American Road Trip….Part III

Kiwi cop

Kiwi cop

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I am writing this in one of my least favourite places to wait. Auckland airport's international departure terminal. The only saving grace is that in a few hours Karen and I will be aboard a 787 Dreamliner on our way to Houston.

I have just discovered that I left my laptop, which I pulled out of my carry-on this morning to print our boarding passes, at home. But I still have my tablet and phone so I can still post.

Here is the itinerary…..
Houston, 3 nights (mainly to recover from the jet lag but also there are a few things we want to go back and see). 27-30 April.

Fly to Nashville for 3 nights (like Houston there are some more things we want to see there. 30 April to 3 May

Drive to Louisville for Derby weekend (why not)? 3-5 May

Chicago for two nights (5 & 6 May) then 3 weeks on Route 66.

We will be staying for 2-3 nights in. St Louis, Oklahoma City and Flagstaff. Other than Gallup, where we have the El Rancho hotel booked for the exorbitant sum of $10 for the night, our itinerary is pretty flexible. If we take longer on some days we will make it up somewhere. If we go further some days we will find a place to explore.
 
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Hope all goes as planned and you have a great trip. We have enjoyed Broadway in Nashville especially in the afternoon hours when it's not as crowded.


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That $10 per night at the El Rancho in Gallup had me worried, but I checked out their website and it looks okay. I'm guessing you have some sort of a discount going.

I don't think we stayed there, but I recall having a meal, maybe dinner, there in 1992.

Have fun, Kiwi!
 
Sounds like a fun trip. If you need anything while you are on the IL portion of your adventure, please let me know.

Safe travels and enjoy!
 
I can't imagine any motel anywhere today having $10 rooms, even those fleabags that rent rooms by the hour. Even the cheapest Motel 6 in the smallest town is closer to $100. Motel 6 hasn't had $6 rooms for over 50 years.
 
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Watch out in Gallup. We made the mistake of driving into the center of town to get diesel and a better choice of food places. Apparently Gallup is a Native American word meaning "Panhandler Central". I thought I was going to have to draw on one particularly persistent guy who didn't understand personal space.
 
My experiences at Auckland ranged from wet and a 20 minute walk to domestic, or the reverse, from a number of trips to NZ and OZ for Uncle Sam back in the 1990s-early 2000s. However, always enjoyed my time diving and sampling the White wines at the Marlborough heads. The old "joke" NZ whites and OZ reds and not the reverse is absolutely true!! Dave_n
 
New Mexico

Kiwi cop said:
I am writing this in one of my least favourite places to wait. Auckland airport's international departure terminal. The only saving grace is that in a few hours Karen and I will be aboard a 787 Dreamliner on our way to Houston.

I have just discovered that I left my laptop, which I pulled out of my carry-on this morning to print our boarding passes, at home. But I still have my tablet and phone so I can still post.

Here is the itinerary…..
Houston, 3 nights (mainly to recover from the jet lag but also there are a few things we want to go back and see). 27-30 April.

Fly to Nashville for 3 nights (like Houston there are some more things we want to see there. 30 April to 3 May

Drive to Louisville for Derby weekend (why not)? 3-5 May

Chicago for two nights (5 & 6 May) then 3 weeks on Route 66.

We will be staying for 2-3 nights in. St Louis, Oklahoma City and Flagstaff. Other than Gallup, where we have the El Rancho hotel booked for the exorbitant sum of $10 for the night, our itinerary is pretty flexible. If we take longer on some days we will make it up somewhere. If we go further some days we will find a place to explore.
Click to expand...

New Mexico is a cornucopia of things to see.
Based on what you have said,
I would suggest you research Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and the train ride out of Chama.
Been there, done that.
If the stars line up, I will do it again.
👍👍👍👍👍
Best,
Gary
 
Onomea said:
That $10 per night at the El Rancho in Gallup had me worried, but I checked out their website and it looks okay. I'm guessing you have some sort of a discount going.

I don't think we stayed there, but I recall having a meal, maybe dinner, there in 1992.

Have fun, Kiwi!
Click to expand...

I am not sure how this came about. I use Trip Advisor to find hotels. I checked El Rancho and it was $120-130 a night, we try to keep an average around $100 a night for budgeting, so I found one nearby.

Several months later I went back to Trip Adviser and searched for El Rancho again and the $10 a night for this date came up so I booked it. I later rang the hotel and was told the room was booked and paid for.
 
The flight…

I didn't sleep well Friday night (Kiwi time) and when I did sleep I had those crazy dreams of travelling down a road at speed and no brakes on the car.

Just before 11 am Saturday we picked up my brother for the 80 minute drive to get our flight to Auckland. Went as well as expected. Even the road works that have been slowing us up on our beat for the last month we're finished Friday night.

At Auckland we had about 5 hours to wait for our flight. Karen has lost some lung function and struggles to walk too far. On the previous trips the departure gate was the furtherest one away and she struggled, likewise at GBI Houston, so I booked a wheelchair for her. Our gate was close, and we were the first to board. We were surprised to find the flight was an hour shorter than previously, just under 13 hours.

I had booked a Skycouch, a row of three seats with footrests that turned into a small bed. I set Karen up against the window while I watched a movie from the aisle seat after dinner. She slept for a while but then was wide awake. I couldn't sleep either until we swapped placed and I dozed off for an hour or so. Karen doesn't want to be bothered with the couch again but I'll give it another try, now that I have found a way for both of us to lay down.

After a very long night for both of us, with us both watching several movies, the lights came on and breakfast was served, about 1pm Houston time!

The last few hours slowly passed and we landed in Houston just after 3:30 pm. There was a wheelchair waiting at the door for Karen and we were pushed right to the front of the CBP line after a 10 minute walk. After a short wait we were through, although waiting for the various elevators to move between terminals and levels took a bit of time.

An hour after landing we were boarding the shuttle to the hire car complex, and that's where it got interesting. I had booked with Budget and it was the only counter with a line, a very long one. Finally after another hour we had our car. A few minutes working out where all the controls were and we were on our way to the hotel. I missed a turn and hadn't been able to find Apple Play in the controls, so I went to Bluetooth my phone to use iMaps, and wouldn't you now it, Apple Play was available as a Bluetooth function not a wired one.

We made one stop, at a Dollar General to pick up a pack of water, some coffee and creamer and a couple of frozen meals for dinner tonight. Then it was on to our hotel. We have stayed here before so it is familiar territory. Even so it took about an hour before everything was sorted out and we could relax.

After something like 30 hours in the same clothes I definitely need a shower tonight before bed. Tomorrow we will pick up a walking frame for Karen we ordered from Home Depot (along with a can of Sabre OC spray) then it's off to the Zoo and a few other places for the day. Oh, and the obligatory shopping expedition too.
 
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