On the Road March 2004 to October 2006 70,000 mile 2 year road trip across America living in and working out of a 1960 Airstream Travel Trailer – DAVID MICHAEL KENNEDY BLOG

Category Archives: On the Road March 2004 to October 2006 70,000 mile 2 year road trip across America living in and working out of a 1960 Airstream Travel Trailer

November 25, 2004 Golden, Colorado

November 25, 2004 – 10:07 PM

November 25, 2004
Golden, Colorado

Good road trip up to Colorado and a Great Thanksgiving with Jesse. Had a snowstorm chase up all the way up, but we ran through clean weather the entire way. Almost had a major tragedy- Jesse’s oven stopped working- but we discovered the Turkey was cooked and so all was well. Great dinner. Fun to cook with Jesse! His new cat, Sebastian, and Henry had quite a time getting to know each other but by the end they were good pals.

It was good to see his new house and how much effort he has put into making it a home.
We made plans for Christmas. Looks like both of us will be doing road trips back east this December.

Sebastian and the turkey

Jesse stuffen the bird …… range fed, happy life, killed quick bird that is

Cutten up the bird

JW, don’t ask and Heather at dinner

Henry at the dinner table

resting after the bird

out front of JW”S

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November 29, 2004 Gallup, New Mexico

November 29, 2004 – 11:08 PM

November 28, 2004
Gallup. New Mexico

Leaving a sunny Boulder we headed south and the snows came in again. Arrived in Gallup New Mexico around 8pm and camped in the Wal-Mart Parking Lot. Awoke to snow and ice and rain at 7 am. Found out the storm was heading south and covered most of Colorado and a big part of northern New Mexico. We had planned to head over to Flagstaff Arizona and the down 17 to Bisbee and some warm weather. The storm was hitting Flag by now and they expected a foot of snow by mid afternoon so we turned around and headed east back to Albuquerque and down I-25 toward the City of Rocks and hopefully some warmer weather.

DMK Shooting

Sky I-40

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November 29, 2004 Truth or Consequences, N.M.

November 29, 2004 – 11:21 PM

November 29, 2004
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Great little campground as the storm chases us….

Shady Corner RV Park
100 Rio Grande
T or C, New Mexico

Phil, the owner is a great guy- helped us solve a major electrical problem and is re felting a pool table for the rec. room. Be sure to ask him about his “special glue”!
Very biker friendly!

ps there isn’t no inter net yet….

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November 30, 2004 City of Rocks N.M.

November 30, 2004 – 11:43 PM

November 30, 2004
City of Rocks, New Mexico

Starting to feel a bit more like a wanderer again. The last month or so we have been driving to “get to places” as apposed to just heading down the road. Finally we have a space head of us where we can just follow the road again and see what happens. When the trip gets distilled to its essence that’s what it’s about. Somehow my other life seems to creep back in and all of a sudden we have to be somewhere or do something outside of the trip.
But for now we’re back on the road and heading west.
As we left Deming we ran into Bob Sundown camped just off the road at the intersection of Highway 180 and Highway 26. This has been his winter camp for the past two months. Bob is a great man whose life consists of 2 mules, 1 burro, a dog named Skeeter, a hand made “covered wagon”, complete with wood burning stove, pulled by the mules and lots of imagination. He has spent may years traveling the country, mostly from Wyoming down to Southern New Mexico and back up to Wyoming in this wagon, pulled by the mules. At times he teaches survival techniques in Quemado, New Mexico.
Over the years, as fall approaches, I have seen him heading south, down Highway 14 just past my old home in Santa Fe, but never had the time to stop and meet him. Heather says he is a “Human Being”. The important word here is Being, as apposed to a “Human Doing” I suppose. Bob’s address is General Delivery USA, if you want to write him. I’m glad I finally found the time…

Bob Sundow and Skeeter

Heather, Bob, DMK and Skeeter

Heather and Henry taken in the night air City of Rocks

Windmill, City of Rocks

City of Rocks

City of Rocks 2

City of Rocks 3

City of Rocks 4

Yucca, City of Rocks

Airstream City of Rocks

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December 1, 2004 Datil, New Mexico

December 1, 2004 – 12:05 AM

December 1, 2004
Datil, New Mexico

Arrived here late afternoon and set up camp. It was time to print some of the new images so we had an early dinner and I got to work. Got to see the Bed and other images from Nebraska. Have always loved it here and back in the day spent a good deal of time looking for a place to live here. Was nice to make camp and work in my darkroom in downtown Datil.

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December 3, 2004 Wilcox, Arizona

December 3, 2004 – 1:29 AM

December 3, 2004
Wilcox Arizona

Explored between Lordsburg, New Mexico and Wilcox Arizona today. Found some great towns. Hachita, New Mexico, on route 9 just a bit above old Mexico. Found a great church and wonderful old homes. The on to the weird on….. Playas, New Mexico.
It’s a town of about 350 single family homes, a school, firehouse, bank, and about 50 apartments, all laid out in suburban sprawl and built circa 1970 ish by the Phelps Dodge as a company town. Okay so the mine went belly up and EVERYONE moved out. Looks and felt like something out of the Twilight Zone. So we drove around the streets thinking this is really weird, especially the streets that had “restricted area” signs posted in the middle of them. Finally we found someone and asked about the place. Turns out Homeland Security bought it and is using it as a testing and training ground. Oh, I said as I got back in the car and hauled ass towards Rodeo New Mexico. Rodeo is another old New Mexican town that has “more art galleries per capita than any other American town.” We saw 3 galleries…….. they were all closed. It’s a small town …. Onward, West to Arizona.

Footnote:
It is so important when on the road to find those camps where the folks are warm, friendly and care.
The folks in Las Cruces were great and the space was amazing, up on a hill looking out over the city. Truly great. If you’re ever there be sure to stay at:

Las Cruces KOA Kampground
814 Weinrich Road
Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005
800.562.1627

say hi to Tony and Chris for us!

When in Wilcox, Arizona great people and this proves their wireless internet works

Magic Circle RV Park
700 North Virginia Avenue
Wilcox, Az 85643
800.333.4720

But in Lordsburg stay away from:

Lordsburg KOA Kampground was not one we can add to our recommendation list…. Enough said

Airstream Las Cruces N.M. KOA

Tony and Chris Fassi owners of the Las Cruces KOA

detail Your Church Hachita New Mexico

interior Your Church Hachita New Mexico

window detail Your Church Hachita New Mexico

Wall Hachita

front porch Hachita New Mexico

Henry Road Hachita New Mexico

Leaving Hachita New Mexico

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December 6, 2004 Shady Dell Camp, Bisbee, AZ

December 6, 2004 – 12:25 AM

December 6, 2004
Shady Dell Camp
Bisbee Arizona

Spent last night at Tombstone Hills RV just out side of Tombstone Arizona. All night the hail came down. It truly can get cold out in the Arizona Hill Country. Make you realize how ruff it was on the frontier in the 1800 and early 1900’s. The trailer rocked all night in the wind.
Shady Dell is an interesting place. They have about 10 vintage trailers – all from the 50’s. Most are Spartans but they do have one old airstream. They have all be restored to the original looks including 50’s TV sets (with hidden vcr’s) and old black and white movies from the 50s’. They even have The Long Trailer with Lucile Ball. Old 78 records and players are included as well. The trailers rent as hotel rooms and it’s a bit like being on the road. Along with the stationary trailers they have a big old cabin cruiser complete with dock and tiki statues.
My friends Mike and Lorene Kravit flew in from Florida and are spending the next few days traveling and photographing around southern Arizona. A trip to Mexico and a hunt for the ultimate Saguaro Cactus are on the agenda. Their first two nights will be in the Spartan Royal Mansion and the last few night on the Cabin Cruiser.
On the way over we stopped at The Amerind Foundation and Museum in Texas Canyon just off I-10 near the town of Dragoon, Arizona. Truly an amazing place- with a unique landscape. Massive large boulders are strewn about the canyon, reminiscent of The City of Rocks in southern New Mexico. “The Foundation was founded in 1937 by William Shirley Fulton as an anthropological and archaeological museum and research center dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Native American cultures and their histories.” I hear some of my more Traditional Elders groaning over those two words, anthropological and archaeological, but perhaps if it is done in a good and respectful way it will help to teach and pass on the history and Traditions. Aho, this can be a good and important thing. From all I could see the Amerind Foundation is doing this in a good way.

Airstream at The Amerind Musueum

Shady Dell Sign

Night View Of Shady Dell Camp

Dot’s Diner at Shady Dell

Mike and Lorene’s Love Trailer

Lorene in Trailer Kitchen

Mike and Lorene’s Love Boat

Mike and Lorene on the Love Boat

The Boat Galley

Ready to go to Mexico?

Town of Bisbee Arizona

Downtown Bisbee

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December 8, 2004 Shady Dell Bisbee Ar

December 8, 2004 – 11:14 AM

December 8, 2004
Shady Dell
Bisbee Arizona

Went for lunch in old Mexico. Great experience crossed over at Nogales nothing
between us and Old Mexico but a one way turn gate. Had a real Mexican Lunch picked
up a few bottles of Membrillo- okay what is Membrillo you may well ask? Its official
name is “Crema De Membrillo” and it’s a quince/tequila product much like a licquor.
Great smooth sweet tequila. But you can only get it in old Mexico. Wondered around
Nogales for a while and fell in love with the town. So very different than on the
American side. Much more colorful lots of hot pinks, sky blues and deep purples in the
buildings. Having trouble with understanding the “border” How a line in the sand
can make such a difference. And the fence between the two towns is unreal (see photo
below).
On the way there we drove through the Coronado National Park. Very cool place.
We ran into a Park Ranger (read Federal Officer). Great guy armed with an M-16, 12gauge
shotgun with night sight and a 40-caliber sig/sauer side arm. When I saw the sig I knew
we’d be friends. Spent an hour talking over the border issues and the numerous folks that
came over. Gave me new insight into the whole issue.

Christmas in Patagonia, New Mexico

Coronad National Forest

Border Fence Nogales lookinf from US into Mexico

Key Shop Nogales Mexico

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December 10, 2004 Shady Dell Camp Bisbee Arizona

December 10, 2004 – 7:27 PM

December 10, 2004
Shady Dell Camp
Bisbee Arizona

Drove to the border again today but this time to the town of Douglas Arizonan, thanks to the advice of Walter Satterthwait, a great writer and friend from Santa Fe. Also Caroline Gordon’s significant other. Just finished his book “Masquerade. Great read but I’m upset by ending, Walter, quite unfair. Very different border than Nogales, Douglas is not the boom border town with lost of shops nor is the town on the Mexican side. But it has the same big fence, only more oppressive.

Mike and I compare notes