3:58 PM Mountain

Crossed into New Mexico a few miles back — we are now in I-40. We let
out of the hotel at about 9:30 this morning, with the intention of hitting
an IHOP (Int’l House of Pancakes), an eatery neither of us had had the
pleasure of frequenting. Might I say — they do have tasty pancakes. I
had some “Country Griddle Cakes”, which were essentially normally pancakes
with Cream of Wheat in them. Wow. Tasty stuff, that. With strawberries
and whipped topping, well….

I really hadn’t remembered Oklahoma City for the bombing 7 years ago
(exactly 2 weeks and a day past seven years today), but Kelly asked “are
we going to see the memorial?”, and so we did. Oklahoma City is
remarkably easy to navigate, as there isn’t much to the city. Flatty
McFlat, it is. Anyway, we got off I-235 to visit the memorial, and it is
quite striking. Two walls stand on either side of a constantly moving,
yet still, lake of water. The left wall is marked 9:01, the right, 9:03.
The bomb went off at 9:02, ending the lives of 168 men, women and
children. The memorial is set between what is left of the foundation of
the now-gone Murrow Federal Building, one side of the foundation showing
rebar and cracked concrete. If you stand on the spot where the van was
parked, behind you is a single, gnarled tree. This gnarled tree has
become the symbol of the memorial, its stylized outline the official logo.
On the sides of the memorial are tacked innumerable tributes to the
victims, friends and family lost in the attack. Some of the tributes are
quite moving — poetry, pictures, etc. Some are bizarre. This is just
me, but “Hello Kitty” paraphenilia just shouldn’t be there. Kelly and I
took pictures, and then we hit I-235 to I-40 and got the hell out of
Dodge.

I drove the stretch between Oklahoma City and Amarillo. In the space of a
couple of a hundred miles, the land goes from somewhat flat to
awe-inducing flat. The sky opens up and the clouds part. The wind in
Texas is quite possibly insane. Also, there are signs mentioning that
“Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates”. Note to self: if in OKC prison,
break out, but make sure you hitchhike BEFORE THE SIGNS.

Exit 112, I-40, Groom, TX. The Western Hemispheres tallest cross. You
can see this thing for miles. However, in Texas, you can see EVERYTHING
for miles. This cross is huge, though. 5 stories or something. Whee.

Also, whilst moseying through Texas, we kept seeing signs for “FREE 72oz
STEAK!”. 72oz = 4.5 lbs. Thats a LOT of steak. As we neared “The Big
Texan” restaurant (which lies in Amarillo), the signs clarified that in
fact, you had to eat the whole thing in an hour to get it for free. How
many men must die to satisfy the Big Texan?! The Big Texan is a horrid,
horrid and yet alluring restaurant. Giant fiberglass cattle perch outside
– stoic guardians of their own beef. The restaurant itself is BRIGHT
yellow, and dolled up like a two dollar whore. Lassos, boots, ten-gallon
hats are par for the course on that one.

The driving switch off occurred in a little town called Vega, Texas. It’s
the halfway point on Route 66 (which I44 and I40 are part of), by the way.
We pull into the local Dairy Queen (a serendipitous happening, no less),
and had some lunch. Everything in the store is “TexaSized”. The medium
drinks are larges back home. Dairy Queen apparently has a Texas only
menu. They served TACOS here. TACOS at a DAIRY QUEEN. Genius. Mad, mad
genius. The wind is blowing very hard. Kelly and I sit on a guardrail
and watch as quite possibly the most beautiful sky i’ve ever seen roll
overhead. The locals milled about, talking about the weather and other
things, and it occured to Kelly that this was, in fact, yet another
X-Files town. Must… leave….

The driving switch done, we head back out on the road. It only took 4
hours from OKC to Vega, which is excellent time. We will be passing
through Tucumcari, NM on our way to Albuquerque. Apparently, there is a
very good art museum there with quite an O’Keefe collection. Sounds good
to me (and David, thanks for the tip!)

We are about a day ahead of our “schedule”, so we may take an alternate
route home, as Oklahoma sucked so bad. At least Texas is pretty, and New
Mexico has nice rocks. Oklahoma just sucks.

So far, we’ve covered about 1400 mis on our journey across the US. This
is really a blast, even if we are in the car a lot.

Oh, and if my mother should read this — when i mentioned “i hope to find
some $25-$30 hotels to stay at”, and the entire extended family erupted in
laughter at my ASSUMED naivete, well IN YOUR FACE, BUHRMANS! We stayed at
a comfy $30 Travelodge last night, and the hotel in Albuquerque shall
prove the same! Yes, the hotel in St. Louis was $50, but there was a big
soccer tourney in town.

9:25PM Red Roof Inn, I-40 exit 155, Albuquerque NM

Papa johns pizza in bed. ahhh.. the sky is nothing short of HUGE out
here. Albuquerque is on the otherside of a picturesque little range of
mountains on I-40. Shrouded in a little big of haze because of some fires
burning out in the plains, though. Again, we have found a $35 hotel room.
This time — two queen beds! Well, i can deal with that!

Tomorrow – Albuquerque Museums, Grand Canyon