Lower 48 Road Trip: New Mexico and Utah

“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” -Isaiah 43:19

Hello Overcomers, I hope you are all doing well! Life has been unusually busy for me lately with hosting, but things have settled down a bit now and I’m ready to share about the next leg of the road trip. It’s hard to believe how the time flies. Winter is almost over and the first signs of spring are here. We just changed the clocks and St. Patrick’s Day is upon us. In just a few days, it will officially be spring… but the trees in my neighborhood are confused because they are already blooming. I love springtime, which brings more sunshine, warmth, flowers, singing birds and Easter. My birthday is also in early April, making this season extra fun. It inches us closer to summer, which is my favorite season. Spring is a symphony, celebrating life and new beginnings. For me, hope and joy increase and I begin dreaming with God for what he has in store for the rest of the year. My view of spring may be overidealized, but of course, life isn’t all roses… allergies, anyone? What do think? Do you enjoy spring or find it unpleasant? Each season has its ups and downs, but thank goodness God is present through it all! That’s exactly what our road trip was like. There were blessings and frustrations every day, but overall, we are so thankful for it and all God accomplished through it. I suppose we will count it all joy (James 1:2). Share my joy with me as you read about the amazing states of New Mexico and Utah below.

New Mexico: There will be “streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19). “I will restore what has been long devastated. My people will leap and dance for joy. I have not left them abandoned, but I will come through for them in unprecedented ways. They will rejoice in me forever and ever. Amen!” This is the scripture and encouraging word I received for New Mexico while we were there. I love this part of Isaiah because it’s so hopeful and the desert imagery always stands out most to me when I’m in a desert landscape. New Mexico is definitely in the desert, but it also has mountains and the rugged landscape is quite beautiful. We first crossed over into this state from Texas, when we were on our way to visit family up in Farmington. We actually drove across the whole state in a day! We passed through the small towns of Texico, Clovis, Taiban (which is pretty much a ghost town), Fort Sumner and Santa Rosa on our way up to Santa Fe.

We reached Santa Fe in the early evening just in time for dinner. The golden sunset light gave a warm glow to the adorable Adobe-style city and the yellow fall leaves enhanced its beauty. I am not normally a huge fan of the Southwestern style in general, but Santa Fe is very special and it quickly made our top 10 list of favorite cities in America. While walking to find a place for dinner, we saw the gorgeous Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in downtown, just a block from the Santa Fe Plaza. We tried to get a table at The Shed Mexican restaurant because it had amazing reviews, but the wait was way too long for the time frame we had. We walked through long covered walkways to the Santa Fe Plaza, where we were able to quickly get a table at the Thunderbird Bar and Grill. The restaurant is on the second floor and has an outdoor balcony overlooking the plaza, so we sat outside and enjoyed the lovely view. Since it was a Saturday night, they were quite busy and our food took a very long time to get to us, so we had to get boxes for our meal right away and eat it on the road. At least the food was delicious! Downtown Santa Fe is so pretty and clean with shops, restaurants and historical significance. I wish we could have spent more time there exploring and I’d love to go back again someday. I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance to visit!

We drove from Santa Fe up to Farmington in the northwest corner of the state and arrived at my Great Aunt Mary Alice’s house late that night. She was still up waiting for us with my mom’s cousin Becky. I had just visited them the previous April with my Mom and my aunt, but this was the first time Gabe met this side of my family. Aunt Mary Alice is my Grandma Quinn’s only sibling. They grew up around Mena, Arkansas, but they both got married young and moved out west. My Grandma and Grandpa Quinn moved to Oregon and Aunt Mary Alice and Uncle Don moved to New Mexico. My grandparents would stop by to visit them often when they drove down to see the family in Arkansas. In fact, when I was 10 years old, my grandparents took me and two of my girl cousins on a summer road trip to visit Aunt Mary Alice and the family in New Mexico. I have wonderful memories from that trip which have stayed with me my whole life. Aunt Mary Alice still lives in the same house from when I visited her as a child. However, now two of her daughters (my mom’s cousins Becky and Martha) live right next to her. It’s so fun that they can just walk to each other’s houses. How special!

The next morning, we all went to church together at the United Pentecostal Church where Aunt Mary Alice has been a member since she first moved to Farmington many years ago. The pastor and believers there are very warm and welcoming, and the Lord is moving in a mighty way in their church. After the service was over, we all gathered at Becky’s house for Sunday dinner. Her daughter Linda was in town with her little girl from Montana. I had not seen Linda since I was a kid and we had so much fun catching up with her. My mom’s cousin Roy and his wife Hilary came down to visit from the Durango, Colorado area, and the rest of the cousins who live there in Farmington came over as well. Becky is a fantastic cook and hostess. She made homemade guacamole and salsa to go with the tacos, and we even had chocolate cake for dessert! We enjoyed eating outside in her beautiful backyard and had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. The quality time and conversations were my favorite. I especially enjoyed my late-night conversations with Aunt Mary Alice while we stayed with her (I used to do this with my grandma too). I love praying with her as well. Aunt Mary Alice is a powerful intercessor and a woman of great faith, just like my grandma was. We are so thankful for the time we had together and for their warm hospitality.

After we said our goodbyes the next morning, we drove past Ship Rock and through a small section of Arizona on our way to Four Corners Monument (where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet at a point). I had been to Four Corners twice before when I was young, but Gabe had never been before. It has changed so much since I was a kid! It looks really nice now. The whole area of the monument is paved and there is a row of built-in booths for vendors and artisan crafters in each one of the states. We enjoyed walking around to all of the booths and I bought a colorful, hand-painted Christmas ornament as a souvenir. I was really craving some Navajo Indian Bread and was hoping to buy some there because I remembered getting some with my Grandpa Quinn when we visited before. To my disappointment, the bread stand was closed! This set me on a search for Navajo Indian Bread that day, and I began asking everyone and looking everywhere for it. We didn’t find any fry bread in New Mexico… but stay tuned for our adventures in Utah up next!

Utah: There is a religious principality (Mormonism) in control in Salt Lake City and Utah. I believe a key to breaking its power and releasing revival is for intercessors to prayer walk parts of the Mormon Trail. The words “paths/ pathways” were highlighted to me. I saw a seam ripper in a hand cutting the stitches of a garment. The crooked stitches of Mormonism need to be removed in order to add the correct stitches to the garment of Utah. After I got this revelation, I found this website: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/remove-and-replace-sewn-stitches-2978459. It helped me understand what the seam ripping process looks like and provided some interesting insight into what this strategy might look like, spiritually speaking. If you are an intercessor in Utah, I encourage you to pray into this word and see where the Lord may ask you to start prayer walking to take Utah for Jesus. May true revival come to this beautiful state!

Of course, we first stepped foot into Utah at the Four Corners Monument, but after we left Four Corners, we drove from New Mexico into a small section of southwestern Colorado. We crossed the San Juan River in Colorado and then we were back in Utah again a short time later. It’s interesting how the highways zigzag into different states in this area. Now as you know, I was on the hunt for some Navajo Indian Bread and when we came back into Utah, we were once again in the Navajo Nation. Someone told us to check the town of Aneth, but there was no bread stand to be found. Then as we were stopping for gas in Montezuma Creek, the last town in the Navajo Nation, I finally spotted a food truck in a parking lot tucked away from the main road near the gas station. To my utter delight, it was a Navajo fry bread truck called “AL & JJ’S.” I praised the Lord! It would have been so easy to miss had I not been looking carefully. They had a very interesting menu and the Navajo Burger caught our eyes. I’ve had Navajo tacos before (which was on their menu as well), but we couldn’t resist trying the burgers. The beef burger was wrapped in fry bread, which made it look like a giant taco and it also had green chiles on it for a southwestern flare. The huge burger came with a can of soda pop for $10 total, which is a good deal these days. We also ordered a piece of fry bread with honey to spilt for dessert for only $3! After they completed our order, AL & JJ’S closed up their truck for the day. What a blessing that we made it just in time! After we enjoyed our Navajo bread, we got back on the highway to make our way up to Moab.

The sun was heading down for the day, which cast a beautiful golden light across the desert landscape and rugged rock formations. We stopped at Church Rock and then at Wilson Arch for some pictures. I visited Wilson Arch as a kid on the road trip with my grandparents, so I was eager to see it again as an adult. The whole arch was lit up bright orange because the sun was setting as we climbed up to the top. We got the most incredible pictures up there and we soaked in every last ray of the gorgeous sunset. We did not plan this day out to the minute, but God did. He had such sweet moments for us to discover, which is one of my favorite things about going on adventures with Jesus. After the sun had set, we climbed down and continued up to Moab. We passed by Hole N” The Rock (more on that in a minute) and finally made it to our KOA Holiday in Moab, which has to be one of the coolest KOA’s in all of America! It has a pool, multiple hot tubs and outdoor gas fire pits and a snack bar that’s open late. It was so nice to relax by a fire after multiple hours of driving. I highly recommend this updated and clean KOA if you want a glamping experience while visiting Moab.

The next morning, we got up early and drove up to Price to meet our friends Nathan and Kendra for breakfast. On our way there we spotted a very colorful hot air balloon in the sky, which was a first for me. We met up at a restaurant called Big Moe’s Eatery & Bakery, which feels like a classic small town American diner. It was such a joy to reconnect with Nathan and Kendra! We all went to church together in Eugene, Oregon when Gabe and I were in college, but shortly after we got married, Nathan and Kendra moved away and have lived in Utah for several years now. We had a wonderful time catching up with each other and listening to all that’s been happening in their lives. We gave them some encouraging words for the season they were in… the Lord was definitely present in our time together. In fact, after we came home, I interviewed Kendra on my podcast. Check out Episode 14: Mustard Seed Faith here to watch Kendra’s story: https://rumble.com/v3ynta8-episode-14-mustard-seed-faith.html. With friends like Nathan and Kendra, the hours go by like minutes and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. I truly hope we can get back down to Utah sometime to visit them again.

After breakfast, we drove back down to Moab to see the incredibly breathtaking Arches National Park. We loved exploring this park with its many fascinating rock stack formations, dramatic cliffs and inviting arches. After a quick stop at the visitor center, we drove up the impressive and somewhat steep road that curves its way into the park. We stopped to see the viewpoints at Park Avenue, La Sal, Balanced Rock, The Windows, Double Arch, Delicate Arch and Devils Garden. Double Arch was the most memorable because we took the short hike to the arches and climbed up into the cavernlike area underneath them. The feeling of awesome grandeur in this place is hard to describe. The stark contrast of the pink-orange arches looping across the bright blue sky makes you want to hold your breath and stop time for a moment. It truly felt like we were standing in a natural cathedral created by the hand of God. All you can do when presented with this kind of beauty is to worship the Lord who made it. If you ever visit the park, I highly recommend you take the easy hike into Double Arch for an unforgettable experience. Delicate Arch is easily the most famous arch because it’s on the Utah license plate, but it’s not easy to get to. When we reached the Delicate Arch trailhead, we found out the hike to get to the arch would take multiple hours. We simply didn’t have much daylight left, so we just took some pictures from the viewpoint instead and kept on driving so we could see the rest of the park before dark. As we were driving up to Devils Garden, the sun was close to setting and all of the arches and formations turned a bright and brilliant red-orange color. We snapped a few pictures at Devils Garden, then quickly found a spot to pull over just a short ways down the road to watch the glorious sunset. We opened the sliding door on our van and savored the sight of the yellow sun casting its last beams across the valley. It was the perfect close to a legendary day. As soon as the sun was gone, we made our way back to our KOA for the night. Arches National Park can be really busy, but if you can visit when it’s not overly crowded, it’s a wonderful experience. Moab has grown so much since I was young and has truly become a fun destination hub for outdoor adventures. Definitely visit if you can!

The next day we left our KOA and rolled over to Hole N” The Rock. I visited this quirky place on the road trip with my grandparents, and it became a special memory for me growing up. It is a bit of an oddity and if you like unusual or unique experiences, then it is absolutely worth a stop. The home and gift shop there are literally carved into the rock wall! They charge for a tour of the house and we didn’t want to spend the money, so we skipped that, but we did enjoy the gift shop. They have all kinds of souvenirs and handmade items. The artisan knives made with deer antlers were particularly amazing. The Trading Post and General Store are not in the actual rock and were new since I had visited. The Trading Post also has a great selection of art and gifts. There are several curiosities on the property, such as a carving of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s face in the rock, mock outhouses and a bull made out of metal gadgets, to name a few. Make sure to visit with a sense of humor!

Our last stop in Utah was in the town of Bluff. As we were driving through town, we saw cute little pioneer cabins and signs for the Bluff Fort Historic Site. It looked super interesting, so I begged Gabe to stop. He really did not want to stop, but after much pleading, he finally gave in. The admission is free, so I figured we could not pass up the opportunity to explore it. The village is adorable and perfectly well-kept. There is a nice gift shop, several log cabins, a teepee and a covered wagon. The cabins were immaculately decorated in real time-period artifacts and heirlooms that belong to actual local families. An ornate antique Singer sewing machine, elaborate quilts, old stoves and real family portraits were some of the treasures we found inside the cabins. Each time we walked into a cabin, a recording started to play, giving information about the family who lived in it. As we made our way around the whole place, we began to realize that this was specifically a Mormon village. Then it started to feel strange and kind of sad to think of all those people being deceived. I was honestly surprised to see a Mormon stronghold so far south of Salt Lake City and right on the border with the Navajo Nation. It’s still an interesting place given the historical pieces, but I wish we had known it was a Mormon site up front. Anyway, now you know. It’s worth a stop if you like cute pioneer villages or are curious about Mormon history in Utah. After we left Bluff, we drove south on Highway 191 to Arizona.

New Mexico and Utah are full of southwestern desert beauty. There is almost constant sunshine in these states, so you can’t help but breathe in the fresh air and smile while you’re there. We really enjoyed our time in these two states and would love to visit them again someday. If you have never been, you have to go! They are delightful. It’s hard to believe, but I only have four more states to write about from our trip. Watch for the next two coming soon!