The Great Trip West

Hey everybody! Welcome to High Desert Hijinks, a blog chronicling my adventures around Albuquerque and, if I have any say about it, many other places around New Mexico, all while attending grad school at the University of New Mexico. Because of the scenic nature of the Land of Enchantment, things here will be mostly photo-based, with not too much writing getting in the way. In fact, this is probably the most writing you'll see here for a while. That said, let us begin...

Actually though, the very first thing to talk about is the 2200-mile road trip from New England to ABQ that got me to start this blog in the first place! Pulling a camper with us, my parents and I journeyed across 11 different states from CT to NM in just 4 days. I'll break things down on a day-by-day basis, since there are so many photos and stories.

However, I've still got to move into UNM over the next few days, and orient myself and do all the other wonderful and necessary things to begin a semester the right way. The day-by-day break down of the trip is coming very soon, but til then, here's a few of the highlights of the trip to make sure you keep checking back for the next post!

A bit of coal country in PA:

The backdrop of the Appalachians in West Virginia:

Then the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia:

And the Great Smoky Mountains in eastern Tennessee:

But western Tennessee starts to level off:

And Arkansas finally gives way to the oft-imagined Mid-Western flatscape:

The theme continues into eastern Oklahoma, but with oil wells too:

Then everything shifts to a distinctly Western-style flavor in the rest of the state:

Of course the Oklahoman skies are not to be outdone:

The Texas Panhandle near Amarillo brings yet another shift:

Which is in turn one-upped by eastern New Mexico:

 Don't worry, I'll fill in the gaps within and between each state, plus add a whole lot more pictures (and some funny anecdotes too), very soon! Stay tuned!