our grandest canyon...

Oh my, oh my, I am not sure if there are words for the beauty we saw in Arizona!

After waiting out a snow storm and dealing with car troubles we made our way to AZ on I-40.  We didn't think it was possible but Arizona was even more beautiful than New Mexico.

Our first stop was the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest National Park.

UNREAL! it was so incredible.

We spent two nights in Flagstaff - a really great city.  (We didn't camp since the overnight lows were projected at 20º)

The next morning we went to the Grand Canyon!  it was awesome.  We hiked along the South Rim with Nashy and then drove east along Desert Drive.

check out more pictures here and here!

 Once we had had our fill we made out way back to Flagstaff and then it was off to CALIFORNIA!!!

a few more santa fe pics

We realized we left out some pictures from Santa Fe  -- the snow, where we stayed, etc. - when we posted, we also know that everyone has been desperate to see more of our road trip photos -- so here you go:

SNOW!!!

This is the house we stayed at the night of the snowstorm.

drinking one of the superb cocktails our host's made for us...

the oldest church in america (built around 1615)

cool sculpture on Canyon Road

santa fe was great!

Red or Green, or 750 feet below, 7,000 feet above.

We'd made it through the Northeast, the Southeast,  and Texas (we could say south central but it's sort of it's own thing, isn't it?) so that could only mean one thing: it was time to hit the Southwest!!  Early one morning we packed up the car in Fort Worth and hit the road for a amazing drive through West Texas, past the wind farms and through some dramatic storms all the while watching the landscape morph into a beautiful desert.   Our destination was Carlsbad, NM - about 8 hours from Fort Worth - we wanted to make it before sunset since we were camping so we had to skip some really tempting roadside attractions (Cadillac Ranch) and towns (Marfa, TX).

A lot of our driving days have had long stretches were we felt like we were driving through the middle of nowhere - but our drive through New Mexico to Carlsbad was truly the middle of nowhere -  just long stretches through the desert.

We camped at Brantley Lake State Park a little north of Carlsbad - a really beautiful desert park, it offered campsites with amenities and primitive sites.  The sites with amenities were packed with RVs right on top of one another so we opted for the primitive campsite so we could have some privacy and be alone on the lake.    Sacrificing a picnic table and proximity to the bathrooms was worth it - and not only because it was cheaper -  it was so peaceful and once the sun set the stars we spectacular! We even saw Venus as she made her was across the sky during sunset.    We heard coyotes howling during the night - that was fun (at times they sounded very close, though I doubt they were).  The days were very warm (60ºs) but the nights dipped down to the mid 30ºs - and we were very excited to learn that the desert warms up very quickly.

After some campsite coffee we made our way to Carlsbad Caverns.  I did a report on this park in middle school and I remember spending a month or two thinking this was the coolest, most incredible sounding place ever so I was very excited to actually go to there.   They offer many guided tours of lots of different caverns (some that require squeezing through small openings and such) all the tours take several hours so we just did the self guided main tour  (which is the cheapest at $6!) since we were only planning on spending one day there.  

We opted for the  Natural Entrance as opposed to the elevator down to the Big Room - I would seriously recommend that way of getting into the caves - it's really dramatic: the sun goes away and you just keep descending - about 750 feet!

The Big Room is the main attraction - and believe us, it is BIG, and not only big but other worldly and gorgeous.  A seriously trippy place.  They also have lit it very well which adds to the enjoyment.

there is also a very outdated looking cafeteria and gift shop right before the Big Room down in the Caverns - talk about a disorienting place.

You can see more photos here!

After the Caverns we had some Margaritas and Green Chili con Queso at Lucy's Mexicali Restaurant while we wrote post cards and enjoyed the afternoon.  We then made our way back to Brantley Lake and hiked around the park and up the the dam during the sunset.

If you have a magnifying glass you can see our tent in the little clearing on the lake!

The next morning we hit the road and headed up to Santa Fe, with a few stops: thrift stores and Roswell.  By the way, we do indeed mean UP - Santa Fe is at an altitude of about 7,000 ft!  Our good friend Jeanette convinced her Aunt and Uncle to house us (which was really wonderful when there was 7 inches on snow on our second day there).  They were very generous and welcoming (not to mention they made excellent cocktails) and there were such gorgeous views our whole trip could have been spent looking at all the mountains from their porch.

We had planned a lot of day trips around Santa Fe but we had some car troubles and then there was a big snow storms that closed some roads so we spent our time wandering the city, popping into all the amazing galleries and eating green chili stews (we actually had green or red chili for almost every meal.)  Hands down all the food in Santa Fe was incredible, one of the perks of having locals tell you were to eat!   The world of green and red chili was opened to us... and I don't know if we'll ever be the same, not to mention I have vowed to learn how to make them upon my return to Brooklyn.  (The list so far: Creole/Cajun, Southwestern)

After we had had our fill of Santa Fe we made our way to Arizona!!

Dallas/Ft Worth, yippe ki yay!

We started our Dallas visit with a trip to the 6th floor museum. Located on the floor of the warehouse where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK, this museum was a great place to learn all about JFK. We moseyed around downtown a bit more before heading to the Hopkins’ house.  (As most people know, Dallas is famous for many things and one of those things is the Hopkins Family). It was Cindy’s birthday, so we went out to celebrate with the fam.  We hadn't seen them since Matt's 29th Birthday Bash and it was so wonderful to catch up, share some laughs and drink some margaritas.  They were also kind enough to let us spend a night (and use their washer/dryer - much needed after all the camping!).

Aren’t those kids cute?

The next day we explored the Dallas Arboretum. One of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. We loved all the water features and bamboo.  It was also the Dallas Blooms Festival (Or was it Dallas in Bloom?) so most of the garden was blooming!

That afternoon we headed to Ft Worth to meet a Lewis family friend: Stephanie Anderson. We cooked a yummy meal and then headed downstairs to the bars. Dallas/Ft Worth was a bit of a whirlwind visit, but it was great seeing all these friends.

Galveston Island and Austin, TX

Our mornings started here, it was hard to leave this campsite...

To complete our tour of the gulf coast, we headed west to Galveston Island, TX. Here we camped at the Galveston Island State Park. The sites were right on the beach and had little shelters too. This was definetly the coolest campsite we’ve stayed on so far. The first day here we decided to just chill and wander the beach. In the afternoon while I had some work done on the car, Geoffrey and Nash explored the bay side of the park.

Late that evening, as we barbecued over our campfire, a large troop of cubscouts set up shop next to us. That was the beginning of the end of the beach. It had also become extremely windy so we built a little shelter with the volvo and a tarp. The next morning the cubscouts were throwing rocks at birds and being generally annoying while all the dads hung out in a shelter as far from the kids as they could get. We had hoped to stay one more night, but when we went to register, there was no more room at the inn. The campsite was booked. So, we headed up to Austin early.

First we made a brief stop in Houston at the Menil Collection. I had studied the Renzo Piano designed museum in Architecture which led to the trip, but the collection was quite grand. We particularly liked the surrealist work by Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, and Joseph Cornell.

Austin, TX was one of our favorite cities so far. Although our weather was grey and rainy, we could tell the city was very into the outdoors. It seemed that every bar and restaurant had large outdoor seating areas. Our camping situation here was not as ideal as the beach. We set up our tent next to some guys living out of their snowcone truck in a ghetto rv park. We had gotten a lot of great suggestions from Mateo and started with South Congress Street shopping. This area is super cute. We bought candy, vinyl, and coffee and explored the surrounding neighborhoods with Nashy. That evening we went to see some live music at the Mohawk bar. We saw the Crooks who were really great and two awesome opening bands. Around 1am we tried to find some gay cowboys at the Austin gay bars, but we somehow ended up in a gay latino club where there were no cowboys. 

Geo buying Sean his birthday cupcake.

On Monday (my birthday) we went salvation army shopping and then got some delicious BBQ for lunch at Ironworks BBQ. Afterwards while walking Nash in a residential neighborhood, we happened upon a park that had the most beautiful clear creek surrounded by high stone walls. We enjoyed it so much that we decided to do our Austin installation there. About 15 minutes into it, Geoffrey cut himself pretty badly with a knife. Ouch! I had to rush him to the nearest hospital for stitches. A few hours later we decided to go back and finish. We just loved the installation and park that much!

Nashville hunts squirrels while we build the ladder.

That night we checked into our swanky hotel room (thanks Kevin and Lindsay) and had birthday dinner at Magnolia café south. Because we had overdosed on meat at lunch, we both ordered the accorn squash with curry veggies. OMG! The texans can do vegitarian too! Austin really treated us great and we got the best vibes everywhere we went. Thanks Austin!

Next stop, Dallas, TX!