Arizona and New Mexico 25 Scenic Side Trips
By Rick Quinn
Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
After several months of “hunkering down” at home in order to avoid the coronavirus, I’m itching to start traveling again! I picked this book up at a Heard Museum event a number of months ago, as I was attracted by the amazing maps and photos of the desert Southwest—and I needed inspiration for day trips out of Phoenix in order to keep my sanity. I also wanted to begin planning for future trips starting later this summer.
I met the author, Rick Quinn, at this event and found out we had much in common, both having traveled extensively throughout Latin America and the Southwest. Rick and I were simpatico and we shared travel related stories from Central America and the Andes for quite some time. As an author, I asked Rick how he managed to publish a book with so many maps and colored photos. He explained that he’d written many travel articles for various publications and the folks at Road Trim America contacted him to write the book and Imbrifex Books published it, making the expensive graphics possible.
I reviewed the trips in the Phoenix and Tucson area and found several new places to see within a day that I’d never been to before like the Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, a ruin and display of the Hohokam people who settled the area 2,000 years ago—and its right next to Sky Harbor airport, which I’ve been in and out of hundreds of times, but never noticed this archaeological gem.
Although Tucson has been one of our favorite destinations, the drive down I-17 is dangerous at best, with trucks passing on all sides, so I was pleased to learn of an alternative route down 87 to 79/Pinal Pioneer Parkway which included the Pinal County Historical Society & Museum and Tom Mix Memorial, which we’d driven by but never visited over the years. Here are just a few of the resources available to bring these new destinations alive:
⦁ Color imagery and photography
⦁ Easy-to read, full-color route maps with points of interest in mileage
⦁ Color-coded pages for easy identification of routes
⦁ Up-to-date insider tips to get the most out of your visit
⦁ Contact information including a website for parks, attractions, lodging and dining
I asked the author why he missed a few places along the high road between Santa Fe and Taos, one of my favorite places, and he shared this reality – There was no way to include everything I might have liked in that section of the book. Word count was a constant challenge, and an ongoing battle with my editor. Many choices had to be made, and a lot of great stuff had to be cut. I’m in the process of reactivating the Scenic Side Trips blog that my publisher used to promote the book when it was first published. Here’s a sample post you might enjoy: Save the High Road for Last
In this blog, he shares what makes this guide so special:
I don’t even try to cover everything there is to see along these scenic side roads; instead, I deliberately pull back to a wider focus that puts the routes and the various attractions along the way into a larger context; geographically, geologically, and historically. By concentrating on quasi-permanent things like roads, rather than transitory things like restaurants, I’ve created a useful guidebook that (hopefully!) won’t be obsolete after two or three years. Beyond that, I wanted to create a book that will be at least potentially useful to travelers at every level of expertise, from first time road-trippers to the savvy old dogs (guys like me) who have “been there, and done that” dozens of times. That last requirement was a pretty tall order. How is it even possible to avoid excessive, overly specific detail, while still offering something new to the self-styled experts?
The key to that last is in the research. Even the most boring place in the world will come to life in interesting ways if you dig deep enough, so that’s exactly what I did, and because most of my more intensive research was done after I’d already driven all of the routes, I discovered a wealth of fascinating information that I would have loved to have had in advance. Many reviewers that have commented on my book have said that reading it makes them want to “gas up the car and go!” Writing the book had the same effect on me! So many of the places I describe had such a fascinating backstory that I was super eager to see them again, in the light of my far more complete understanding of the “big picture.”
Another reason I purchased this book was because it had two sections on my favorite route in the Southwest, the high road between Santa Fe and Taos. I agreed totally with his assessment of why this area is so unique, “Those high valleys off the High Road are like another world, locked in another time, much more closely in tune with Chiapas (or Guatemala) than with the rest of this country. I’m hoping to get back there soon, perhaps as a detour on my way to (or from) Colorado.”
One of the highlights of the High Road is El Santuario de Chimayo, a Roman Catholic shrine known as the “Lourdes of America” for the physical and spiritual healing power attributed to the soil taken from the dirt floor of a back room chapel. The Shrine attracts over 300,000 worshippers each year and the sanctuary is a designated National Historic Site. Imagine my surprise, during my last trip there last summer, when I learned that the inspiration of the construction of the chapel was the Church of the Black Christ in Zacapa, Guatemala which I had visited annually with my wife, children and her family for years. A Guatemalan priest traveled to the chapel during its early days to set it up.
Our next stop is usually the San Jose de Gracia Church by Las Trampas, and then we’d drive to the town of Truchas, which has one of the most spectacular mountain backdrops in the Southwest. And those of us who have read John Nichols’ “The Milagro Beanfield War” might appreciate that this was one of the shooting locations Robert Redford used for his film with the same name.
Not surprisingly, a number of reviewers far more knowledgeable than I have provided stellar reviews of this book.
“Rick Quinn reveals the absolute best of Arizona and New Mexico, including hidden gems and overlooked treasures. This gorgeous guidebook helps you plan the ultimate road trip!” ―James Kaiser, author of Grand Canyon: The Complete Guide.”
“Iconic only-in-America tourist destinations come alive in Rick Quinn’s guide to famed Arizona and New Mexico road trips. From Burma-Shave roadside signs, vortex sites, tree trunk sculptures, and the world’s smallest museum, to architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s former home, artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s studio, and Biosphere 2, you’ll be amazed at the seductive pull these diverse, sometimes quirky attractions will have on your western itinerary.”―Jeff Blumenfeld, editor, ExpeditionNews.com
About the Author
Rick Quinn is a native of Arizona, but during his college days, he lived, worked, and studied in four different states and three foreign countries. With a major move every 3 to 6 months, road trips became a way of life, and all that travel sparked a passion (or a restlessness?) that’s persisted for nearly half a century. His wildest trip? Rick once shipped a four-wheel drive truck to South America and spent two full years driving every road in the northern Andes. Strangest vehicle? He converted a VW bug into a camper and used it on a three-month tour through 35 states. Marriage, mortgage, family, and career slowed things down quite a bit, but now that Rick has retired, he’s back on the road again. In 2015, he drove the Alaska Highway and the Yucatan, a total of 21,000 miles over four months. Over the course of the summer and fall of 2016, Rick drove 11,000 miles through Arizona and New Mexico, plus a bit of Texas and Utah, shot more than 7,000 photos and compiled copious notes working on his debut travel book, “RoadTrip America 25 Scenic Side Trips in Arizona and New Mexico,” (Imbrifex Books, April 2018). Rick’s infectious love for the road itself, and for driving his beloved Jeep to places just beyond the next bend in the road, entice and entertain his readers.
Product details
⦁ File Size: 398418 KB
⦁ Print Length: 384 pages
⦁ Publisher: Imbrifex Books (April 3, 2018)
⦁ Publication Date: April 3, 2018
⦁ Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC
⦁ Language: English
⦁ ASIN: B079CKTJPP
⦁ Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
⦁ #73 in ⦁ Hotels ⦁ &⦁ Inns Travel Reference (Kindle Store)
⦁ #82 in ⦁ Family Travel
⦁ #25 in ⦁ Arizona Travel Guides (Kindle Store)
Reviewer Mark Walker:
Walker was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala and spent over forty years helping disadvantaged people in the developing world. He came to Phoenix as a Senior Director for Food for the Hungry, worked with other groups like Make-A-Wish International and was the CEO of Hagar USA, a Christian-based organization that supports survivors of human trafficking.
His book, Different Latitudes: My Life in the Peace Corps and Beyond, was recognized by the Arizona Literary Association for Non-Fiction and, according to the Midwest Review, “…is more than just another travel memoir. It is an engaged and engaging story of one man’s physical and spiritual journey of self-discovery…”
Several of his articles have been published in Ragazine and WorldView Magazines, Literary Yard, Literary Travelers and Quail BELL, while another appeared in “Crossing Class: The Invisible Wall” anthology published by Wising Up Press. His reviews have been published by Revue Magazine, as well as Peace Corps Worldwide, and he has his own column in the “Arizona Authors Association” newsletter, “The Million Mile Walker Review: What We’re Reading and Why.” His essay, “Hugs not Walls: Returning the Children,” was a winner in the Arizona Authors Association literary competition 2020 and was reissued in “Revue Magazine.”
His honors include the “Service Above Self” award from Rotary International. He’s the membership chair for “Partnering for Peace” and a board member of “Advance Guatemala”. His wife and three children were born in Guatemala. You can learn more at www.MillionMileWalker.com and follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/millionmilewalker/ and www.Guatemalastory.net