Road Trip!

Aaron and I are gearing up for another road trip to the Midwest. Over the course of our five year relationship (dated for 2, married for 3) we have taken FIVE cross-country driving expeditions. Several of these involved flying one way, shopping for vintage goodies and packing them into a UHaul headed back for Cali. These crazy "yard sale tours" have provided many of the most poignant and memorable anecdotes of our personal histories together. We are definitely bound by our love of the "treasure hunt."
In June we head out again, only this time we will have baby in tow. Are we crazy to travel that far in a car with a seven-month old? Perhaps, but we just can't bring ourselves to fly in the summer, as it would mean limiting our ability to shove board games and vintage fabric into every nook and cranny of our car. It should be an adventure, that's for sure. We depart on June 6th, and we will be gone for three weeks total, with stops in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Southern Illinois. WooHee!!
One of the things we love about these trips is that it affords us the experience of seeking out and staying a night or two at unique vintage Hotels/Motels. This time, I can't wait to return to Gallup, NM to stay at the El Rancho Hotel. On our last trip in December of 2003, we discovered the El Rancho on the way back to Cali. We took a new route and sacrificed our usual stay in Tuscon, AZ at the Hotel Congress, which we have been in love with for years. It's a slightly more cosmopolitan gangster era retro vibe, worthy of another blog entry of it's own.

Anyway, we found ourselves in Gallup, NM on the edge of an amazing new retro motel discovery! Unfortunately, we were both suffering from a horrible round of the flu (which seems to happen every time we return to the midwest for Christmas). The El Rancho was so magnificent, even through my watery eyes and 101 degree fever, that I could not wait to return again (when we both felt better). It is truly a gem along Route 66. It was originally built by DW Griffith's brother as a "Hollywood Getaway" for many of the stars who were involved in the Western films being shot in the area. When you first walk through the front doors of the El Rancho, you are greeted with a huge, rustic lobby with a double staircase going up to the upper balcony. It feels like the lost set from Twin Peaks (I loved that show). All of the rooms are named after movie stars who stayed there. We were so lucky as to stay in the Errol Flynn room. I don't usually go for the western/rustic vintage vibe, but this one is done right! Nothing I have seen so far compares with the rustic-kitschy-retro-glory of the El Ranch Motel. I can't wait to go back. Let's just hope little Nova loves it as much as we do.