Day 7: Mile-High City

We spent Day 7 in Denver, the mile-high city. It’s about halfway through our trip so it’s time for the acronym post. 

D stands for the delicious rice bowl we had at Bupu in downtown Denver. 

E stands for eclectic, a description used for Union Station, the newly rejuvenated train station in that features cool bars and restaurants like the Kitchen Next Door where we ate for dinner.

Courtesy of Google search images

N stands for Naomi and Nick, who graciously hosted us, let us over-excite their adorable puppy Harley, and loaned us their washer and dryer. 

V stands for the vibrant fireworks that started up after the Colorado Rockies game near our restaurant and were so close they originally sounded like a thunderstorm. 

E also stands for elevation sickness, also called altitude sickness, which felled our very own Causally Kissing Cowboys who flew back to New York a little early. Don’t worry CCK, we’ll pour a little something out for you at each campground.

R stands for RiNo, or the River North District where we met up with the Gringo Gaucho’s friends for the Denver going out experience. 

We can now add this capital to our long list of capital cities we have visited (Richmond, Columbia, Austin, Little Rock, Nashville, Boston, Santa Fe, and now Denver).

The next post is for the happening city of Boulder. Stay tuned as we travel north for a couple days!

-TechTalkin’ and Walkin’

Day 6: There’s No Place Like Liberal, KS

As the bright rays of the Amarillo morning sun streamed through the vents of our Jucy Van, we rubbed the sleep from our eyes and descended the rickety ladder to the dusty earth of Texas. Texas, we love you but it was time to move on to states we’ve never crossed. 

After a brief detour to Dunkin Donuts (thanks Babs for the gift card!) we hit the flat road and attempted to accelerate to the 75 mph speed limit in the .5 miles before we needed to make our next turn (I’ve never been worried about being pulled over for going too SLOW before.) Thanks to some blog advertising on the side of our #jucyvan, we got some advice from a fellow teacher we passed on the road in our comments, txteachef, and successfully navigated our way to Oklahoma!

We learned a few things about the Western Texas landscape today. Actually, we learned four things: corn, cows, trains, and tourbines. That’s all we have to report. 

We drove through Oklahoma for exactly 31 minutes and 28 seconds, (but that totally counts towards our state tally!) before entering Kansas. 

Now, those of you who have known me since childhood know that I was deeply infatuated with the Wizard of Oz. I had a plastic basket that I used to stuff a toy dog in and walk around the house after watching the film every day as a treat when I got home from school. One Christmas I even got a pair of FABULOUS ruby red slippers from Glinda herself (alright, it was my Aunt Janet). So, naturally, if we were going to Kansas, I was going to find Dorothy. And we found her…and her little friends too. 

We didn’t have especially high hopes for Dorothy’s house, despite it being the #1 rated thing to do in Liberal, Kansas, but we were pleasantly surprised to be offered an interactive tour. We visited Dorothy’s house from Kansas, complete with all authentic 1920s home goods, and then took a trip through the magical world of Oz (it was in Dorothy’s back yard if you can believe it!) We walked the yellow brick road, witnessed the final resting place of the Wicked Witch of the East, were almost attacked by the winged monkeys, and met the Wizard. 

We left feeling overly satisfied and reconnected to childhood (I even sported pigtails for the event- which in hindsight is probably why the waitress we next met thought I was only 21, another reminder that we are no longer four teachers in our early 20s…)

Obviously, we next had to visit the second  highest rated thing to do in Liberal, Kansas according trip advisor- the Pancake House. Pancakes of all shapes and sizes were consumed and we took off on the open road again, this time blasting the soundtrack to Wicked (great idea Pete!)

Although we originally intended to spend the night in Liberal, we realized that there was really nothing left to do in between Kansas and Denver (we literally had nothing remaining on our trip advisor reference list) so we decided to power through to Lamar, CO. Lamar is a sleepy little town, so we took a nap! We woke up to check out the best rated restaurant (conveniently located next to the Lamar Visitor Center, the second highest rated thing to do in Lamar- we really like trip advisor) and learned that Thai food in south east Colorado just means “Asian.” With full bellies, we headed back to old faithful #holidayinnexpress to watch Lip Sync Battles!

We’re due for some city sight seeing so check in tomorrow to see where we end up!

-The Gringo Gaucho

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers

Day 5: Texas Forever

I know we already visited Texas (see our original post about Texas) on our first road trip (we miss you Petry!) but it’s just too large of a state to hit only once. This time we came from the west into Amarillo, TX to spend a day in the land where you go big or go home.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Hyatt Place in Santa Fe and got on the road. We used our trusty Roadside Attractions app to figure out where to stop and ended up in Tecumcari, NM at the Route 66 sign and a historic stretch of the highway. We took some pictures and ate lunch at the Cornerstone Deli before continuing our journey.

Our drive into Amarillo consisted of lots of cows and the Wildorado Wind Farm, a 25-mile stretch of wind turbines. Although Texas is known for oil, western Texas has made a big push for wind energy and it shows in huge wind farms around Amarillo.

Picture from north of Amarillo that sums up western Texas:

Right before Amarillo we stopped at another roadside attraction: Cadillac Ranch. After walking through a field we took some pictures of some Cadillacs and also discovered that Amarillo now also houses a Tractor Ranch and a VW Ranch (we stuck with the original). 

Then we checked into the friendliest KOA ever (read my review on Yelp- Amarillo KOA). Not only did they welcome us, they escorted us to our tent site, made sure we knew all the amenities, and offered a free shuttle ride to The Big Texan. 

Although we did not partake in the shuttle ride, we did decide to visit the Big Texan for dinner (more on that later).

We have kept up a lot of our Roadtrip traditions including seeing a ghost tour, going on a factory tour (you’ll see which one later), and listening to Ken’s state mixes (thanks Ken!). We also managed to catch Independence Day on tv July 4. Well, maybe you guys don’t know this but Independence Day: Resurgence came out so we had to see it. 

Below is my review of the movie (not the opinion of all road trippers):

Don’t go see Independence Day: Resurgence with any expectations. It is not straight-to-DVD bad but it does have a lot of major plot holes. Basically, they tried to keep all the things that we loved about the first movie while setting up a sequel with a new cast of characters that we’re supposed to be invested in. Susan Surandon summed it up perfectly: 

“When I read the script, I couldn’t understand what was going on. I just couldn’t understand it. Seriously. A lot of the people from the original one were not going to be doing it, and I read it and I just thought, ‘No. I can’t. I just can’t’.” 

However, I was thoroughly entertained because the special effects were decent and Liam Hemsworth was in it. Also, I kept picturing what it looked like on set and couldn’t stop giggling (I imagined lots of screaming in front of green screens and Jeff Goldblum stopping direction to add his take to what he thought the shot should look like). We basically only paid half-price for a ticket so while keeping all that in mind, I think it was worth it. 

Back to Amarillo, TX… After our movie we made our way to the Big Texan. I’ll let the pictures show the story:

Although we were sure we could have eaten the 72 oz steak if we had tried (it’s free if you eat it within an hour) we all had our 8 oz steaks (smallest steak on the menu) and rolled back into the KOA for a night under the stars (and next to the airport as we discovered throughout the night).

-TechTalkin’ and Walkin’

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers

Day 4: Santa Fe

After enduring an entire night of what sounded like were 400 pound children running across the floor at all hours of the night, we woke up to yet another Holiday Inn Express breakfast. Tech Walkin and Talkin even squeezed in a Crossfit work out! 💪🏼 

Then we hit the road to Santa Fe. Of course Suavest of the Seas and Gringo Gaucho had to play the soundtrack from the 1992 hit Disney musical, The Newsies. They knew all of the words to all of the songs from this cult classic, making Tech Walkin and Talkin and Casually Kissing Cowboys wonder if we too should be part of said cult. (You should join the cult too if you want to see Christian Bale sing and dance pre crazy meltdown down on the set of Batman.) Tripadvisor said that a must do in Santa Fe was Canyon Road, where the art galleries are. We parked the  Jucy Van in the lot and stopped by the Tea House to use their facilities. While Tech Walkin and Talkin bought a delightful Oolong Tea, the Gringo Gaucho helped herself to a fancy water cooler, which we discovered was for the construction workers who were working outside. Oops! As we ran away in shame, we passed by the galleries, which had TripAdvisor reviews such as: “high quality art for a high price” and “spent way too much money here.”

We soon realized that we did not have the money for the artwork displayed and headed downtown. Our first stop was the Saint Francis of Asisi Cathedral, Basilica, which had a beautiful mix of classic church decor and South Western designs. 

Outside of the church was a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, who was the first Native American to be canonized as a Saint. 

We then walked around the town for a bit, passing various jewelry stores while searching for a copper bracelet for Tech Walkin and Talkin and a vintage postcard for Suavest of the Seas. As we walked around, we realized that Santa Fe is the perfect place to continue a treasured roadtrip tradition: a ghost tour. After all, with the history of displaced Native Americans, Spanish Conquistadors, Pioneers, and Billy the Kid, Santa Fe had to have some great spirits from beyond. (You’ve played Oregon Trail… Dysentery was no joke)

We arranged a private tour (VIP status) with Peter, who looked like he stepped out of the Marlboro Ad from the 70s. He told us stories (with primary source pictures) of a bride who was killed in La Fonda hotel, an evil spirit who smelled like rotting meat, and our favorite ghost, Julia Staab who has an affinity for haunting the women’s bathroom at the Posada Hotel. Gringo Gaucho and Suavest of the Seas braved the bathroom, where they heard strange noises coming from the toilet while taking this selfie. 

Over dinner, we discussed the Newsies again, reminiscing over how cute the characters Jack (Christian Bale) and Brooklyn aka Spot Conlon (Gabriel Damon) were, 

 which lead to a ridiculous yet entertaining conversation of our childhood crushes, which included Rufio from Hook

Atrayu from Never Ending Story 

And Benny the Jet from The Sandlot

This then led to an Internet black hole of Buzzfeed articles and YouTube videos which are featured below for your viewing pleasure. You’re welcome.

Santa Fe Newsies

Buzzfeed prepubescent crushes article
Cheers to the 90s and nostalgia. 

How to Follow Us

Since we’ve started shamelessly promoting our blog on the side of our #jucyvan (pics forthcoming), we thought it would be helpful to share how to follow our blog. By following, our blog will show up in your wordpress reader AND you will receive email updates when we post. Don’t worry, you can fix the settings to get emails weekly or monthly if you don’t want to flood your inbox. 

Use this link to wordpress’ support page to learn the various ways you can follow!

Day 3: Choose Your Own Adventure

Today we tried something new. Despite the fact that we love each other dearly, and one day hope to be trapped together on a boat sailing from Alaska to Hawaii to complete our tour of all 50 states, we decided to split up this afternoon. After a continental breakfast at our road trip home away from home #holidayinnexpress, a brief panic moment when we realized we had started a 148-mile trip down a road in the desert with only an 1/8 a tank of gas, and a delightful lunch outside next to an adorable King Charles Cavalier named Oliver, we arrived in Albequerque and Casually Kissing Cowboys and I left Suavest of the Seas and Tech Talkin and Walkin at a museum to get all “educated” while we satisfied our pop culture addiction by taking ourselves on a self guided Breaking Bad tour. So readers, we allow you now to choose YOUR own adventure. To read more about Walter White skip below to the 🔷🔷🔷 (blue meth) symbol.  If you’re more interested in learning about what the Museum of Nuclear Science and History has to offer skip to the 🎆🎆🎆 (atomic bomb) emojis. 

🔷🔷🔷 The tour began where the story began, Walter and Skylar White’s home (although it is not Walter White’s birthday and we were not served bacon in the shape of our age).  We found a woman (presumably the owner of the home) sitting in a lawn chair of her garage shouting that pictures could be taken from across the street. This led us to wonder a) is this a full time job for her and b) why didn’t she capitalize on this by charging for photos? Sadly, there was no pizza on the roof (maybe that’s why she’s there!) 

We then drove around the corner to the strip mall which once housed the greatest  sleezy lawyer of all time, Saul Goodman, and found his office has been transformed into a bar. Unfortunately, there was no cranky receptionist to welcome us, however, Saul’s information is still proudly listed on the door. 

Next we cruised over to the setting of the moment of Breaking Bad that finally established our beloved Chemistry teacher slipping into evil incarnate and my personal “can’t turn back” moment in the series- Jane’s apartment. You know what happened there, you know. 

This was the part of our tour in which we wondered, “Where do all the rich people in Ablequerque live?” It turns out, they live in Jesse’s deceased aunt’s neighborhood. Check out Jesse’s pad and also take a moment to remember the sweet, sweet retribution of Jesse buying this house from his parents after they had paid for the remodel. 

Finally, our tour came to an end by paying respects to the One who Knocks and the product that brought him money, stability, and corruption.  

And that concludes the tour. Please skip down to the 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 emojis to read about the conclusion of the day and our celebration of America. 

🎆🎆🎆 Tech Talkin and Walkin headed into the museum to learn about the single most terrifying human invention- nuclear weapons. 

The museum was divided into a history side and science side (fitting, considering the two teachers who visited).  They started on the history side where they saw replicas of Fat Man and Little Boy true to proportion, which are apparently much larger than imagined. 

The epic size of these weapons of mass destruction is of course not their most terrifying aspect. When tested in Los Alamos, New Mexico the heat given off was so high that the sand melted and turned into radioactive glass named Trinitite after the Trinity test. 

At this point our road trippers found themselves on the science side of the museum and had an intellectual discussion about the moral responsibility of scientists. Apparently, after they tested the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer immediately regretted his discovery and quoted ancient Hindu scripture, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” It would make for a great science elective, no?  Naturally, Suavest of the Seas and Tech Talkin and Walkin left wanting to watch more things blow up in the sky. Skip to 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 to read more on that. 

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 To celebrate America, and our 5th anniversary of commemorating the 4th of July from cities around the country, we determined to walk down the road to Balloon Fiesta Park and join the Albuquerque Freedom 4th Festival. We can report that although the fireworks themselves could not surpass Burlington’s (see post from July 4th 2013), the overall event was beyond anything we’ve seen so far- complete with a beer garden, Chick-fil-a vendors (those of you who have been following us will remember how much we love Chick-fil-a), a live show, and couple thousand people. 

​​
Overall, we were happy to celebrate the 4th of July with the very friendly people of New Mexico! Tomorrow, onwards to Santa Fe (save a place, I’ll be there…)

The Gringo Gaucho

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers

Day 2: Leg Day

So my day started with the sun shining into the Penthouse of our Jucy Van… at 5:30 am. Luckily, I was still on East Coast time so it was only a little bit of an inconvenience but I wish I had used my early rising to my advantage because KOA pro-tip #1:   Get to the bathrooms as early as possible or you wait forever!

After a hearty breakfast at the Grand Cayon Cafe (below the Williams, AZ ex-bordello) we got on the road to the Grand Canyon South Rim.

After a quick stop by the Visitor’s Center, we drove to the South Kaibab Trailhead to start our hike down into the Grand Canyon. It’s hard to describe your first glimpse of the Grand Canyon but John McCain came pretty close:

I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also.

John McCain

I’ve seen the Grand Canyon twice before and every time I am taken aback that there are places on Earth like this.

We hiked down to Ooh Aah Point (and made the appropriate noises) – if you plan to ever hike the Grand Canyon be prepared for lots of downhill and then back uphill, hence our leg day workout! By the end of our 1.8-mile hike we had worked calves, glutes, quads, and lungs.

Also on our hike we passed the famous mules as they walked up from the canyon floor. The effort was half-assed (hee hee- courtesy of the Gringo Gaucho).

After the Grand Canyon, we spent the hottest part of the day driving through northern Arizona to The Four Corners Monument. Along the way we encountered some amazing town names including Mexican Hat and Rare Metals. This makes sense as we had already learned of the probably super-honest town of Truth or Consequences, AZ.

By the time we arrived at the Four Corners Monument we were ready to take a quick picture in four different states at the same time but encountered a line of epic proportions as everybody in Arizona had the same idea. In the forty minutes we waited we planned the 3 pictures we were going to take (there was a limit), evened out our weird tans from the earlier hike, and discovered nobody actually wanted to visit this monument in the first place! We made the most of it, though and came up with some cute pictures and even made associations (although some further reaching than others) for each of us with the four states.

Gringo Gaucho: Colorado, lived in Boulder for four years as she attended University of Colorado

Casually Kissing Cowboys: New Mexico because she is moving to “old Mexico” (notice that someone  conveniently cropped the picture to demonstrate our true feelings about her moving)

TechTalkin’ and Walkin’: Utah because she spent many summers with family in Duchesne, Utah (and it’s her favorite state to visit)

Suavest of the Seas: Arizona because she loves Arizona Ice Tea

We ended our day in Farmington, NM where we marveled at the number of people hanging out in parking lots (then realized they were waiting for fireworks) and visited the local Olive Garden. After another eventful, long day we settled into our favorite hotel chain. #holidayinnexpress 

Tomorrow we start our New Mexico city tours!

– TechTalkin’ and Walkin’

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers



Day 1:JUCY LUCY

We finally made it to Sin City! After waking up before the sun and heading to Dirty Jerz to catch our flight, enduring a turbulent flight that felt like it would never end, (“We’re plane people now” -Insert Tina Fey voice in 30 Rock), and then stopping for a much needed Cinnabon and Jamba Juice break in the airport, we made it to the Jucy van location.

Jucy van, like much of the people of New Zealand, where the company originated, is a laid back, green, outdoors loving place. And this decoration just spoke to our  souls as teachers who have lost all track of time. 

Once we got in the van and stopped at Walmart to stock up on sunscreen and snacks, we headed back to the airport to pick up Suavest of the Seas, who braved her own turbulent flight alone. Then we headed to In and Out for a planned stop, because you know no teacher roadtrip to this side of America is complete without an Animal Style burger. 

We then headed for the KOA near the Grand Canyon. On the way to the campsite, we saw signs for the Hoover Dam, and thought why not? After all, Casually Kissing Cowboys and Suavest of the Seas are history buffs, and the New Deal is so much fun to teach because FDR was a boss! 

After admiring the marvels of engineering and the Art Deco railings and bathroom doors, while simultaneously suffering from heatstroke,  

we headed into the air conditioned gift shop (obvi) to buy water that was dam good. (Corny dam joke, I know, but it goes out to Tech Walkin and Talkin’s husband). At least this company understands that there is a niche market. 

Once we finished rehydrating, we headed over to the KOA, where we headed into the town to get some dinner. There was a large crowd gathered around a Wild West show and we were tempted to stop and watch, but our hunger beat out our curiosity. 

By the time we finished eating, we were soo tired. The day felt longer than that flight from earlier in the day, and we were ready to try out the sleeping quarters of our Jucy Van. Tech Walkin and Talkin and Casually Kissing Cowboys shared the penthouse on the top of the van while Gaucho Gringo and Suavest of the Seas slept in the delux suite inside. Despite it being cold and it being a van, it wasn’t too bad! Cheers to sleeping under the stars on Day 1. 

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers

Day 0: When I (Don’t) Go to Vegas

Four score and seven years ago (ok, it might not have been exactly four score but it was definitely 7 years ago) a few teachers found a great deal on Orbitz for round trip flights to Vegas and four nights in a Venetian suite. The rest of the world was struggling to claw its way out of a deep pit of recession- but we’re NYC public school teachers, and while we don’t ever get raises, we also aren’t subject to cut backs! So with consistent pay checks and an aim to capitalize on the dipping flight costs, we booked our trip to Vegas, baby!!

What happened next has gone down in (teacher) history as the infamously, worst traveling experience of all time. When we arrived at 6 am to LaGuardia airport the planes’ wings were frozen (concerning) and we were stuck on the Tarmac for an hour while they were defrosted. We arrived for our connecting flight in Milwaukee where we learned that our second flight had left 8 MINUTES earlier. They chose not to wait despite the fact that there were over 20 people on our plane booked for that connection. Instead, they flew us to Minneapolis where we spent 6 hours sleeping on seats in a sketchy hallway between two terminals because they were the only rows we could find in the entire airport without metal arm rests breaking them up. We scoured the airport for food and settled on fish and chips at 8:30 am because it was the only thing open and returned to our camp out to find Suavest of the Seas napping with an $80 Brookstone pillow and blanket set that she bought in a sleep deprived trance (actually, this was the single good thing that came out of that day because that Brookstone set has come in handy in many an international airport and an entire month in Sicily since).  We then flew to Atlanta (because that’s on the way to Vegas) to finally get on a 4th plane to our destination. By the time we had arrived, we were so wrecked, and our immune systems were so strained, that two of our crew spent the first 48 hours vomiting in the Venetian suite toilet and two days later I ended up at a sketchy off strip Vegas clinic where Casually Kissing Cowboys and Suavest of the Seas were left for over two hours in the waiting room to plan how to gently tell my family I had succumbed to my battle with what has been affectionately coined “Vegas Throat.”  Four days and three prescriptions later (including a dubious bottle of “Magic Mouth Wash”- actual name) we returned to NYC with our heads bowed in defeat. Not even a close encounter with Christian Slater at an airport slot machine on which I won $150 could compensate for the disaster of Vegasgate 2009.

I tell you this anecdote now because you would think- nay, you would pray- that we had learned our lesson. But no. In planning this road trip we thought, “hell yeah, it’d be great to start and end our road trip in Las Vegas, and hey, it’s summer, so no frozen airplane wings right?” Right. Except, we did not account for tornados in New York (are Tara Reid and Ian Ziering filming Sharknado 5 or something?) and golf sized hail in Vegas. Nine rebookings, two dropped calls with Unites airlines, and one arrival and imminent departure from LaGuardia airport landed us…literally no where. Day one of the road trip can be summarized in the following screen shot from my mail app:

Please note the time stamp at the bottom because that’s the time we left this morning for Vegas. Because, we spent day one of our road trip… at home. Actually at Tech Talkin and Walkin’s home in Scarsdale because the rest of us are literally living out of a van (more on that later) until the end of July.

I’m happy to report that I am blogging this from the Vegas airport having finally arrived.

We’d like to give a special shout out to Pete for driving us to Laguardia and back for no reason at all, Doris for finally booking the Newark flight over the phone, the captain of United Airlines flight 1899 for weathering the worst turbulence I’ve felt in years, and finally the charming flight attendant who told us our in flight entertainment didn’t work because, “the left side of the plane has had a stroke” (dear God).

I am going to leave you with this gem, the breakout single from DJ Ken Utting’s debut LP mix CD fondly titled “When Teachers from Hell go to Vegas,” a fan favorite from Vegasgate.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=up9fq9hJ9Zs

Enjoy!

The Gringo Gaucho

#teacherroadtrip #jucyworld #southwest #roadtrip #teachers

Back at it again

Well ladies and gents, it is that time of year again when your favorite teachers go out and explore what America has to offer. This time, we are tackling the great states of Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, Kansas, Utah, Texas, and New Mexico. So as we start our engines in our Jucy van, we look forward to kicking off summer with updates on our blog. See ya soon!

❤️ Casually Kissing Cowboys