Marc's Public Blog - Trips

2020/10/30 Road trip to Dallas via Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas National Parks plus Oklahoma City

π 2020-10-30 01:01 in Ntrips, Trips

Arturo had planned a south trip to escape boredom at home, and nicely invited us to join him. We ended up settling on going to Oklahoma before turning around, and Jennifer and I would go to Dallas to see her parents, while Arturo would return via the south route and we'd use a similar route 5-6 days later after our Dallas visit.

Jennifer thought about using a campervan, which technically seat and sleeps 3, but realistically it's not super comfortable with 3 people in the front, and the 3rd person supposed to sleep on the top would have been a tight fit with the luggage we put there. Luckily Arturo was happy to sleep in his tent, so we used the top for storage (which we ended up needing):

color and decals are not pretty, but oh well

plus side was a fridge, microwave and reasonable kitchen storage (the expresso machine was ours :) )

The electrical system was interesting, it had a big solar panel that would sustain the fridge forever, but the 120V system only worked if you were plugged in 120V power. As a result, no microwave or expresso unless you were at an RV camp site. I however fixed that with some hacking, you can read more about our Kuga Campervan, here

and we were ready for the trip...

Day 00: 8H drive to Kelso Dunes

The trip started with a long drive to Kelso Dunes. We left around 09:00 and stopped at Harris Ranch for some reasonable beef (fine to stop, but not special enough to go there just for that). We ordered takeout and found outside tables:

During the drive, we noticed that Mohave spaceport had lots of planes parked, probably a good amount of 737 Max that have been grounded:

lots of trains on the way

And finally we made it to Kelso Dunes just around sunset:

Interestingly, there was a small burning man gathering there:

Day 01: Kelso Dunes to Sedona

We got up with sunrise, and went to climb the dunes:

we wondered what would fit in there

We then drove towards Sedona. We did the Thumb Butte Trail in Prescott. Nothing to write home about, but a nice stop. We did a sunset hike:

Day 02: Sedona: Montezuma Castle, Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park, Red Rocks, Sedona Airport Viewpoints, Secret Mountain Brins Mesa Hike, Upper Downtown Sedona

Sedona had lots to do and see, but outside of what was closed due to covid, we got to see the highlights. We started with Montezuma Castle which opened at 08:00. Natives (before the American Indians) lived there with ladders between the levels, and the current thinking is that they were wiped out by the apache american indians (although it could also have been the spanish):

lovely woodpecker

multiple birds enjoying the berries in the trees

Then, we went to the Red Rocks visitor center:

Nearby, the chapel of the holy cross in the rocks, is definitely unique:

Great views from there:

After that, we went to the Buddhist Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park:

The Airport Lookout had great views:

Arturo then found a hike at Secret mountain Brins Mesa:

lovely colored clouds

We then had a bit of time in Upper Downtown Sedona and went back to the airport viewpoint for sunset:

And that was it for our day in Sedona.

Day 03: Arizona Meteor Crater Natural Landmark & Petrified Forest NP

Day #3 was a long drive to Albuquerque, so we broke it down by stopping by Meteor Crater Natural Landmark which is the best preserved crater in the US.

early scientists dug tunnels to try and find the burried meteorite, but in fact it was pulverized by the impact

Next was Petrified Forest NP which was quite impressive:

lovely colorful lizard

The area also had beautiful hills and colors:

Soo nice...

They even had petroglyphs:

After a few more viewpoints, we left the park a bit early to get to ABQ. Great park, we could have spent more time there:

Day 04-05: Texas Palo Duro Canyon State Park

After AZ, we drove through New Mexico quickly (which didn't want tourists because of covid), we reached Texas where we spent 2 half days in Texas Palo Duro Canyon State Park:

Cadillac Ranch on the side of route 66 was a fun stop:

Welcome to texas:

Then we finally arrived at Texas Palo Duro Canyon State Park, the local little grand canyon:

We had a bit less than 2H for a hike on lighthouse trail, so we went for it:

we then free climbed the adjacent peak:

it was not a tall climb, but it was technical

we then raced daylight back to the car

We then slept in our campervan and went for another hike the next morning (which in hindsight, was redundant with the one from the previous day):

the rocks had salt in them

With the sun coming out, snakes started getting out. First a small one that went away and let us pass. Later a rattlesnake that got pissed off and didn't leave the trail. We had to find a complicated path around it as it was guarding a bridge that crossed a small ravine:

After getting back to the parking lot, it was time to drive to Oklahoma City with a few stops along route 66:

my cross is bigger than yours!

another route 66 stop:

Day 06-07: Oklahoma City

The last stop of trip was Oklahoma City, which had some nice museums, including the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum to recount the federal building bombing that happened in 1995 and honor the dead. This is what we did on the first day:

We then had a quick drive through town to the National Cowboy Western Museum:

The National Cowboy Western Museum was quite good (see page):

Next was the OKC science museum which was better than expected (see page):

By 17:00, the day was over (all museums closed), so we drove by the infantry museum just next door and saw a few things through the fence:

And we arrived just in time at the Centennial Land Run Monument at sunset. Awesome!

The next morning we went to the Museum of Osteology (see post):

After that, it was time to drive to Texas and end our trip in Dallas. We then parted ways with Arturo who continued the trip back home, while we went to see Jennifer's parents:

The trip continued 6 days later, back to california through southern states, read up here

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