anticipation & preparation: a texas & new mexico road trip (+ a stopover in atlanta)

We’re finally on our way to visit parts of Texas and New Mexico, with a long stop-off in Atlanta, GA beforehand to meet our new granddaughter. Her due date is October 1, so we hope she’ll be in this world by the time we arrive (0r soon after!). We had originally planned this trip for 2020, but of course, like everyone else, we were waylaid by the pandemic. A year ago, we made reservations for mid-October at Chisos Mountains Lodge in Big Bend National Park; we had to reserve these spots a year ahead. We hadn’t planned anything else in the meantime; we figured we would build our trip around that stop when the time got closer. We certainly didn’t expect we’d be having our first granddaughter arriving!

I have been to parts of Texas before, namely Dallas (2016) and brief stops in El Paso and Abilene on my way back from my Canyon & Cactus Road trip in 2020. I have also been to the northwest corner of New Mexico, to Bisti Badlands, Chaco Canyon National Park, and the town of Gallup in May of 2018.  All of the places we’re going this time will be new to us.

George W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum, Dallas, TX 2016

Dallas Arboretum 2016

view of Kennedy assassination location from Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza in Dallas, TX 2016

Gallup, New Mexico in 2018

Gallup, New Mexico in 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Gallup, New Mexico 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park, NM in 2018

Chaco Canyon National Park (2018)

Chaco Canyon National Park (2018)

Chaco Canyon National Park (2018)

Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM in 2018

Bisti Badlands, NM in 2018

Mission in El Paso, TX 2020

Abilene, TX 2020

Abilene, TX 2020

Our big hurdle this time will be the looming government shutdown after September 30. A handful of right-wing nut-job Republicans is vowing to shut the government down, which would include the national parks. Of course the whole showdown really pisses me off, as these extreme right-wingers don’t ever offer any solutions to the country’s problems, but instead thrive on chaos and hysteria. No matter, we won’t let them ruin our plans. If we can’t go to the national parks, we’ll simply visit towns and state parks. Either way, we’re going, but the trip will be a different trip altogether if we can’t visit the many national parks in these areas.

Our plan is to stay in Atlanta for over a week, visit Caddo Lake, TX, where we have arranged a boat ride, drive to Austin for a couple of nights and then stop in Fredericksburg, TX briefly to see the Hill Country and the German culture there. By a stroke of luck, we’ve found that the annular solar eclipse, which will be on October 14, will be visible in Fredericksburg on the day we plan to be there. Hopefully, we will be able to see the “ring of fire” when the Moon blocks all but the outer edge of the Sun. (See New NASA Map Details 2023 and 2023 Solar Eclipses in the US).

Then we will head to Big Bend National Park in west Texas; as it’s the first National Park on our itinerary, we’ll have to shift gears in transit if the government is still shut down at that time. After leaving Big Bend, we plan to go to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Park in New Mexico, which will both be closed if the government is still shut down. Then we’ll head up to Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Taos and finally Albuquerque, none of which should be affected by the shutdown, but visits to any surrounding national parks or monuments will have to be curtailed. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that even if the government does shut down, they’ll reopen by the middle of October, otherwise, we’ll need to revise our plans on the fly. The longest government shut down so far in history was 34 days in December of 2018, when Trump was president. Who knows how long these lunatics will hold the government hostage to their right-wing demands. I’m hoping for the best, but I truly don’t believe they will act in the interest of the American people.

Of course, as always, I’ve been reading a lot of books to prepare for our trip. Here’s my list of books set in Georgia, Texas and New Mexico. The books in bold green are books I own but haven’t yet read. The ones with star ratings and links are the ones I’ve read. Others are only suggestions. You can see my list of all books set in the U.S. here: books & novels | u.s.a. |.

Georgia

1. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2. A Childhood by Harry Crews
3. The Twelve-Mile Straight by Eleanor Henderson
4. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers ****
5. Atlanta
   1. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
   2. Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
   3. The End of October by Lawrence Wright
   4. The Atlas of Reds and Blues by Devi S. Laskar
   5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
   6. Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn by Gary M. Pomerantz
   7. The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene
   8. Peachtree Road by Anne Rivers Siddons

Books set in Georgia

Georgia map, Guidebook & my journal

Texas

1. The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr ****
2. News of the World by Paulette Jiles ****
3. The Color of Lighting by Paulette Jiles
4. Whisper Network by Chandler Baker ***
5. God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright (currently reading)
   
6. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
7. Doc by Mary Doria Russell
8. Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore (Odessa, TX) *****
9. Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros ***
10. All the Pretty Horses (The Border Trilogy #1) by Cormac McCarthy ****
11. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
12. Dead Man’s Walk (Lonesome Dove prequel #1) by Larry McMurtry
13. Comanche Moon (Lonesome Dove prequel #2) by Larry McMurtry
14. Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove) by Larry McMurtry *****
15. Streets of Laredo (Lonesome Dove sequel #4) by Larry McMurtry
16. Moving On by Larry McMurtry
17. Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
18. All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry
19. The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry
20. Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry
21. Leaving Cheyenne by Larry McMurtry
22. Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry
23. In a Narrow Grave by Larry McMurtry (essays)
24. The Promise by Ann Weisgarber
25. Old Buildings in North Texas by Jen Waldo
26. Why Stuff Matters by Jen Waldo
27. Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge
28. The Way Back to Happiness by Elizabeth Bass
29. Playing Dead by Julia Heaberlin
30. Jam on the Vine by LaShondra Katrice Barnett
31. Texas by James A. Michener
32. Home for Erring and Outcast Girls by Julie Kibler
33. The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
34. The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel
35. Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place by Susan Wittig Albert
36. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
37. Goodbye to a River by John Graves
38. Love Me Back by Merritt Tierce
39. The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrigan
40. Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin
41. Friendswood by René Steinke
42. Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation by John Phillip Santos
43. Armadillos and Old Lace by Kinky Friedman
44. The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
45. Ruby by Cynthia Bond (Oprah Book Club)
46. The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black
47. The Good Daughter by Alexandra Burt
48. Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan-Lori Parks
49. All the Land to Hold Us by Rick Bass
50. Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
51. Brownsville by Oscar Casares
52. The Gay Place by Billy Lee Brammer
53. George Washington Gómez by Américo Paredes
54. The Last Known Residence of Mickey Acuña by Dagoberto Gilb (around El Paso)
55. Strange Peaches by Edwin Shrake
56. The Time It Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
57. Nothing Happened and Then It Did by Jake Silverstein
58. Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson
59. Stardust by Carla Stewart
60. The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy
61. The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
62. The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese
63. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (memoir)
64. Before the Rain Falls by Camille Di Maio
65. Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (non-fiction)
66. Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart
67. Norwood by Charles Portis (also Arkansas)
68. Giant by Edna Ferber
69. Olympus, Texas by Stacey Swann (east Texas)
70. Lonely Planet Texas (2014)
71. Houston
    1. Towelhead by Alicia Erian ****
72. Austin
    1. Migratory Animals by Mary Helen Specht ****
    2. Waterloo by Karen Olsson

Books set in Texas

Texas map and guidebook

New Mexico

1. Loving Pedro Infante by Denise Chavez ****
2. The Professor’s House by Willa Cather ****
3. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (currently reading)
   
4. Night at the Fiestas (stories) by Kirstin Valdez Quade *****
5. Juniper Tree Burning by Goldberry Long **
6. The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob (& India & Seattle)
7. The Spell of New Mexico by Tony Hillerman (essays) ***
8. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman
9. The Wailing Wood by Tony Hillerman
10. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli ***
11. Cities of the Plain (Border Trilogy #3) by Cormac McCarthy
12. The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church *****
13. The Painter by Peter Heller
14. The Sea of Grass by Conrad Richter
15. The Milagro Bean Field War by John Nichols
16. The Nirvana Blues by John Nichols
17. Georgia O’Keefe: 100 Flowers
18. The Woman at Otowi Crossing by Frank Waters
19. The Night Journal by Elizabeth Crook
20. Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg
21. The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (Manhattan Project)
22. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
23. Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko
24. Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford
25. Los Alamos by Joseph Kanon
26. Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone
27. American Elsewhere by Robert Bennett
28. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
29. The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn by John Nichols
30. Bone Horses by Lesley Poling-Kempes
31. Moon New Mexico: Outdoor Adventures, Road Trips, Local Culture (Travel Guide) by Steven Horak ****
32. Moon Santa Fe, Taos, & Albuquerque by Steven Horak (currently reading)
    

New Mexico magazines & guidebooks

books set in New Mexico

There are also endless numbers of movies set in these states. I won’t list them all here, but you can find them on my page: movies | u.s.a. |. The list below includes only the movies I’ve seen.

Georgia

1. Gone With the Wind (1939) *****
2. Deliverance (1972) *****
3. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) *****
4. Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) *****
5. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) ****
6. Catch Me If You Can (2002) ***
7. Footloose (2011) ****

Texas

1. Old Yeller (1957) *****
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) ****
3. True Grit (1969) ****
4. The Last Picture Show (1971) ****
5. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) ****
6. Smoky and the Bandit (1977) ****
7. Lonesome Dove (TV miniseries 1989) *****
8. All the Pretty Horses (2000) ****
9. Miss Congeniality (2000) ****
10. Friday Night Lights (2004) ****
11. No Country for Old Men (2007) ***
12. Crazy Heart (2009) ****
13. True Grit (2010) ****
14. Jackie (2016) ****
15. News of the World (2020) ***

New Mexico

1. The Tao of Steve (2000) ***
2. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) *****
3. Georgia O’Keefe (2009) ****
   
4. Crazy Heart (2009) ****
5. Oppenheimer (2023) *****

Various resources:

1. Travel + Leisure: 40 Best Things to Do in Atlanta — From Art Museums to High-end Shopping
2. Caddo Lake Bayou Tours
3. 50 Cheap & Free Things to Do in Austin, TX
4. 50 Amazing Things to Do in Fredericksburg, Texas
5. deventuretime: Incredible Places to Visit in Texas in the Fall
6. Matador Networks: 9 Spots to Visit on the Perfect Big Bend National Park Road Trip
7. Planetware: Top 16 Things to Do in Big Bend National Park
8. Earth Trekkers: Best Things to Do in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
9. Earth Trekkers: 11 Amazing Things to Do in White Sands National Park
10. The First 25 Things to Do in Santa Fe
11. Travel Addicts: 18 Fun Things to Do in Santa Fe, New Mexico
12. Travel + Leisure: 23 Best Things to Do in Santa Fe  — From Sculpture Gardens to a Margarita Trail
13. Los Alamos Bucket List
14. Your Taos Bucket List
15. Travel Lemming: 31 Best Things to Do in Taos (in 2023)
16. Tour Scanner: 68 Fun Things do Do in Albuquerque, New Mexico
17. A Taste of Koko: 31 Things to Do in Albuquerque, New Mexico
18. Cadillac Ranch

As always, I hope all goes according to plan. And if there are surprises along the way, I hope they are good ones!