On the way to Durango, Colorado we detoured through Monument Valley in Utah and stopped for a photo op at the point Forrest Gump stopped his cross country run. I'm loving that every day we go through some place or it's specifically detoured too by our tour guides, because they want to show us where some famous site is or a movie was set. It's very cool.
Durango, Colorado is a small town in Colorado, which really is a beautiful and rocky as it's portrayed. It's also 7kms above sea level and my feet are really suffering in the heat and altitude.
In Durango we went to a Brew House for a good dinner, with vegetables even! Then we headed over to a local bar and proceeded to drink our body weight in beer. The next morning while the majority of the group went off to do rafting and horse riding, I joined a few girls for an indulgent manicure/pedicure. My feet sure did need the attention.
Then it was back on the road to Albuquerque. We had a so-so meal at the hotel and an early night. Our wake up call was 4.30am, for a 5.15am Hot Air Balloon ride over the city.
We helped with the set up, boarded for an amazing hour flight, then helped with the pack down once we landed. I had wanted to do a Hot Air Balloon ride since I was about 10 years old, and it was on my bucket list. It was much smoother than I had expected, all though I wasn't prepared for the heat. Afterwards we enjoyed a glass of champagne (a Hot Air Balloon tradition) and even got certificates for the rise.
Later that morning we drove to Amarillo, Texas. Stopping at Cadillac Ranch just outside of the city. Some Farmer bought 10 different era cadillacs, cemented them in to the ground tail down and called them art. When people started graffiting them he made it part of the artwork. So naturally we got spray cans at took to work graffiting cadillacs in the middle of the desert. (Who thinks up this shit?!)
Once in Amarillo we stayed at the Big Texan, which is a quirky side of the road motel with cool facades and is home to the '72 oz Steak Challenge'. Four of our group attempted the challenge in a battle of nations. Braden (USA & our tour manager), Tiaan (South Africa), Gary (Australia) and Nathan (New Zealand) were the brave souls to attempt it. Although, to be fair Braden only did it because our group bribed him in to it. They had one hour to eat a 72oz (2kg) steak, Shrimp cocktail, roll, salad, baked potato and a beer. If they did it they got it for free. The whole group chipped in so that they didn't have to pay for it all if they didn't. They sat up on a platform in the middle of the restaurant, being on a live webcam and had the largest hall of Texans watching too. While none of them finished, they made a pretty good effort of it. Tiaan got the furtherest with only a small portion of steak left at the end.
After dinner and few drinks we hopped on over the pool for a midnight swim. With the temperatures in Texas averaging in the late 30's a swim was in desperate need. The boys got rowdy and we called it a night.
After 3 days on the road with only quick stops in cities, we were all hanging out for our 2 day stop in Dallas up next.
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