Road Trip 2007 - Day 2

---

Fort Worth, Texas to Holbrook, Arizona:

This morning when we woke up, it was rainy and cold. For breakfast we had great big Texas shaped waffles. Yum!

On a lone highway crossing between Texas hill country and the Texas panhandle, I was hanging out of the window taking pictures of a freight train that was traveling directly beside us when the conductor blew his whistle - I almost dropped my camera! Later, we had to stop at a railroad crossing as the barricades had dropped and the lights were flashing. There was, however, no train in site. A sheriff who was there mumbled something about a malfunction. After approximately fifteen minutes, a freight train rolled past going about five miles per hour. Some guy in another car said something about “ignorance on a stick”?

In Wichita Falls, we stopped at various grocery stores (much to Rob’s dismay) in an effort to find Dr Pepper made with real cane sugar - a Texas exclusive. My efforts proved sugarless.

On the way to Amarillo, while sleeping on my pillow, I thought I heard Rob say something about eating an Armadillo? Maybe it was just a bad dream? In Amarillo, the ground was covered in ice. There were many accidents along the way, including three separate 18-wheelers that had run off the road and lost their cargo - one of which included thousands of tomatoes. Apparently, they were all the victims of "black ice".

We spotted the “Cadillac Ranch” off of I-40 just west of Amarillo. We parked our car on the side of the road and ventured across a pasture to marvel at a truly American work of art - … We spray-painted our names onto one of the Cadillacs (mom - it’s perfectly legal). This pit stop, although worthy, left us frozen and covered in mud (or perhaps cow patties - we really couldn’t tell). Since we both only brought one pair of shoes, we’ll have to stop somewhere to buy new pairs - perhaps we’ll get our “kicks” on Route 66 (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Texas was pretty scenic. Lots of oil drills, freight trains, cotton fields, cow pastures, and hay bales. Although we spotted three separate “tumbled weeds”, we are uncertain as to whether “tumbled weeds” qualify as “tumbleweed” as they were technically not “tumbling”?

When we crossed into New Mexico - the “Land of Enchantment”, Rob noted that the white cows were being kept separate from the black cows and questioned whether or not this was cow discrimination?

We chased the sun across New Mexico to no avail. Traffic was virtually non-existent, but we were unfamiliar with the winding roads and had to dodge blocks of ice that had accumulated on trucks and were now thawing and falling off. Also, our GPS and cell phone were both rendered useless after losing charge. When we realized that there was no way we would make it to Holbrook, Arizona at a decent hour, I called my mom - she called the owner of the Wigwam Motel and he offered to leave the key to wigwam number 14 in a secret spot! Fantastic!

Since we were no longer facing a time constraint, we made a quick stop in Santa Rosa where we shared one of those moments in life that defines happiness - there we were . . . sitting in our spiffy blue Hyundi . . . in a gas station parking lot . . . covered in a mixture of mud and cow shit . . . eating McDonalds . . . watching the sun set over New Mexico . . . Life is Good!

The lights of Albuquerque were breathtaking. Shortly thereafter it began to snow and driving west on I-40 became increasingly difficult. Rob started getting sleepy, so I attempted to drive. For almost an hour (one of the longest hours of Rob’s life) I clenched the steering wheel and slowly drove through a construction zone dodging snowflakes as I skidded through the mixture of salt and gravel deposited by snowplows. Every few minutes or so, an 18-wheeler would speed past me and the wind wake that followed would literally push me into the emergency lane. When I almost broke into tears, Rob decided he wasn’t that sleepy after all and told me to pull over. I happily obliged and pulled over at the next exit, which happened to be the Continental Divide. Rob drove the rest of the way, and although we didn’t make it to Holbrook, Arizona until almost midnight, we made it.

We quickly found the Wigwam Village. I searched the secret spot outside of wigwam #14 and found the key. I’m sure you’re probably wondering how it is that random business owners just leave us the key to the place - that’s just how we roll. After letting ourselves in, we passed out to the sound of freight trains rumbling by.

---