The Reluctant Road Tripper: Day 12

New Mexico→Arizona→Nevada

Making our way further to the west, we crossed through New Mexico from Texas. 

You know why we're here right? To find Walter White a.k.a. Heisenberg. Have you seen him?

Image via fanaru.com

Sorry for the white spots that are all over the road photos… those are actually remnants of splattered bugs that have met their doom by our windshield. That's as Heisenberg as I can get, folks.

Odd, there was a church that was totally camouflaged on a hill. Spotting that church is like looking for Waldo or...you guessed it right, Heisenberg. ( I swear this is the last Heisenberg reference on this post.)

A bunch of dudes (and a girl) on Harley's, going to I-don't-know-where but dang, in this heat? Really?

Giant teepee that sold Indian arts and crafts inside.

Aaaannd we’re back to Arizona. The best thing I love about Arizona is that they have the most interesting rock formations (check out more pics of rock formations on Day 1) and the biggest canyons that I’ve ever seen. Uh, duh, that’s why they have the Grand Canyon!

Speaking of rock formations, look what I found…anyone feel the love?

Some abandoned house. I saw a lot of them randomly scattered in the middle of nowhere. Kinda creepy.

Wait, what is this? Do I smell another random disowning moment from my Dad detour like Niagara Falls?

 I’ve never seen a crater in real life before, aside from the one on your face. I'm just keedeeng. Tee-hee!

Heading to the visitor's center. Be reminded that you do need to purchase a ticket to get in so don't forget to bring some moolah before you enter.

Good News: We made it. Bad News: It is scorching hottttttttt outside and when I went in to get some food, they only had Subway. Ugh, I need me some greasy, fried stuff right about now.

The crater was so wide and deep, I couldn't possibly capture its true size with my compact camera's narrow lens.

I thought we were going to view the crater from an air-conditioned, enclosed area---but no, we had to go out and roast ourselves like lechon view it on this useless viewing area that had gaps on the roof. I think they are thinking of making us into a Panini by the looks of this.

The crater is nice to look at and no doubt, breathtaking, but how long can you really stare at a crater? Especially in this crazy dry heat? So I just posed for a picture, smiled like I meant it *insert The Killers*, and ran back inside before I would disintegrate into thin air.

Relieved to be back inside, we saw the largest discovered fragment of the meteor that was out on display. The guide said that it was made up of 90 percent iron or something like that (don’t take my word for it though, so don't write that in your science homework). We were allowed to touch it and I couldn’t help but imagine how scary it would have been to have a huge meteor almost entirely made up of iron, crash in the middle of a metropolis.

The Holsinger Meteorite

Off we went to the gift shop to check out their stuff. They sold random souvenirs like these cute little cacti.

They have an Astronaut Wall Of Fame by the outdoor seating area.

Despite the overwhelming heat outside, it's hard not to appreciate the color contrast of the desert and the blue skies.

My skin is toast.

Passing through Flagstaff, Arizona.

Pretty much I dozed off until we finally got to our final stop of the day… Laughlin, Nevada!

Wiping the blur out of my eyes, I saw this on the console…What the cock-a-doodle? 122 degrees outside!

More dead bugs on the windshield. Welcome to Laughlin.

And whoa, water in the desert? It’s the Colorado River!

So what’s in Laughlin? Just imagine you’re in Vegas but everyone in the casino is either a retiree or your grandma and granpa out on vacay. Seriously, I felt like a toddler. Although outside is a different story, you will find the younger ones--- no not 40’s young, I mean ME young *ahem*--- hanging out by the river or riding jet skis, water taxis and wave runners.

I, on the other hand, was hiding inside the hotel, limiting my trip from the room to the buffet or to the slot machines. Laughlin is definitely cheaper compared to staying in Vegas. The room rates and buffet are half the price of whatever they charge at the Vegas strip. The dinner buffet only runs about $17.99 but you know what they say about getting what you pay for. Ha!

I did manage to get a decent white pizza with extra bacon at this place called Brewery inside the Colorado Belle. It's cute how they designed the hotel & casino like those old steam boats.

My white pizza.

The pizza was decent, I wish I could say the same for the nachos. It was super soggy with some unknown liquid. Blech.

You best believe I ran like a Kenyan Olympian when I saw this thing on the ground as I was heading back to our hotel.

Okay world, it is 9:30 p.m. and I am calling it a night. I took a really bad beating from exploring the crater in Arizona and walking under the excruciating heat of the Nevada desert isn't any better so I need to sleep this off.

Toodles!