It was just 11 days ago when Ruby and Axel got married in San Francisco, California, on this trip from Germany. We joined them for this big day, but it was what they chose for their honeymoon that was surprising, a road trip with Caroline and me. In some ways, this ends up being an extension of our first road trip together back in 1996 that made a good enough impression that on this trip to the United States this year, they have chosen to spend a good part of it here on another trip down some dusty roads. It should be noted that I was a bit surprised by this as Ruby might be considered a city person who was trying to escape rural America, well, as much as Bakersfield, California, where she grew up, could be called rural.

Sharing time in a 24/7 journey with four of us crammed into a car and then sharing a single room with two beds so we could save on expenses should create big tensions but we’ve done pretty well so far. So, here we are at Four Corners, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico all meet. This wasn’t on the itinerary, but we had time for deviations from the route as my travel planning skills weren’t the best yet. It took time and many more trips for me to gather my senses about distances and what was possible in this vast country.

It felt like we were hogging the spot here as first Axel and I situated ourselves to cover as many states as we could, and then the women figured out how both of them could be in all four at once. Sadly, I don’t believe we opted for any of the mutton dishes on offer at the stands dotted around the parking lot as we didn’t know the pleasures of Navajo cooking at that time, but we’d learn over time.

Senseless driving back and forth so we could get photos in front of all the state signs started a tradition that would follow Caroline and me for the next two decades, stop at all state signs, and start shooting selfies of ourselves.

Yep, head down the road to include New Mexico too.

And then into Utah as this is where we are spending the night.

We couldn’t book a room at Goulding’s Lodge in Monument Valley at the last minute, so the desk clerk recommended I look in Mexican Hat up in Utah. Looking at the map, I saw that we’d be staying just north of Valley of the Gods; sounded good to me, and the motel had availability. We passed through the town of Bluff on the way, making a mental note to return. Mexican Hat ended up falling into one of our all-time favorite places in large part due to the famous “Swinging Steak!” Streetside of the Mexican Hat Lodge is an outdoor restaurant where a grill over a mesquite fire BBQs up steaks and burgers for their mostly European visitors. A small stage welcomes musicians while their family, if they have time, also take up an instrument and will play for visitors sitting under the Milky Way in the shadow of Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods. The romance of this place cannot be conveyed with enough enthusiasm; it’s just that great.