I'm taking a week off later this month. I put in the request at work quite a while ago, without any real idea of how I was going to spend it. I had considered driving up to San Francisco, but despite the fact it's been five years since I set foot in The City and I miss my remaining friends there terribly, the thought of actually going was a complete turn off. I don't want to return as a visitor, having been a resident for so long. It just wouldn't feel right. (Sentiments that are amazingly echoed by a coworker who lived in SF the same time I did.)
Not wanting to stick around town either (I did that last year, and it felt like I had no vacation at all), and with Anderson itchin' to get out on the open road, I was trying to come up with some alternative. Then it hit me: New Mexico! Many years ago, while still living in the City, I took a week off and drove down to Roswell. (I'd never been there, and it was shortly after the 50th anniversary of the supposed crash, so my curiosity had been piqued.) Roswell was fun—and not at all what I was expecting—but it was the rest of the state that blew me away with its beauty and some of the best Mexican food I've had evah. I was especially impressed with White Sands, vowing that I would return one day.
This time, it won't just be a quick jaunt to Roswell. I want to see more of the state than before. So my plan is to first enjoy a bit of Northern Arizona and head to Flagstaff to see the Lowell Observatory (yes, I am a geek), followed by a visit to Sunset Crater and then a stop at Meteor Crater. I'll cross over into New Mexico on I-40 and overnight in Gallup, and the next morning head to the Petroglyph National Monument and Albuquerque in time for a late lunch in Old Town. That afternoon I'll drive to Roswell and visit the UFO Museum. I'll overnight in Roswell and the next morning take one of the bus tours out to the crash site (something I didn't do last time). Or maybe I'll forgo that and just get back on the road and head to White Sands.
As I remember, that portion of the drive—through Carizozo and Alamagordo—is quite scenic with plenty of photographic opportunities presenting themselves along the way. I'll plan on a late lunch at hopefully the same great place I stopped at last time, and then spend a few hours at White Sands. I'll overnight in Deming, and then head to Tucson the following morning.
I'll should arrive in Tucson shortly after lunch, so I'll plan on having dinner and celebrating my birthday with the ex and friends there, and then head home.
Nothing is set in stone, so if anything interesting catches my eye along the way, detours may occur.