Southwest USA Trip - September 2015

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” – Gustave Flaubert

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

Well, my traveling journey and adventure has come to an end. At least for this particular trip. But only until the next one.

My primary goal during this last day was just to reach my destination......HOME. Up until this point, the journey was the destination. Every little opportunity that presented itself along the way for a beautiful picture I tried to take advantage of. I think I may have succeeded in some instances.....maybe not as much in others. But in the end, I have a folder full of photographic memories that I can go back to whenever I want and relive those moments.

So as I began my exit from beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday morning, it was still completely dark. Just before leaving, I completed my typical morning routine by now of fueling up the SUV and fueling up myself with some much needed coffee and breakfast sandwich. Just love the sandwich! It's so easy to hold with one hand while driving with the other! However, the payday for leaving so early while it was still dark was bearing witness to a beautiful sunrise right in front of me as I continued to travel directly East on I-40. I captured some images from my cell phone and then also from my camera. It rose quickly so I continued to take multiple shots as I could (while continuing to drive safely). Hey, at least there was little to no one else on the roads that early on a Monday morning.

Besides just getting home, the only other real plans I had for the day were to stop at the famous Cadillac Ranch just on the West side of Amarillo, off I-40. Since I was approaching Amarillo from that direction, it was an easy exit for me right to the ranch. I've driven past here many times in the past but this was the first time I'd actually stopped. I was surprised to see a very large group of vehicles parked by the road with Japanese banners on the sides of the cars. Obviously there was a large group traveling together for something. Once I reached the cars, I saw video cameras filming a guy holding a microphone, a bunch of other people around him, and it appeared almost like he was reporting a news story, or maybe just part of an overall film they were making. You can see for yourself.

Anyway, I walked around and captured some great shots of the cars. There were spray paint cans lying all around and most of the people there were spray painting whatever they wanted onto the cars. This is okay and is part of the fun! I just got the shots I wanted and left, refueled again, and grabbed my favorite chicken sandwich and lemonade for the drive.

The only other stop I had planned was to get some shots of Memphis, TX. Why Memphis? Well Memphis, TN is after all where I grew up and spent 16 years of my life. And there aren't very many cities named Memphis that I'm aware of. So for all my friends and family back home, I've posted some shots from beautiful Memphis, TX.

After leaving Memphis (TX), the goal was just to get home. At this point, as bittersweet as it was to be ending my journey, once you know the end is insight, you just want to get there. And for what has been a fantastic and very uneventful trip thus far, the Texas State Trooper off of 380 just outside of Denton changed that as he didn't necessarily share my enthusiasm for getting home. But I have to say, it was my fault (although he was sitting right behind the Speed Limit sign as it dropped from 75 to 65) and our law enforcement officers have had a really tough time lately. So I still managed to thank him for his service and I'll just have to pay the fine. I didn't say "gladly" but I'll pay it. Makes up for all the others that I probably got away with! LOL

So in the end and looking back, I'm so glad I made this trip and I'm also so thankful that it turned out to be as successful as it was. No issues anywhere regarding my overall travel or health and this trip provided for a much needed get away from the stresses of everyday life. It was also nice to meet so many others out there doing the same thing. Many of them tourists from around the world, many retired couples traveling the United States together, and others, just like me, traveling alone either in cars or on motorcycles, or some even walking/hiking or riding bikes. But the one thing each of us had in common was the journey around and across this great nation of ours. I too would love to travel to other places around the world, experience other cultures and people, and see new sights. And I'm hoping to take a trip to Ireland next year if my early planning works out. But in the meantime, it's nice to know that we have SO much beauty right in our own backyards that can be reached just by getting in our cars and driving to them.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about my journey as much as I've enjoyed bringing it through either my Blog or through my posts on Facebook. It's been a rewarding experience for me and I thank you for taking the time to read and follow along.

I used by Canon for all of the pictures that I've posted on this Blog up until now. However, along the way, if there were shots that I wanted to capture and immediately share for friends/family on Facebook, then I used my cellphone so that I could post them right away. So below, not only do I have the last pictures of my journey from Monday, 09/28/2015, but I've also just added a final section at the bottom to include all the mobile pictures from my cellphone. It actually takes really good pictures and that's the only camera I saw many travelers using. So you may have seen some of them before either through Facebook posts or just because I may have taken the same shot again with my Canon camera and included previously on my Blog. But enjoy them all as well.

All are just moments in time captured forever.