Mon 4 Feb - Santa Fe, NM

Hampton Inn in Kayenta has a tiny gym, 2 machines and a floor mat, but Hans felt motivated enough to give it a go just after 6am. And, for the first time on the trip, we have a buffet breakfast included in the overall price of the room, so... We took full advantage of that, including bananas and muffins to go for morning tea later.

Mind you, the Hampton Inn here is not cheap. They have no real competition for about 100 miles in any direction. Total cost a whopping $132 including a city tax (hmm, middle of nowhere along a highway..) and Najavo tax, which was close to $10. Oh well, maybe the casinos don't provide enough revenue...

It was a cold night with subzero degrees and the car was solidly frozen when we were ready to leave. Scraping windows with a credit card brings back unpleasant memories for Hans. We also found the aircon system did not appreciate sub zero degrees and flashed its light at us and then went off until the temperature outside rose to 32F (0 degrees). Then it spurred into action.

When we headed north we came into low cloud as we climbed higher towards the Four Corners. Fun for Di driving through this... Not.

 

To reach the Four Corners we drove through Arizona, New Mexico for a few miles and (accidentally into Colorado as we missed the turn off!). The sign is somewhat out of place as there is one dominant colour out here and that is earthy brown.

Again the middle of nowhere, but the only place in USA where 4 state borders meet - Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Inside Najavo territory and yours to visit for $3 per person. Well worth it.

The "Visitors Centre"... The building are all housing stalls where the native Americans can sell stuff to the tourists.

We loved walking over 4 states and of course having a limb in each state was a must do daggy photo opportunity.

 

 

And not just us. A 19 year old German guy who is cycling from Canada across the USA got into the spirit too and when Di offered to take his photo he asked for at least 10 variations where she had to walk around each state with him taking more photos - she's too nice.

The German guy clearly wanted to chat and he told tales from his travels over the next 15 minutes or so. We saw him a bit earlier, as he packed up his things after camping out, in subzero degrees. Only a German...

The exact point where the 4 state lines meet is below...

And Hans' big foot stomping in 4 states at once!

 

After Four Corners, we are well and truly into New Mexico and the eastwards drive on Route 64 is stunning. Some sample pictures below.

For lunch today we wanted to try a country town roadside diner lunch. We did at Bloomfield and stopped at a roadside restaurant called... Roadside Restaurant (no joke, it really was the name of the place). Today's special was Hamburger Steak with mash and corn and salad. Good food and service and more than we could finish for $15 total.

For the last day an engine warning light had been causing us some mild concern. We needed more gas for the car and tried a potential solution of buying better quality higher octane petrol to try and fix what we thought had been a bad batch of fuel at Winslow. It worked - yippee! A small side note of thanks to Di's brother Bill for years ago patiently explaining to Di what a bad batch of fuel can do to a car's fuel injectors.

A driver change (no, the engine light did not go off just because Hans was driving!) and we set off again and continue east through Apache territory.

We now understand why all the old cowboy and Indian movies had the Apaches fighting the white settlers. This land was worth fighting for. It's fertile and lovely. In contrast, yesterday we drove through miles of nothingness and desert in Hopi tribal reservation and we understand why no one bothered to try and take their land!

This is looking down on the community of Dulce.

Apaches here raise horses, cows and...

...Bison!

 

We were highly amused by this combination of signs.

 

And whilst we looked everywhere for Rudolph, no sighting.

 

A few hours later we stopped at a little town called Chama for a coffee break and chatted to the guy that owned and ran the local ice cream/burger joint for the last 27 years. He seemed to enjoy his life and it appeared to be a one man effort. The joint used to be a Dairy Queen franchise, but DQ left town and he took over. All good with coffee and some yummy cookies.

The road continues as Route 84 and is still very beautiful.

 

This self portrait came at some personal effort to Hans.

Whilst trying to get the best shot he stepped over the barrier into sticky brown mud. Yep, that's him spending the next 5 minutes trying to clean his shoes.

The final 30 miles or so from Espanola to our hotel in Santa Fe was busy with traffic and not scenic, so no photos.

The Lamplighter Inn hotel (aka Americas Best Value Hotel, no kidding, they use that name) was easy to find and is a bargain at $39.95 per night plus tax, including breakfast! The room is smallish but well laid out and we are very comfortable. Having read through the local visitors guide we realise we need 2 more days here at least so at these rates we are happy to stay on here.

After 9 hours on the road today we are tired. A quick "to go" dinner from Souper Salad across the road and an early night with planning for a full day of downtown exploration tomorrow. Good night.

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