Friday, July 17, 2015

Friday Mishmash - Breaking Bad, White Sands, Ten-Dollar Quarters

When we left Santa Fe, we drove an hour to Albuquerque, where we were to spend the night.  We went on a mini tour of running stores, looking for "run New Mexico" shirts, and then we decided to check out some of the locations where Breaking Bad was shot.  These were all easily Googleable, and surprisingly, within a few miles radius of each other.  First up was the A1A Car Wash, or Mister Car Wash, as it's really called:
It was huge!  Weird to see it in person.  If we were in our own car (rather than a rental), we might have gone through the wash, just for fun.

Then we drove by Los Pollos Hermanos, which is really a chain of restaurants called Twisters (their specialty is burritos).  Finally, we drove by Walter White's house, which was just off a main street.  We felt like creepers as we approached it, and then, when we saw the owner sitting in the garage, there was no way we were going to stop and take a picture!  It was both bizarre and fun to see the actual house in person, and this week, I've watched some episodes of Breaking Bad with a friend (got her hooked on it), so it's really weird to see the house now.

After feeling like creepers, we didn't go to the other locations, like the duplex where Jesse and Jane lived, or Saul's office.  Apparently we are not really cut out for the life of a paparazzi.

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The next morning, we had to drive to El Paso, but Jeff wanted to make a detour to White Sands National Monument.  He's been there previously, when he had to work in Alamogordo, but this was to be my first visit.  Getting there from Albuquerque was a drive!  It took about 3.5 hours, and at times we were in the middle of nowhere.  But eventually, we could see it off in the distance:
Click on the picture and you'll see the white line in the horizon - that's all sand!

I think we were still about 30 minutes away at this point.  Eventually we arrived - right before noon.  In July.  In the desert.  Hot doesn't really describe how it felt.  But we didn't let a little heat stop us - after all, we're from Texas!
A quick stop at the visitor center...
It's an eight mile drive into the dunes - at first there's vegetation among the sand, but soon it becomes all white.  You need sunglasses if you come here - that sand was blinding!
They had saucers for sale at the visitor center, and I'm sorry we didn't do that, because once we saw the pristine dunes, we wished we could slide down them.
Climbing a dune - although the sun was burning down, the sand was cool to walk on barefooted...weird.  I've hotfooted it across so many beaches in my life that this was a pleasant surprise.
Partway up.
Coming down a really steep dune - I sank up to my knees with every step!
OK, not gonna lie - this was fun, even without saucering down.

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We went back to the visitor center to get a magnet as our little souvenir, but while I was looking for THE one, Jeff came across this:
Two New Mexico quarters.  Fifty cents.  For $9.99 - I wonder if they have actually sold any of these?  I mean, I can look in my change bucket right now and probably come across a NM quarter - but kudos to whoever thought up this souvenir!

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Have a great weekend - our only plans are to run tomorrow morning, eat breakfast with our friends (of course), and then stay inside - we are all about the air conditioning right now!

17 comments:

  1. I don't watch breaking bad but WOW on that car wash!!! When we lived in Texas we would go to NM often. I don't ever remember those sand dunes though. That would have been cool to walk on that sand as a kid (or adult..lol).

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  2. I have never heard of that park! From the car the photos look like snow, and it surprises me that it wasn't hot to the touch. So cool. Thanks to Jeff for wanting to make the trip.

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    1. Now, our skin was burning up from the sun (we had sunscreen on, which lasted about 10 minutes...30 spf at that, lol), but the sand was not hot. My flip flops were burning hot when I put them back on, though!

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  3. In those sand pictures, you look like you are in the middle of nowhere and it makes me thirsty to see all that sun and sand LOL!

    I bet that owner of Walter White's house gets creepers all the time. He is probably thinking "Just keep on driving..."

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    1. The owner is reported to be a very nice woman, and it's said she will talk to people who come to look at the house if they're respectful, but we weren't going to bother her.

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  4. I've really enjoyed reading about your trip! I bet you got quite the workout walking down that dune with sand up to your knees.

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    1. It was crazy! Plus there was some free exfoliation happening on my feet, so bonus there, haha!

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  5. Sorry, but I would of been creeping all of the Breaking Bad locations!! One of the best shows ever. I think I had withdrawals when it ended....LOL!
    See you tomorrow.....I'm sure it's going to feel like the sand dunes at 7AM :(

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    1. Well shoot, we'll have to plan a BB location trip together! Someone asked us if we were going to check out the laundry where Gus Fring had their workshop set up, and I said nope - that already felt too scary!

      Yeah, tomorrow's run is going to be rough. Hopefully our last late start!

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  6. I have heard of White Sands, but I've never been there. The hugeness and whiteness of it is amazing! I especially like the picture where you're driving through all that white sand.

    Breaking Bad tour! I think I would have been afraid to go to those places! Is Better Call Saul also shot in NM?

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    1. Pretty sure Saul is also filmed there, because they go to some of the same places as in BB.

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  7. How cool to visit the Breaking Bad spots! I'd have felt like a creeper driving by that guy's house, too. White Sands is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing more photos of your vacation.

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  8. You guys did this trip exactly the way I like to: research and see and enjoy all the sights where you are! Did you know the beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida have sand exactly like that? And you are correct, that much white sand is sunglass worthy!

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  9. Sounds so fun! I was a big Breaking Bad fan and would love to "take the tour." That sand looks so soft, but I know it must get hot.

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  10. Love seeing the pictures :) Sounds like you're having a great time :)

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  11. Wow that white sand is so beautiful. Amazing.

    I have seen a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix. I like it but am not hooked on it (yet) so I watch an episode every now and then.

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  12. WOAH! Those sand pictures are AMAZING!!!!! I have never seen white sand like that in real life. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful pics here!!!

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