoint parking lot. I was able to snap a photo or two and then capture them grazing in the distance...
Rio Grande Gorge, NM.
A pack of Bighorn Sheep crossing across the parking lot.
We stopped on the way through Colorado at Mesa Verde National Park, and saw the old Anasazi structures built into the canyon walls. A beautiful tour, I did it when I was 9 years old and still remember it to this day. This time we just took some pictures and continued on.
We ended our night in Moab, UT, ready to take on Arches National Park the next day.
Inside my tent at the campsite in Moab, UT.
We hit Arches National Park for the whole day, hiking a few smaller trails and taking in what we could. The park is massive, I would need a week there at least to fully take it all in...
After Arches we headed towards my favorite place on the entire road trip, Bryce Canyon National Park...I hiked into one of the canyons many trails and took some pictures. It was wild...
After Bryce we drove through Zion National Park...which is one of the most beautiful places in the country in my opinion...the smooth carved rock, the trees growing out of stone, it's really unlike any other place I've ever seen.
We spent the night in St. George, and then headed west across Nevada. It was basically barren desert between Vegas and the eastern side of Yosemite National Park.
A burnt out van on the highway in Nevada.
Highway US-6 in Nevada.
Desert landscapes with Sugarloaf mountain in the distance.
The direction we drove in passed Mono Basin National Scenic Area, which basically was like an oasis after driving through Nevada. We found a neat place called the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, which was a bunch of strange limestone precipices bordering the edge of the lake...
We spent the night camping in June Lake, CA. It was my first time in June Lake, but it reminded me of the quaint little lake town that you always see in 1980s movies. A bunch of campers, cabins, boats and swimmers in a nice lake beside the mountains. Really cool place, I'd love to go back and spend more time there...
