Drawn the Road Again

Tag: southwest

  • Ghost domes

    Ghost domes

    This hidden gem is one that’s been on my road trip bucket list for many years, and when I drove the Loneliest Road two springs ago, I finally got my chance. These strange stone kilns have been empty for more than a century—but thanks to their sturdy construction and the desert climate, they look like…

  • Forgotten canyon

    Forgotten canyon

    When I think of solitude on the road, I’ll admit the last place I’d associate with it is Zion National Park. In the twenty years that had passed since I first visited the park (when it was a sleepy secret), word had definitely gotten out. Nowadays Zion is a lot like the Grand Canyon: there…

  • Twists and turns

    Twists and turns

    Well, it wasn’t the Loneliest Road, but I certainly had a lonely-road solo drive on the day before I crossed Nevada. I was in southeastern Utah, and I wanted to tick another highway off my road-trip bucket list: State Route 12, which cuts through part of the mostly-wilderness, sprawling, painted-desert expanse of Grand Staircase-Escalante National…

  • The Loneliest Road

    The Loneliest Road

    If you’re looking for a truly solo road trip experience, look no farther than the Loneliest Road: US Highway 50, where it crosses Nevada. The mostly two-lane road traverses the Great Basin desert, which consists of basin-and-range topography: wide, flat, parched valleys punctuated by parallel mountain ranges. I wasn’t alone for the whole trip; the…

  • Hog wild

    Hog wild

    San Antonio is home to another defunct barbecue joint—but while I’m sad I can’t buy a pulled-pork sandwich here, I’m more interested in the building itself. That’s because this here pig…is actually a duck! Now if only there were a duck-shaped duck that actually sold barbecued duck…that would be a find.

  • Let’s eat

    Let’s eat

    To me, nothing says the Fourth of July like good barbecue. So this week I’ll be focusing on some dern good BBQ—or at least, places where you “used to could” get it. Sadly, Bill Johnson’s, once a Phoenix fixture, closed for good just a few months after I was there. But I’m glad to know…

  • The tourist trade

    The tourist trade

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. One of the grandest Route 66 traditions is the souvenir shop—or as it is more…

  • Desert dancer

    Desert dancer

    Speaking of seeing actual, authentic Indigenous culture on the road (as opposed to the fake stuff), I had a surprise waiting for me when I visited the Grand Canyon. I was perched on a stone wall, sketching something else, when I heard a crowd gather behind me. I turned around to discover my perch was…

  • Art-ifacts

    Art-ifacts

    Another place I tend to spend hours poring over American Indian artwork is the fabulous Denver Art Museum. In addition to things like beadwork, the museum devotes two entire floors to an astonishing range of Indigenous art, from Pre-Columbian pottery to Plains paintings to Salish heritage poles, and everything in between. The collection includes at…

  • Wigwam-a-rama

    Wigwam-a-rama

    This post is part of an ongoing series called 66 Fridays, which explores the wonders of old Route 66. Click on the preceding “66 Fridays” link to view all posts in the series, or visit the initial overview post here. Route 66 wouldn’t be Route 66 without its bevy of American-Indian cultural appropriation kitsch. The…