DAY 18

North or East?

When we woke up in Sedona, we got into the car and started driving. We had approximately 20 miles until we'd come to a junction and have to decide whether we wanted to go north or east. If we went north, we would head back into Utah and make our way along Southern Colorado. Now, why Utah again? Well, remember our 30something-year-old friends we made in Flagstaff? Turns out they all work at a Resort in Lake Powell. One is a bartender, another a server at a sushi restaurant, and the last an employer for the fancy tour boats that cruise along the lake everyday. They invited us to spend the night there; we would get a free room, free sushi, free drinks, and a free boat ride. The next day, we would cross back into Colorado, visiting Mesa Verde National Park and the Colorado Sand Dunes.

Here is a picture of Lake Powell, and another of the Sand Dunes:

Our other option? Drive eight hours east, half through reservations in Arizona, the other half through reservations in New Mexico. End up in Albuquerque by the evening, set up camp, and figure out what the hell one possibly does in Albuquerque. Then, we'd be in prime location for an exploration of the South, an arms reach from such invigorating cities like Oklahoma City and Little Rock. Be nice and close to Texas. Feet away from fried-everything.

So which did we choose? The latter option, of course. We set up camp in a strange KOA campsite a few exits east of downtown Albuquerque. We met a couple from Amsterdam; they were a few gravel pits down from us and were cooking a steak in butter and drinking wine while we were boiling pasta and cutting peppers. We ate our dinner and then relaxed in the hot tub on the grounds, talking to a woman from Georgia who has been camping with her family for two years around the world while homeschooling her kids. We drank whiskey with two guys next to us, one who was driving to Las Vegas to begin Teach for America, and another who was helping his friend settle in before flying to Mali for the PeaceCorps. We wondered why there was barbed wire surrounding the campsite, and why there was a mysterious punch-code to get in the bathrooms. We also wondered what the next day would bring, what Albuquerque would offer us for another 24 hours..

Surprisingly, we fell in love with the city.

Until then, here is our picturesque tent in Albuquerque. Who needs free sushi and boat rides?...