The Final Days

Departed Colorado Springs, certainly an area deserving of another visit and headed to a small town in NM, Gallup.  Fortunate that in driving 3000+ miles during the vacation, there were few traffic slowdowns but the same could not be said for the northern bound lane on this part of the drive.

Always enjoy dining at an independently owned restaurant and there was a good one at the El Rancho.  Lot of movie memorabilia adorned the walls as old westerns had been filmed in the region.  I was told about a parade through down town so decided to check it out.

Oddly, cars and people were streaming away from the parade route.  Some people approached and warned that I not proceed.  Stories of a drive by shooting, shots being fired, a driver entering the parade route causing a mass casualty event but hey, I've got a blog to feed so kept walking toward the Main Street.

Few people were on the parade route.  There were a lot of police and emergency vehicles present.  Not much to see so headed back.  A guy and friends in an SUV had been observed drinking.  Police approached the vehicle, drunk driver took off, no shots fired, driver strikes a couple of vehicles parked alongside the road.  Fifteen light injuries.  Driver taken into custody.

Purposefully selected a route that avoided Phoenix so enjoyed driving through many small town America type settings.

Enter the Show Low, AZ region.  Beautiful.

Home at last.  The Catalinas and surrounding mountains are not the Rocky Mountains but beautiful and majestic in their own right. So much monsoonal induced rain has tuned the mountain slopes green.  The trip had some majestic sights but late and poor planning by me, ahhh, it could have been better.  Live and learn folks.