Day Twenty, May 10, 2015

Santa Fe to Durango.....

The road north from Santa Fe traverses some spectacular unpublicized scenery through some sad towns.  Off the highway was Echo Amphitheater which offered us a chance to shout, clap, sing and hear our echoes.  Other tourists left soon after our shouting, clapping, singing began so we had the place to ourselves for pictures and communing with nature.

We began to get into rain and wind as we crossed from NM into our 24th state CO.  We started encountering winter again as passed through Wolf Creek Pass on the way to Pagosa Springs, CO.  Amazing how winter has not given up entirely as snow was still on the ground also.

It's now time to do some miscellaneous commenting regarding things we have noticed over the last
5,000 miles through 24 states.

As much as we tried to ignore them it became apparent we had to comment on Dollar General.  Now, we are sure that given the opportunity we would at some point find the Dollar General store a one- stop shopping place.  But here is our take..... It seems that a virulent rash is spreading out of control.  Dollar General has according to their website over 11,400 locations in 40 states.  We are sure if we see just three more we will have seen all 11,400.  They are everywhere.  Walmart, which also seems to be everywhere, has 11,000 locations but they are found in 27 countries plus the 50 states.  So little old Dollar General has spread not unlike acne across the USA.

These stores are found in strip malls in mid size cities, at intersections in rural MS and much of the South, in stand alone locations in suburban areas.  I am certain they are full of "stuff" made in China and shipped back to us that we desperately need.

In Independence, KS we finally succumbed and went in to buy a hand trowel to do some cemetery maintenance.  We got what were looking for and it cost $1.75 but we also bought travel snacks and other things bad for us.

Those in the know tell us that Dollar General items are not all priced at $1.00(shocking).  Whereas Dollar Tree (a competitor) actually has everything priced at $1.00.  But since Dollar Tree's are not as prolific (yet) we cannot confirm this.

We thus concluded that Dollar General generally prices items at $1.00, give or take, hence the name.  I also suspect they pay their employees generally $1.00/hour give or take.

Several followers (Suparna you know it's just you) have requested that we include more info on what we are eating and include pictures.  So here goes:

Tom's Whole Wheat toast with margarine
a staple among the locals in Durango, CO

Pasta Tomato Bit & Spur Springdale UT

Enchilada's in Sedona

John's cinnamon roll also found in these parts
particularly at free Hampton Inn Breakfast buffets.

BBQ Ribs Bit & Spur Springdale, UT

As we eat more check back to this page for more.....

Tacos in Sedona

Off to Grand Canyon on May 12, 2015