Day 31--Albuquerque, NM to Whites City, NM

Today, I drove from Albuquerque to Whites City, NM, which is located right by Carlsbad Caverns National Park. After sleeping in a bit and stopping by Whole Foods to pick up a few things on my way out of Albuquerque, I headed straight towards Carlsbad Caverns with a stop in Roswell for lunch.

I got to Carlsbad Caverns right after 3:30pm. I just missed the cut-off to walk through the Natural Entrance but was able to take the elevator down into the caverns. Unlike at Wind Cave NP (and at Mammouth Caves, where I'll be in a week), you can do a self-guided tour of the Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns. I did that and spent around an hour and a half touring the caverns. The caverns are absolutely spectacular and a wonderful place to spend a hot afternoon! It's hard to take a good picture in the caverns and really need to be seen in person, but here are a few pictures anyway.

After touring the caverns, I headed to the nearby Rodeway Inn in Whites City, NM. Whites City is essentially a motel, restaurant, and gift shop off the highway on the road that goes to Carlsbad Caverns. This motel is the most expensive of my trip (originally $94.50 + tax). Despite the price tag, they didn't have my room ready when I arrived. For dinner, I went to the restaurant where I had a not very good but affordable cheeseburger (the fries were tasty). I then went to the pool at the motel. Tomorrow, it's on to Big Bend.

Next Stop: Terlingua, TX

Day 30--Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO to Albuquerque, NM

Today, I traveled from Great Sand Dunes National Park to Albuquerque. After waking up and clearing my campsite (all done by 7:30am at the latest), I went back into the dunes one last time for a few minutes. Due to the previous night's rain, they looked different. But more importantly, the dunes are just a really nice and special place to spend time.

After leaving Great Sand Dunes, I headed towards Albuquerque. The route I took went through some small towns in southern Colorado and New Mexico as well as the larger, better-known towns of Taos and Santa Fe. I stopped in both of them. I had visited both of them back in 2006 and had some memories of them. In Taos, I stopped at the central Taos Plaza and was somehow able to find a parking spot right on the plaza that didn't even require parallel parking. Yay! I walked around Taos for 45 minutes or so, walking into some of the shoppes and enjoying the atmosphere. There was also some kind of market going on in the plaza (a combination of art, food, and produce).

From Taos, I headed down to Santa Fe. Santa Fe was a madhouse as the Spanish Market was going on (I had to pay $10 to park 5 or 6 blocks away from the central plaza). The Spanish Market seemed to be a bit overhyped: sure there were lots of street vendors and art booths on the square which was nice but nothing was that special either. Nevertheless, Santa Fe is a nice place to walk around and I walked around the central area for about 1.5  hours, which included grabbing lunch and a cupcake. In the building where I got a cupcake, I spotted this painting. These dudes are pretty chill if you ask me...

From Santa Fe, it was on to my hostel in Albuquerque, the Route 66 Hostel.  For $26.75 for the night, I was able to get a private room with a comfortable chair (that I'm sitting in now) and reliable wifi, so no complaints at all. After relaxing in the hostel for a couple of hours, I walked into Old Town Albuquerque, which is pretty quiet and unexciting (it kinda looks like Santa Fe or Taos but with much less going on--basically just a few gift shops, including one that tried to pull a bait-and-switch on me so I ended up not buying a couple of t-shirts, and a few Mexican restaurants). I had dinner at one of those Mexican restaurants, where I had a tasty chicken chimichanga (sp?). I'm back in the hostel now and it's on to Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow. It will be hot, but the caves will be cool and my very expensive motel has an outdoor pool.

Next Stop: Whites City, NM

Day 29--Denver, CO to Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

Yesterday, I drove from Denver to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Since the drive is relatively short (4 hours) and Great Sand Dunes is a very small park (while at many parks, you want AT LEAST one day, Great Sand Dunes can be seen well much quicker. There's really only one place to get out of the car and look around), I decided to take myself to the Denver Zoo in the morning. Part of that decision came from seeing a picture my mother shared of a Malayan Tapir Calf (who sadly was not on display, although I believe the mother was) but part of it also came from the fact that I had not been to a zoo for five years (I believe the last zoo I was at was the National Zoo in Washington DC, which is wonderful, on a school field trip in 8th grade).

I got to the zoo around 9:30am and spent around 3 hours looking around and seeing the animals. I was wowed by seeing the big cats. The games some of the hyenas were playing reminded me of games that my dog would play (although I don't think Ike should play with hyenas). I always enjoy seeing sea otters, sea lions, and primates. Overall, the Denver Zoo was a very enjoyable experience. Some photo highlights are below:

After seeing the zoo, I headed out of Denver and towards the Great Sand Dunes, making a few unexciting stops on the way for lunch, gas, and firewood. I got to the Great Sand Dunes at around 5:30pm. I first stopped at the Visitor's Center, where there is a balcony where you can look out at the dunes. I then went to the Dunes Parking Lot and walked out onto the dunes. The view out on the dunes is beautiful and it is very refreshing to take your shoes off to walk through the water that flows through at the base (?--not sure if that is correct geological terminology) of the dunes. I then walked up a bit on one of the dunes (a few adventurous people walk to the top). I probably spent 30-45 minutes enjoying the dunes.

I then headed to dinner at a restaurant (which also has a connected convenience store/gift shop, hotel, and campground (although I stayed at the cheaper campground in the park)) right at the entrance to the park as it is the only restaurant within 25 miles. Despite having no competition, the prices are rather reasonable and the quality was more than passable.

After dinner, I headed back into the park to set up my campsite. Despite the fact that it was raining (lightly), I set up a campfire and was able to keep it going for around an hour. When it started raining more heavily around 10:00pm, I went to bed.

Next Stop (where I am writing this right now and will post more about tonight): Albuquerque, NM

Days 27 and 28--Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park to Denver, CO with a stop at Rocky Mountain National Park

Yesterday, after having lunch in Glenwood Springs, I continued towards the Moraine Park Campground at Rocky Mountain National Park (conveniently located a few miles from Estes Park). Due to some delays, I didn't arrive at the campsite until shortly after 7:00pm. Once I arrived, I immediately set up my tent and then headed into Estes Park for dinner (albeit I was delayed by taking a wrong turn out of the campsite). I went to a barbecue place on the western edge of town where I had a delicious "Texas Brisket Sandwich." After dinner, I swung by the small grocery store to pick up a few things (including firewood and breakfast for the next morning) and then headed back to the campsite. At the campsite, I had a small campfire where I roasted several marshmallows.

This morning, I woke up around 6:15am (didn't know it was that early since my phone was buried under my air mattress). I cleaned up my campsite and then started touring the beautiful park. Rocky Mountain National Park has many beautiful overlooks and I stopped at most of them with the most memorable ones being "Many Rockies" and "Tundra Communities" (if I remember correctly), with "Tundra Communities"  requiring a bit of a walk in very windy conditions (it was only just over 50 degrees at that spot as well in comparison to the 95 it got to in Denver this afternoon).

After touring Rocky Mountain National Park, I headed towards Denver, which is about a 2 hour drive from the western edge of the park. On the way, I had planned to do the Mount Evans Scenic Byway and road but a sign indicated that the Mount Evans Road was closed, so I skipped it and headed towards Denver, arriving shortly after 1:00pm.

I'm staying at an Airbnb in the Capital Hill area of Denver, which is a nice walking distance from the downtown/16th Street Mall area.  Immediately after arriving, I took a shower then walked towards downtown. To celebrate National Hot Dog Day, I had a 7-11 Hot Dog and a Vanilla Coke for lunch (it's very good for a $2 meal). I took a leisurely pace around Denver, stopping at the Federal Reserve Bank's Money Museum, which isn't very good and requires intensive security (Photo ID  and Metal Detector) but gives out free bags of shredded money, so I grabbed one. I grabbed dinner at Chipotle and a slice of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory for later.

I'm still contemplating my options in Denver tomorrow morning (thinking of doing the Zoo but may do something else) and then I'll do the 4-hour drive to Great Sand Dunes National Park, where I'll be camping.

Next Stop: Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO

Days 26 and 27--Flagstaff, AZ to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

Yesterday, I drove from Flagstaff, AZ to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado. It was a fairly long drive made longer by a time zone change when I crossed into the Navajo Reservation. For the most part, the drive was very pretty. I especially like the stretch of road in the Navajo reservation. The drive was a straight shot with few stops, stopping only in Kayenta, AZ for gas and Cortez, CO for lunch. Since there is no food for sale in the park, I picked up dinner in the nearby town of Montrose.

When I arrived in the park, I noticed that all the poles in my pop-up tent had snapped making it unusable. After eating dinner and thinking through my options, I headed back into Montrose to pick up a new tent at Walmart. I didn't have the tent set up until nearly 9pm at which point, I set up a campfire, roasted some marshmallows, and enjoyed the outdoors until just before 11pm when I got ready for bed.

I woke up around 7am and had my campsite cleared by 7:30. At that time, I toured the park on the South Rim Road, which is only 12 miles long but has some beautiful overlooks.

I'm now in Glenwood Springs, CO having lunch en route to Rocky Mountain National Park. More later...

Next Stop: Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Days 24 and 25--More Arizona: Phoenix to Tucson to Flagstaff

Yesterday, after the conclusion of Netroots Nation, I left my hostel in Phoenix and headed towards Tucson. However, before leaving Phoenix, I paid a quick visit to the Heard Museum, one of the finest collections of Native American art in the United States. I remembered the Heard Museum as being terrific from my visit back in 2003 and wanted to check it out again. Luckily, admission was free for most of the collection as it is all Sundays in July. I spent a little over an hour at the Heard. It was pretty crowded and I may have missed some things, but I love their large collection of kachina dolls.

After leaving the Heard Museum, I hopped on I-10 towards Tucson, a short ~115 mile drive. On the way, I stopped at an In-N-Out Burger in Chandler (part of the greater Phoenix sprawl). It was my first visit to In-N-Out (have never been in California despite having gone to California three times before this trip). For a little over $7, I was able to get a nice-sized double cheeseburger, an order of fries, and a soda, which makes it a good buy and the quality is also pretty good. However, I think there are better burger places (maybe not for the price).

I got to my uncle's house in Tucson a little after 2:30pm. His house is located in an industrial area pretty close to the University of Arizona and downtown but I didn't do much exploring (I mainly caught up with my uncle). At his house, he keeps a workshop for his musical instruments but there's also a pretty nice view.

This morning, I headed out to Flagstaff. Instead of retracing I-10 to Phoenix to hop on I-17, I decided to take a more scenic route on some state highways through the Tonto National Forest, passing through the towns of Globe and Payson. The route was quite nice, especially a stretch by Roosevelt Lake between Globe and Payson (didn't get a chance to take a picture) but may have not been worth the extra time. I had somewhat planned on taking a turn towards Sedona on this route but I missed that and it was somewhat raining where I was,

Once I got to  the Motel 6 in Flagstaff, the first thing I did was a couple of loads of laundry. After my laundry was completed, I headed into downtown Flagstaff (about 2 miles north from the motel). Downtown Flagstaff is a nice place to walk around although none of the businesses really interested me (they seemed mostly to be overpriced outdoor stores and microbreweries). As well, parking was VERY expensive for a small town (35-40 minutes cost me $4. I believe it was $3 for the first 30 mins and $1 for each additional 20 mins),

 I had dinner at the Panda Express outside of downtown (closer to the motel) and then have been relaxing at the motel as I have a long drive tomorrow to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and will be camping the next two nights (I'll try to get some updates up when I can, either if I can get wifi or if I can get a phone signal).

Next Stop: Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, CO

Days 21 through 23--Netroots Nation & Phoenix

For the past three days, I have not been driving. Instead, I have been attending the Netroots Nation convention here in Phoenix, AZ. Netroots Nation is likely the largest annual gathering of progressives in the country (around 3,000 progressive activists, organizers, bloggers, etc.). As I have a strong interest in politics and political involvement (even if I don't see much of my professional life being in the political world), I decided to attend this year's convention. The convention started Thursday morning.

On Thursday, I attended a workshop on New Digital Organizing Trends (nothing seemed that new), fundraising (gave a very interesting perspective in emphasizing personal relationships over donor lists), a Southern States caucus  (organized at the last minute--the conference organizers didn't plan it despite a strong cohort from North Carolina and several people from each of the other southern states. I was one of three or four Floridians attending), a workshop on reversing Democratic Collapse in the states, and one on gerrymandering and the importance of regaining state legislatures by 2020. After that busy day, I attended the Thursday evening keynote, which was headlined by Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and where many impressive organizers spoke.

On Friday,  I attended a workshop on the future of health reform (one of my favorite political topics). After that first workshop, it was time for Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-MA) keynote address to the Netroots Nation, which was a powerful and motivating address.

Following Sen. Warren's speech, many participants participated in a protest to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the atrocious sheriff to Maricopa County, AZ (where Phoenix is located).  I participated for part of it then grabbed lunch. Following lunch, I attended a workshop about rural organizing, which is something I feel urban progressives often ignore the importance of, especially in big elections (such as the Florida Governor's race) but this workshop focused more on advocacy issues. There was then a short afternoon keynote which reiterated many of the same messages about immigration reform and equality that have been so prevalent at the conference. After that keynote, I attended an entertaining workshop on organizing failures.

All of that was over by 5:30pm, so I then headed down the street to Chase Field to see the Diamondbacks take on the San Francisco Giants. Chase Field is quite a nice place to see a game and its easy to get a good view for cheap (my ticket cost $16). The game was very long, going to twelve innings and lasting over 5 hours, but was very enjoyable. The Giants eventually won 6-5. Following the game, there was a fireworks presentation set to Star Wars music.

Today, Saturday, was another jampacked exciting day. First, I attended a very helpful workshop on building an issue campaign. Then, it was time for the Presidential Candidate Town Hall featuring former Gov. Martin O' Malley and Sen. Bernie Sanders. I had high expectations for this event but ended up a bit disappointed in both of the candidates. Early in Gov. O' Malley's interview (the format which this Town Hall took), a #BlackLivesMatter protest occured in response to his record of incarcerating individuals (100,000 arrests a year) as Mayor of Baltimore. The protest took much of his time away and he responded poorly. When Bernie Sanders came to the stage in the midst of this, he decided to give his pre-planned address rather than to address the protestors directly. The Town Hall quickly came to a close and then it was lunchtime. Following lunch, I attended the Youth Caucus and #FutureForum with Reps. Gallego and Swalwell (both were impressive and Rep. Swalweel made a point to introduce himself to everyone in the room.  When I met him, I didn't realize he was one of the panelists and a member of Congress) dealing with the crisis of skyrocketing tuition and student debt.

Then, it was on to Bernie Sanders' evening rally in the convention center, which estimates say 11,000 people attended. It was an energizing room to say the least.

I'm exhausted right now. Tomorrow, I may or may not attend the Netroots Brunch and explore the Phoenix area for a bit. Then, it's on to go see my uncle Andy in Tucson.

Next Stop: Tucson, AZ