Arizona Road Trip 2024

The beginning of the week was a big flurry of activity as the preparation for our driving trip continued. Even though I did not wait until the last minute, there was so much to do that by Tuesday evening, I found myself mentioning to Kuochun that I wished I had one more day. We had not made any hotel reservations so Kuochun said why not? It did help, although I did not quite get everything packed that I wanted to. I could have fit everything in but Kuochun had one request - keep the windows clear so it is easier to see while driving. It does not bother me because I am used to driving the cargo van which only has side view mirrors but I understand. I was able to bring 6 table lights for the jewelry cases, the set of two turquoise color metal accent tables, and the two mid-century modern tile top tables which match the dining set I got in Wisconsin. I had to leave some of the clothing behind but was able to bring about 90% of it. There is some jewelry as well but it will be easy to pack and ship. Kuochun wanted to bring 3 packages of printing paper - I found that two of them were perfect to level out the dog beds in the back seat for the girls. Kuochun brought one of his bed pillows thinking he would use it for his back but he put it in the back between the front seats and Margot (and a couple of times Vivi) used it to rest on when they got tired of being in their dog beds.

I had a very last-minute sale of a Navajo-made amber ring so we needed to hit the post office one last time before taking off. Kuochun had requested three equal days of driving and this worked out very well for us. The first day we drove to Joplin, MO and stayed at the La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham. Joplin is about 8 miles away from the Oklahoma state line so we made it through Illinois and Missouri. I booked one of the family rooms while we were on the way - the room had a king size bed in the main area and a separate bedroom with a pair of queen size beds. It was more beds than we needed but necessary so I can close the door and block out most of the snoring noise. Kuochun was in the mood for a Big Mac so we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch. I would have preferred to have gone to St. Louis Bread Company (which looked just like Panera.) I do like the McChicken but this one was not good - it tasted like it had been sitting around for a while. The fries were fresh though. They had a deal on a pair of apple pies (I ate mine later) and they were really tasty. The crust was fancy!

I had wanted to stop at Redmon's Candy Factory in Phillipsburg MO, I really enjoyed our visit last time but we were full from lunch and it was dark so we decided to skip it. I had read a few online reviews and just 3 weeks prior, a couple reported that while giving their little dogs a walk at the property, they had to scramble to get back to their car as the dogs were almost eaten by hawks. I definitely did not want to take that chance at night! On the way back, it will be during the day.

Kuochun was pretty full by the time we got to our destination but I was hungry and they had an Old Chicago restaurant attached to the hotel. We cannot leave the girls unattended so we placed an online order and Kuochun picked it up. I ordered mac and cheese with chicken and bacon, it was supposed to be cavatappi pasta which I really like but they gave me penne instead, which is my least favorite. They also did not give us any utensils so Kuochun had to go back and get them. In the morning, they had a nice complementary breakfast but we each had to go eat separately because the girls would cry if we left them alone. Overall it was a good experience and we would stay there again.


The second day, we drove to Tucumcari, NM which is a kitschy little town 38 miles away from the Texas state line. I chose two rooms at the Roadrunner Lodge Motel - one pet friendly and the other not. When I booked the reservations, required information was to provide the names of the pets and their breed. Once we got to Kuochun's room we found out why - there was a personalized note for them, homemade dog treats and a dog bowl and towel for use during the stay. There was also a business card with one of the owners' four dogs on it, he just happened to be a Miniature Schnauzer named Elvis.

This was Kuochun's room, not my photo and it looked much cuter in person. Everything in that room was either genuine vintage or vintage-inspired, right down to the bathroom sink and faucet handles.

This was my room, also adorable in person. Each room had two mini Moon Pies and a radio softly playing music and advertisements from the '60s era. Everything about this motel was just too cute and at a base rate of $104.00 for each room, a great deal. I would highly recommend Roadrunner Lodge Motel to anyone passing through the area, especially with dogs. There was a dog run front and center which was very convenient.

We had skipped lunch and were ready for dinner. On our first trip through back in 2021, we stopped by Watson's BBQ (although we did not stay in Tucumcari) and it was very memorable. However, they are only open through lunch so I chose Del's Restaurant. Kuochun was excited because they had a Friday grilled catfish special. I ordered coconut shrimp with two sides and a slice of chocolate cream pie. It was back to the restaurant again for Kuochun unfortunately because he ordered the salad bar and came back with an empty container. He did not realize that he was supposed to fill the container himself. They also forgot to give him his two sides, only the catfish. Once things were corrected, Kuochun enjoyed his meal and I did as well.

In the morning, we stopped by Carlson Coffee Company before heading out of Tucumcari. Kuochun wanted some coffee and it turned out they had all kinds of baked goods as well as breakfast choices. The owner's wife makes everything from scratch, including the yogurt! We both chose the breakfast sandwich on a homemade bun with sausage, egg and cheese. The owner microwaved them too long so they were scalding hot and one edge on my sandwich was dried out but once it cooled off a bit, it was delicious. Kuochun loved the house coffee which was Pinon from New Mexico with chocolate. He wanted more but the carafe was empty after his first cup. He let the owner know but he did not replenish it. The coffee was free so I guess he cannot complain. The decor was quirky with mismatched antique to vintage tables and chairs. Also, hundreds of people signed the bricks with their names, dates and where they were from. Very impressive considering the place has only been there for 5 years.

Unfortunately for me I felt very sick to my stomach from the afternoon on and still feel queasy but other than that the trip went very smoothly and the weather was clear the entire way. We would have been caught in a storm had we left on Wednesday as originally planned. Kuochun loved the last part of the trip, driving through Arizona but not over the big mountain where Flagstaff and Sedona are located. Our location on the south side of Scottsdale makes for a faster trip taking a different route, through beautiful pine forests and the town of Payson, which had charming lighted Christmas decorations attached to all of the street lights. Kuochun was very surprised at the decline as we made our way from higher elevations (5,003 feet in Payson) to the east valley. I believe the highest elevation point we passed through was Heber-Overgaard, AZ which is 6,627 feet.

Although the trip went smoothly, there was still a recovery factor for both of us and for me to catch up with work. Needless to say, I was not able to post new items but during the week I sold quite a few pieces including my favorite of the collection of four Purple Mojave butterfly rings, the last Y necklace, the Heidi Daus set with the broken bracelet and three pieces of Easel clothing on eBay, a Buffalo Dancer bracelet made with vintage Mercury Dime beads, the fabulous Raymond Platero belt buckle with vintage leather belt made in Mexico, gorgeous Navajo sandcast silver and red spiny oyster shell cuff bracelet, Hubei turquoise earrings and the amber ring on Etsy, two pairs of earrings on Depop and a watch with Navajo tips on Poshmark. The customer that I had been working with for quite some time purchased the Federico flower earrings on eBay on Friday but since we were on the road I will need to ship them on Monday. I will save all the packing and shipping for then!

I did not get the chance to open up the goodies I had shipped before we arrived including the fabulous leather goods and the adorable Turquoise Trail T-shirts but this will be first on my list next week. I knew things would not be as I left the house in the spring as Mother's extra furniture from the apartment was put here as well as the bedroom set I purchased over the summer. It will take some doing to manuever the furniture around until we figure out what to do with the extra pieces. I also need to fully move my belongings from the second floor to the first floor. I did open my new bedding set from The Company Store, all of the large floral pieces were 50% off except for the ditsy floral sheets which were 25% off. As I thought, the bedding looks perfect with the white furniture. The cotton percale is so soft and comfortable as well! I love their products, I have had a matelasse blanket from them for years in Mount Prospect and it has held up great.

We do not have any estate sales scheduled until December now so at least this will help me catch up as well as work on the pop-up sale. I am not sure if I will do a posting Thanksgiving week as I likely will not need to do a newsletter.

See you soon!