Tucson, AZ, Part One – Iowa to Arizona

March 11 – 18, 2023

Our trip to Tucson was so amazing, this post would entirely too long if I were to put it all into one. As a result, I will be breaking this trip into multiple posts.

Today, I bring you Part One – Iowa to Tucson

Brandy had to go to one of her properties in Arizona. I thought I’d tag along. The only time I’d ever “been to” Arizona was passing through. We stopped in Kingman as we were moving from California to New Mexico in 2006 but we didn’t do any exploring or anything. We slept and continued on early the next morning.

This will be different though. We will be in Tucson for the better part of five days so we’ll have ample opportunity to explore and do some fun and exciting things.

Prepare for Departure

As usual, Brandy decided to wait until the last minute to pack. I understand that the laundry wasn’t done yet and she needed some stuff from the piles that I’d let wrinkle in the basement after they were clean, so as I refreshed them in the dryer, I took them up, load by load, so she could fold and put it away and pack what she needed.

After my interview on Friday, Brandy and I went to pick up the rental car we’d be taking on the trip. As we pulled in to the parking lot of Enterprise, we saw a pretty nice Jeep, like a Grand Cherokee or something similar. We figure that’s what we’d be driving out in.

We went in to actually rent to car and that’s what we were initially going to be given, but the Jeep needed an oil change and the system wouldn’t let her rent it to us. We had to take the next option which was a 2019 Chevy Equinox. As the model years of the Equinox ticked by, they got smaller and smaller, so this model is much smaller than my car. Once in, I was fine (for a while…. read on…) but getting in to the car is a tight squeeze.

When we got back home with it, I finished up my day at work and started packing it up with what we could- luggage, fan, hygiene, things like that, saving the expensive computers and accessories for the next morning.

Once I did as much as I could there, I went back in to the house and started cleaning the kitchen, after which Brandy and I sat down or some drinks before calling it a night just before 10:00.

And We Left

I woke up at just before 5:30 Saturday morning. I started loading the last of our stuff before finishing the dishes I didn’t get to Friday night. Once done with that, we put Ash is his kennel to wait for Sue, said our good-byes to him and took off.

I stopped by Scooter’s for a coffee and we officially hit the road at just about 7:00 am.

The Longest Day

On these multi-day drives, we’ve gotten into the habit of just driving until we don’t want to drive any more then finding a place to sleep when we get off the highway. We thought this was going to be a similar situation but before long, I think as we traveled through northern Missouri, we were trying to land on a place to stop for the night. We decided to try to push it to Tucumcari, NM.

For years, since my affinity for the nostalgia of Route 66 Americana blossomed, I’d wanted to go to Tucumcari to see the buzzing neon, and to stay at the Blue Swallow Motel. Brandy looked it up as we drove down the interstate and called and booked the Lillian Redman Suite, which includes a queen bed in its own bedroom, a walk-in shower stall, a claw-foot bathtub, and perfect mid-century décor.

We drove on with my tummy upset at the fact that I’d had a coffee with no food to help. I had to stop three times in the first 6 hours of the drive to use the restroom. After the last stop, my stomach calmed down and I was able to make it the rest of the way with just gassing up the car and regular pee breaks.

We made our way through the rest of Missouri and into Kansas with a substantial amount of rain. The wipers stayed in the ‘on’ position the whole way through. After quite some time, I was able to finally put them on the ‘intermittent’ setting, then finally turn them off altogether.

We continued on through Kansas, stopping in Pratt for gas. On and on we went, both of us getting more and more sore from sitting in the car for so long. By the time we got to Dalhart, Texas, I had to pee once more so I stopped, ran into a Toot N Totem, peed, ran back out and we pushed through to the last part of our drive.

Tucumcari, NM

We pulled into the parking lot at the Blue Swallow Motel at right around 7:30 Saturday night. I stumbled out of the car, my legs numb from the 13 and a half hours of pinching on my sciatic nerve.

Once I got enough feeling in my legs to walk, I made my way into the lobby of the motel where I was greeted by Robert, the owner of the hotel since 2020. He was very nice, greeting me heartily and, once check in was complete, he personally walked us to our room and gave us a tour, peppering in trivial info about the motel along the way.

Once he left us, I unloaded what we needed for the night, called Del’s Restaurant, which was right up the street, to order dinner, made my way to the Motel’s gift shop to pick up some souvenirs, then headed out to pick up dinner.

I quickly returned to the motel where we had our dinners, Brandy had smother chicken and I had the chicken tenders with fries and mac & cheese, completely derailing any weight loss I’d experienced the week prior.

After dinner, we were both exhausted from the long drive so I chewed up a couple melatonin gummies and we turned in for the night.

White Sands National Park

I woke up at about 4:30 Sunday morning, considering Daylight Saving Time started early Sunday morning, and we were now in the mountain time zone, I still somehow wound up with over 6 hours of sleep.

I went to go to to the bathroom and found we had a visitor.

I was startled. I turned on the water and washed the bugger back down the drain, then plugged the drain with the stopper on the sink.

I went out to the living room area to start this post while Brandy snoozed on. Before long, she was up, we were packed up and back on the road before 6:30.

As we’d pulled into town on Saturday night, the car told me we had right around 100 miles until we were out of gas. I figured I’d stop on our way out of town Sunday morning. As we drove down old Route 66, we only passed one gas station before getting to I-40, and it looked kind of sketchy. It was still dark so I thought I’d wait until we got off the freeway in Santa Rosa, which is fewer than 60 miles. As we drove down I-40, I watched the miles tick off the Miles to Empty setting much faster than I was driving. It warned us that we were at 50 miles remaining, then 40, then is just said “>30 miles”. It stopped giving us specific numbers. As quickly as the miles were dropping, I was certain we weren’t going to make it. We finally got to civilization and pulled off the freeway at the first exit with a gas station. I turned into a Phillips 66 right at the offramp where an employee was putting “Out of Order” signs on all the pumps.

“Are you all out of gas?” I asked.

“Yep.”

Well.

We left the Phillips and crossed the highway to a Love’s right by the onramp to the 40 east. There I was able to fill the car with gas, coffee and grab a bite to eat.

We headed down highway 54 through Vaughn, Corona, and Carrizozo. As we headed in its direction, Brandy asked if I wanted to go check out White Sands. I said absolutely. I pulled over and added the stop to our route and we continued along our way, eventually finding ourselves at the Walmart in Alamogordo.

We went in and picked up a few things- phone holders, an elbow brace for Brandy, trash bags and, most importantly, pillows. We were still both very sore from the car ride and having been in the car for 4 hours already wasn’t helping. After checking out, we re-situated ourselves and I put a pillow on my seat before settling in for the quick drive to the dunes of White Sands.

There was a pretty significant line of cars to get into the park, however once we’d flashed our America the Beautiful pass at the gate, we were able to make better time.

The dried brush landscape started thinning as we traveled along, the red and gold sands giving way to the eponymous white sands. As we traveled, the brush and foliage thinned more and more and before long, we were driving among the stark white dunes of gypsum sands.

We pass several large parking areas. The first one we passed was packed. So many cars and people, kids with rented sleds sliding down the white hills.

The next one we passed was very full as well, though not as busy as the first one. Each subsequent parking area was less and less busy until we got to a large are with maybe half a dozen cars parked in it. This is where we pulled off the road and parked.

Brandy had been to White Sands before during our brief time apart in 2021. She was very tired and very sore so she stayed near the car while I climbed the dune nearest to where we parked.

The climb was maybe 20 feet to the top of the dune, but because it’s that nice, loose, soft sand, it was a helluva workout to hoist my achy bones to the top.

Once at the top, I had a nice, 360 degree panoramic view of the dunes stretching to the Sacramento mountains to the east and the San Andres mountains to the west.

I snapped some pictures, though I wasn’t too sure of what I was shooting as the glare from the sun and the reflective white sand made it impossible to see the screen. Once I felt I had a good representation of the park, I made my way back down to the car. We continued up Dunes Dr. for a few miles then turned around and headed back toward the highway. I stopped at the visitor center to pick up a few souvenirs, and boy was it packed. It was shoulder-to-shoulder in the store, and me, being the bull in the China shop that I am, got pretty claustrophobic in a hurry. I finally got to the register and asked, “Is it normally this crowded here?”

The cashier responded, “It’s usually pretty busy on the weekends, but it’s worse today because it’s Spring Break.”

That explained it.

I got back to the car where Brandy was waiting and we got back on the highway to finish the drive to Tucson.

So, what did I think of White Sands National Park? Well, I will say that I’m glad I got to go, to see it and to cross it off the list. Will I go back? Yeah, probably once more to stamp my National Park passport, but after that, yeah, probably not. It was not visually appealing to us. The type of place where once you saw the first quarter mile or so of the dunes, you got the idea. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there is a lot to do and learn there, but it just wasn’t for me.

Hey, ya can’t win ’em all, can ya?

On To Tucson

We continued down highway 70 to I-25 south for a few miles, then merged on to I-10 west, shortly after which we pulled off to top off with gas one more time at a Bowlin’s Old West Trading Post. We got a bag of ice, which was way more of an ordeal than it should have been, then made the rest of the drive to Tucson uneventfully, pulling in to the Quality Inn at the Tucson airport at around 3:30.

What can I say about the Quality Inn? It’s a roof and walls, that’s for sure. It’s definitely an older building and needs a lot of work. The list of things I found wrong with it is too innumerable. Again, it’s a roof and walls, and the bed is reasonably comortable.

I parked around the corner from the front desk and joined Brandy in the room. I opened the blinds to check out our lack of view and was greeted with our rental car, right outside our window.

I ran back out, backed the car up to the window and unloaded everything through the open window into our room. That was so much easier than carting everything around, through the lobby and into the room.

Once unpacked, we headed to Whole foods for a quite bite to eat at their hot/salad bar, then went to Safeway around the corner to stock up on food for the five days we were there. On our way back to the hotel, we swung by the property Brandy was there to see and did a quick drive-through. It’s a run down little place. The trailers are old and dilapidated and the roads are in dire need of repair. Once we’d seen enough, we headed back to the Quality Inn. We put groceries away, I took a quick shower, set up my CPAP and was fast asleep at 8:30.

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of Part One of my trip report to Tucson.

The stay at the Blue Swallow was everything I’d hoped it’d be. I look forward to staying there again when we eventually get around to the Route 66 tour I want to take.

The stop at White Sands was fine, though not as exhilarating as I’d hoped it’d be. I’m glad I stopped there, I plan on one more stop, then that’ll be it for me.

I wish we had a more comfortable car to drive, but we had to make do with what we had. Knowing we have the whole drive back to Iowa in it did not excite me.

Stay tuned for part two of the trip report coming soon.

In the meantime, check out pics from the Blue Swallow and White Sands in my Photo Diary.

And until the next time, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate you!

-Phil