Southwest Driving Trip - The Road Home

Thursday morning, we arose at the normal time, enjoyed the sunrise over the Santa Catalina mountains, and also enjoyed a cup of coffee and some toast and fruit. We packed up our trusty RAV 4, said our goodbyes to Tom, Kevin and Liam, the Scotty dog; then, departing Tucson around 10:30 via I-10 heading in an easterly direction through Deming, NM where we joined I-25 heading north. 

We passed through the town of Truth or Consequences (founded as Hot Springs in the late 19th century.) According to Wikipedia, major settlement of Hot Springs did not begin until the construction of Elephant Butte Dam and reservoir in 1912 as part of the Rio Grande project. The city changed its name from Hot Springs to Truth or Consequences as result of a radio show contest. In March of 1950, Ralph Edwards, the host of the NBC Radio quiz show Truth or Consequences, announced that it would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show. In a special election on March 31, 1950, the residents of Hot Springs voted 1295 to 295 to change the town’s name to Truth or Consequences, and the program was broadcast there the following evening. 

During our drive, we decided to snack on our stash of goodies that we had hauled along with us. Deb reached into the arm rest for her bag of Haribos Gummy Bears. Word to the wise: do not leave a bag of Gummy Bears in the vehicle parked in the Arizona sun for six days. They had melted into a colorful conglomeration. She tried to pry a few loose and finally had to resort to gnawing on the whole mass. The chocolate bar fared a bit better, it hadn’t puddled into a mess, but it still was a bit worse for the heat.

Continuing north, we arrived during rush hour at Albuquerque. The traffic on I-25 was horrific, as multi-lane roads merged and spun off. At one point there were 10 lanes of northbound freeway traffic, turning it into a huge parking lot.  We eventually pushed through and wound our way north to the outskirts of Santa Fe, where we had booked a LaQuinta Inn for the evening. Our good luck with LaQuinta ran out. This hotel was a large three storey facility with over 300 rooms. The price for our double bedded room on the first floor was only $76.00 including taxes, and we were tired, so we accepted the offer. We asked about a king size bed room, but that was extra and so we opted for economy.

We dined in the room on leftover sandwiches from the day before, some Cheezits, an apple and some wine from our stash. We watched a bit of TV and were asleep before 10:00 PM.

As we had showered at Tom & Kevin’s the morning before, we saw no need to shower. Mark misread his clock and was up by 4:45, and misquoted the time to Deb as “5 minutes to six” when she inquired sleepily from her bed. We were dressed and ready to carry our luggage out at 5:30. Unfortunately breakfast did not open until 6:00! We opened our door and noted that there was a shopping cart piled with clothes and a suitcase just outside our door, pushed up against the stairway leading to an upper floor. It seems we had gained a neighbor during the night who was sleeping underneath the stairway, partially hidden by their shopping cart!  Deb had texted Abby that this was the kind of motel where they find your body parts strewn across the desert.  This seemed to confirm that, although, since it was only 31 degrees, I am sure our neighbor was freezing.  Thinking about it, we hope he was alive!

We packed the RAV 4 and walked to the lobby for the included breakfast. The normal sausages, this time both link and patty, breads, biscuits and gravy and a waffle machine.  There was no attempt to stir up the freeze dried eggs to simulate fresh; they were just cooked in a sheet pan and then cut into cubes, roughly 1 1/2 inches to a side. The flavor (such as it is) was the same, but the presentation left something to be desired. Considering the $76.00 price point, we just shrugged, ate and refilled our coffee mugs for the road. We saw no reason to stop at the front desk to turn in our new neighbor and disturb his slumber, so finished up, hopped into the car and hit the road.

According to our trusty iPhones, the distance to Omaha from Santa Fe was calculated to be 13 hours. As the morning wore on, we discussed our choices and made a decision not to push the whole distance. North of Trinidad, NM, we left the interstate system and started our journey on two lane roads to Red Cloud. US Rte 60, headed east, thence on to US Rte 383 across Kansas, then north on US Rte 183 into Nebraska and switched to US Rte 136 in Alma, NE continuing east to Red Cloud and our reserved room at our favorite Hotel Garber in downtown Red Cloud.

This is our third stay at the Hotel Garber, and it felt like coming home. This is a down time for tourism in Red Cloud and south central Nebraska. In another week, there will be  influx of tourists for the annual Crane Migration with their stopping point some 75-100 miles north on the Platte River, between Kearney and Grand Island, but Red Cloud and Webster County have not yet been able to parlay this into much of a bonus for them.

It was really, really windy and cold outside so walking to the bowling alley (great Rubens) or the Palace restaurant (not as grand as it sounds) was an uninitiated option.  Juan’s Tacos next to the hotel was packed and we have, by now, run out of sandwiches and mostly wiped out our supply of Cheetos and chips, so we cleaned up and then headed downstairs to the dining room and treated ourselves to a lovely dinner.  We enjoyed a cocktail each and then dined on delicious wild rice and mushroom creamed soup (recipe by Brandi).   Deb ordered the steak points over potatoes, and Mark enjoyed a chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes. We enjoyed a nice glass of wine, and as we were the only diners in the entire dining room, we had a visit with the hotel manager/bartender/waitress, Brandi, with whom we had become acquainted on our previous visits. So glad we stayed in for dinner.

We retired to our room, fell into the wonderful king sized bed, and watched a little TV before dropping off shortly before 10:00 PM.

Saturday morning we packed up, went down to the dining room for a continental breakfast of bananas, scones, toast, juice and coffee. After loading up the RAV 4, we walked across the street to the National Willa Cather Center, and toured a wonderful photo display in the gallery: a series of photos taken over a 10 year period tracing the Underground Railroad stops from Louisiana up to freedom in Canada. We visited with staff, made use of the facilities, purchased a trio of books and headed out to home.

We pulled into the driveway of the house at 1:53 PM, having logged some 3,200 miles on this round trip journey to the Southwest. Poppy the cat was very glad to see us, although she spent most of the evening nipping at Deb to show her love/frustration. She also proved to Mark that the automated, self cleaning litter box was not really up to a 10 day absence. However, the helium filled balloons left over from Deb’s birthday party on February 21 held up amazingly and were still floating in the air!

 Could we have made better time flying? Yes. Could we have enjoyed it as much? No. We didn’t kill each other, although Mark didn’t know until we reached Santa Fe that Deb had secured a sharp kitchen knife in the armrest area of the car for possible protection from “thugs, hooligans” and other unsavory characters. Luckily he didn’t qualify!

Southwest Driving Trip, Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Morning in Oro Valley was bright and sunny. Tom and Kevin’s home faces east towards the Santa Catalina Mountains, and as the pale blue light begins to outline the mountain peaks, the day holds. Lot of promise. As usual, Kevin laid out a complete breakfast bar with fruit, cereal, bagels, bread and jams, together with coffee and juice. After a long morning visit to catch up on life, we loaded into Kevin’s Lexus to do some shopping for the afternoon.  We landed at a yard covered in pots, Mexican crafts and metal sculptures. Unfortunately, nothing grabbed the eye nor found the way into the vehicle for the long trek to Nebraska.

Next on to the Apple Store for Deb’s 3:45 appointment to sort out the problems she was encountering while trying to text people, especially those who didn’t also have an iPhone device. Turns out that a 3:45 appointment was more of just a suggestion, but eventually one of the Apple Geniuses called her to the Genius Bar and diagnosed the problem. It was straightened out forthwith, although during the wait, she determined that, when the new iPhone 17 is introduced next week, she is going to order one!  Great sales job!!

We then wandered upstairs in the shopping center to have an early dinner at the Encanto Blanco Taco Mexican restaurant, dining on tacos, a chimichanga and some wine. We returned to Oro Valley and sat in the poolside chairs on the patio watching the mountains turn pink from the setting sun and enjoying wine and a Dirty Martini cocktail. After sundown, we chatted and visited until nearly 9:30 PM and then headed to bed. A quiet day that found us in bed by10:00.

Wednesday morning we again enjoyed the breakfast bar that would make Hampton Inn’s blush from its inadequacy. Just after noon, we loaded into Tom’s Lexus SUV and drove the 26 mile trip to the top of Mount Lemmon, the tallest peak in the Santa Catalina Mountain range with an elevation of 9.171 feet. The temperature difference from base to top can be 20-30º F. The mountain is named for botanist Sara Plummer Lemon, who with her husband trekked to the top of the mountain in 1881. Mount Lemmon is also known as Baba Do’ag or Frog Mountain to the indigenous Tohono O’Odham.

At the top of the mountain is the village of Summerhaven, home to many summer residents and a few year-round residents. There are no fuel stations nor auto repair facilities n the village, and only a small village grocery store (closed unfortunately) but it stocks mostly basic staples and camping goods. We lunched on great sandwiches at the Mt. Lemmon Hotel Cafe operated by the Beyond Bread chain. Lovely atmosphere but the high point was the great, clean bathroom!

We left around 4:00 PM and headed back to Oro Valley, arriving back around 5:00.  The “as the crow flies” distanced is only 13 miles, but the road distance is closer to 30 miles.  Well worth the visit; we can recommend it.  After again watching the reflected sunset on the Santa Catalina mountains we ordered in pizza and then binge watched the first three episodes of the reboot of Scrubs on TV. Just as humorous in the new season as in the original.  We were in bed by 10:00, boring, predictable.

Southwest Driving, Monday, March 2, 2026

Sunday is Dell’s actual birthday, together with the date of the State of Nebraska joining the United States. Dell’s anniversary is arguably the more important, at least to those of us gathered in Anthem, AZ. Most of the morning was taken up by text and phone calls to the Birthday Boy from friends and relatives offering congratulations or expressing amazement that he was still hanging in there! We showered, snacked, and eventually loaded into Dell’s new car for a trip towards Cave Creek and some shopping. Deb found a number of items that were candidates for hauling back to Nebraska, including a tall blue porcelain cat, a large outdoor metal collage depicting a thunderbird symbol, and some smaller pots. Alas, nothing found its way into the car.

At 4:30 we headed to the Kiki Rae’s Restaurant to meet our friends Jan and Frank Hrasky for dinner. Dell picked this as he is very partial to the creamy clam chowder. We started with a cocktail and then placed an order for a cup of the chowder all around. Dell had a chef’s salad; Deb ordered a beet and arugula salad, the Hrasky’s split a huge French dip style sandwich, and Mark picked something called a “loco moco” which turned out to be an excellent hamburger patty over a bowl of white rice, then drizzled with a brown gravy and a fried egg on top. We ended the meal with a “birthday” wedge cake of deep chocolate drenched with chocolate sauce and a huge dollop of whipped cream, stabbed with a gigantic sparkler shooting flames out of the top.  A great tribute to a wonderful guy and ending to a wonderful meal.

On the return trip we were subjected to awesome sunsets, which, for the passengers, took the edge off the Sunday night traffic. We finished the evening with some television and reading. A quiet night in the end.

Monday Morning, we packed our bags and loaded up the RAV 4 for the trip south to Tucson. We left Casa Sennentz by 10:30 and jumped onto the freeway parking lots that surround Phoenix for the 150 mile trip south to Tucson. Although Dell admonished us to be sure and take a bathroom break before leaving, which we heeded, we still needed to stop at a McDonald’s for a rest. While there, since it was the noon hour, we ordered a snack of a Big Mac, fries and a hot fudge sundae for the road.

We arrived in Oro Valley at Tom & Kevin’s home around 1:00 PM for a warm but pleasant afternoon. After such a “hard” drive some of us rested our eyes in a prone position while others tried to keep their eyes open while sitting up. Although Tom & Kevin are now teetotalers, eschewing alcohol, that didn’t stop the Nebraska contingent from its evening dirty martini and scotch on the rocks. Following cocktails, we took a drive to our evening dinner reservation, Trueland Burgers and Greens. Again, lovely, low-key affair. Mark enjoyed a huge burger topped with bacon and a fried egg (a pattern is developing), Deb a classic Burger, Kevin a Buffalo Chicken sandwich and Tom a salad topped with Ahi tuna.

Again, home early for some relaxation. We had determined earlier to watch the movie Hamilton, as Tom & Kevin had never seen it. This started a hilarious attempt by old people to sign into Disney+ on the television. Multiple attempts and we kept getting thrown out for wrong password or fat fingers on the keypad. Deb finally was able to get it up and running by logging in with her passwords from Omaha. Unfortunately, it timed out before the intermission, but the boys are significantly intrigued to try and finish this show at a later date.

We retired around 10:00; an enjoyable and relaxing day with friends, even though the daytime weather had reached 90ºF.

Southwest Driving Trip, Friday, February 27, 2026

Friday, we awoke to a chilly morning, cool, with frost still on the windshield. The LaQuinta Inn breakfast included scrambled eggs, mystery (sausage?) patties and biscuits & gravy, we loaded up and were on the road around 9:30, onto I-40 headed toward Winslow, Arizona. Just a few miles past the Arizona - New Mexico border we stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park; this seeming as good a reason as any for why we remembered to bring our Lifetime U.S. Parks pass and passbook for adding stamps. 

The Petrified Forest National Park is about 340 square miles in the center of the Painted Desert area which encompasses some 7,500 square miles. The National Park itself covers 340 square miles and straddles the I-40. The historic Route 66 once ran through the park and was a major route bringing visitors. Inside the park there is a 26 mile driving loop with pull-outs offering some of the most stunning scenery in the entire southwest U.S. There are two visitor centers and a High Desert Museum. On our visit, there was very little traffic and few visitors. We drove the loop, browsed the visitors centers, utilized the restrooms, and stopped at a picnic area for a lunch on our stash of sandwiches and chips. The weather was perfect, clear, a comfortable 70º F and sunny. We can enthusiastically recommend taking a few hours, at a minimum, to drive the loop if one is in this neighborhood. The area was originally a huge forested area with water and rivers, likened to the Amazon Basin in size and scope. The petrified logs scattered all over the grounds are stunning; only the threat of arrest and prison time kept us from throwing a few logs into the back of the RAV 4 to take home and plant in our own rock garden. When you first drive through the entry and present your park pass, the Ranger tells you to enjoy your visit, then stares you in the eye and says, “Don’t pick up the rocks!” We are law abiding citizens, although the temptation was great. After leaving the park, one of the first things you see is a huge store and yard selling huge pieces of petrified logs. Evidently, petrified logs are not uncommon.

We continued back onto the Interstate towards our short term destination of Winslow, AZ. The goal was to use this stop as a jumping off point to get on the picturesque drive following the Mogollon Rim area, skipping the heavy semi-truck traffic and enjoying the wonderful scenery. We climbed along this two-lane highway, again with light traffic, up to 6,600 feet in altitude, then down through the Coconino National Forest, eventually arriving at Camp Verde and rejoining the I-17 for our final punch down south towards our goal of Anthem Arizona and our friend Dell.

We arrived in Anthem around 4:30 to spend a few days in rest. A primary purpose of this trip was to visit Dell, who we missed last fall; at the time, as we were readying ourselves last fall to leave Tucson and hop the Greyhound to Phoenix, Dell phoned us to say that Karen had collapsed and was being rushed to the hospital. We elected to short circuit our visit and reschedule our flight home. Karen died less than a week later - a loss we are still processing.

The current weekend is also Dell’s birthday, so we are here to visit with our friend, reminisce and to celebrate his 79th! As always, the accommodations are wonderful and on our first night Dell ordered in some of the best pizza we have ever devoured. We enjoyed a cocktail, visited for a bit, watched the news, and then retired for the evening. Next morning, we awoke to WAR! The “supreme leader” of the U.S.via a video at 2:30 AM, announced that we bombed Iran and by the end of the morning it was announced that Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader was killed. 

As the purpose of this blog is not politics, we will try to avoid a lot of comment, although most of our readers well know our views.  Enough on this.  We will continue our visit and try to stick our heads under the southwest sand.

Saturday we spent watching the news until Dell finally convinced us to get off our fat asses and do something so we went to a Rock and Gem Show here in Anthem, hoping someone was selling some largish petrified wood but apparently that is not too popular in hot, rocky areas.  We drove around the Anthem area, which is really quite beautiful and diverse, looking at possible smaller homes for Dell as he loves the area but wants to downsize.  When we returned to his current casa, we sat on the patio enjoying the weather with our cocktails.  Dell then outdid himself with grilled steaks, baked potatoes and salad which he managed to conjure up within 30 minutes!  And it was so good.  And the perfect end to a relaxing day.