The Final Approach

Yesterday's 17 hours of driving was an exhausting affair. Cassie found the bed and was out the second she closed her eyes. I managed to drink a beer and watch the OKC local news wrap up the Thunder's game 6 loss to Golden State. Then I shut my eyes and  I opened them 6 hours later though it felt like 5 minutes. We quickly grabbed some breakfast, gassed up and hit the road with 8 hours to go until our hotel in Gallup N.M.

The sights we saw today left us constantly amazed. It was non stop "look at that!" "  " oh that's beautiful ". The flat prarie of West Oklahoma and North Texas was  all  cattle fields and hundreds and hundreds of windmills as far as the eye could see. 

 We saw Pampa Tx which is the home town of Cassie's mom Joyce. I can't imagine what a culture shock the east coast must have been for her after growing up in place so sparse. " Wide Open Spaces" by the Dixie Chicks happened to pop up on the trip mix and it will forever make me think of North Texas. 

Did I mention the speed limit is for the most part 75 mph. The roads are so flat and straight though that it doesn't feel fast at all. The cars flying by us at 90 plus made us feel like slow pokes too. 

We made it to New Mexico  by noon and we. Soon found out why it is called The Land of Enchantment. Long stretches of flat land that looks like a lunar landscape and then in the distance you see mountains. They look close but it's deceiving because the horizon is 50 plus miles away so you are driving and driving  and not getting any closer. For those who have been out west this is no big deal, but we couldn't stop talking about it. The drive towards,then away from Albuquerque and the surrounding mountains was incredible. I have never seen anything like it. (Sidebar. We are 3 days in to our trip and I have run out of adjectives for beautiful and amazing. There is a thesaurus on this iPhone right?)

We are now in New Mexico. We arrived at our hotel at 3:30 MST so it is about 50 hours after we left Hudson. Actual driving time was almost 35 hours . The only slow downs were the Mass f ing Pike near Worcester, the windshield wiper fiasco, and a brief backup in Missouri for a tractor trailer accident. Other than that, we cruised and enjoyed every second. I am sure the long haul truckers get tired of straight, flat roadway with the monotony broken up only by the occasional scrum of truck stops surrounding exit 290, but we throughly enjoyed every mile so far.As I write this we are at our hotel in Gallup N.M. I am drinking a beer while Cassie is trying to get some late afternoon New Mexico sun. (Sidebar #2. We only brought Bud Light and I wanted something with a little more substance and thought I might grab a six pack of a local micro brew. But no.Turns out they don't sell beer on Sunday in NM. What century are the citizens lof NM living in? Oh well , Bud Light it is.) We are having a nice relaxing evening and will be asleep early for sure. Tomorrow we begin what we came here for. We will visit Petrified Forest Nat Park in the morning then make our way to the Grand Canyon for late afternoon. We can't wait to get moving and see some sights up close instead of from our vehicle.