Say good bye to Daddy...

I just want to say, wow, what a day! We started the day in Albuquerque, NM, by dropping Mike off at the airport. As sad as that was, I really felt blessed to have had him begin the trip with me. It was wonderful to have the few days together, and now I feel ready to tackle the rest on my own.

We traveled through 3 states today, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. May I just say that New Mexico wasn’t my favorite? Don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with New Mexico, but after seeing what we saw in Arizona, New Mexico just couldn’t keep up. New Mexico is fairly drab (at least the I-40 corridor is). It is mile after mile of squat little mesas, dotted with scrub brush and short cedar trees; nothing like the stark, eye catching geological features of Arizona.

The one redeeming quality of New Mexico was the scattered houses along the side of the road. No, I don’t mean modern houses. I mean rock and mud houses from times gone by. I was amazed to see so many old structures, in various states of ruin and totally abandoned along the freeway. Obviously a lot of settlers gave this area a try. Who knows what happened or where they went, but they were definitely here at some point. I wish I could hear the story of each little home. Who lived there? Where did they come from? How long did they stay? Why did they leave? Where did they go?

Despite my interest in the history of the land, I thought perhaps I was falling asleep, or maybe my eyes were just drooping a bit. After my mind was numb from seeing so many cookie cutter mesas, suddenly the landscape started to flatten out into gently rolling hills. Then quietly, without fanfare, we slipped into Texas. Now Texas…well, Texas is just a whole other part of the world. First of all, it’s flat. Pancake flat. Run over on the highway flat. Second, they advertise some really weird things.

For instance, take food. Burger King, next exit. McDonald’s with indoor playland, 2 miles. Paco’s Fried Chicken. Fried rattlesnake. Try our 72 ounce steak. Hold the phone. Did you say fried rattlesnake? Do you have any idea just how many bones and how little flesh those little buggers have? Any at all? Really, I wouldn’t bother with the fried rattlesnake. The steak, on the other hand…ok, I know Texans do things BIG, but 4.5 pounds of steak? That’s enough for a small army! Good grief!

Anyway, as I continued to drive, making our way deeper into Texas, occasionally we’d see cattle and other grazing animals making use of the grassy land with rock outcroppings. Then gradually the rocky median gave way to vegetation. It was a mixture of golden grasses, dry from last season and a velvety undergrowth of new grass, which made the whole area a soft sea foam green. From there we rolled into the flatlands of Texas. Want to know how flat? Very flat. The “big” things you can see miles in the distance are grain silos, over passes and water towers.

Things of note that we saw today…buried cars, a huge cross, and no welcome to Oklahoma sign. The buried cars…hmm. Let me see if I can describe this. Driving along, see a whole bunch of cars pulled off to the side of the road and people walking into a random field. But wait…the field has a dozen cars or so buried, nose first, in the dirt. All you can see is the windshield to the tail lights. The hood is buried. Why? Who knows.

The second thing we saw was pretty interesting. An enormous cross surrounded by the 14 Stations of the Cross, done in life size bronze statues. Simply amazing. I didn’t get out because we were short on time and there was no way I was letting the little guy out of his seat. He was to the point of me having to fold him up and unceremoniously stuffing him into his seat. I wasn’t about to play that game again. A mama has to have priorities, you know?

And the last thing I didn’t see…was the welcome to Oklahoma sign. I have no idea when I hit Oklahoma, but here I am. No sign, no fanfare…maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. You know, one grassy plain looks just like the next! All right, for not seeing much today, you sure got an eyeful here. It’s time for me to join the kids in some sleep! Until tomorrow~