June 24: Texas Here I Come

Today’s post is dedicated to my dad. He’s always done the best he is able to be —a loving husband, father, salesman, teacher, and Christian (He would say, Catholic.)

”A father holds his daughter’s hand for a short while, but he holds her heart forever.” unknown

Okay, so before I get to today’s drive, I’d like to say ”Thank You” to my sister-in-law, Debbie who sheltered me for the night. She has a very nice home in Albuquerque. Her son Gabe was busy with his job and his girlfriend. Husband, Marlin was out of town. Debbie and her dog Lewey were very hospitable. We had a nice dinner and a good conversation. I wish her and her family all the best.

Another thing -- what is up with the roads in Albuquerque they all run North West. I mean every road I turned down was something something NW. They can't all possibly running in the same direction. It just doesn't make sense. Whoever planned the city was smoking something. Peyote? It was very confusing, so thank God for Siri. Now about a couple of signs in New Mexico: one sign I saw way more than you'd think was possible was a diamond shaped yellow sign with the silhouette of a donkey on it. The sign reads crossing next 15 miles. I saw this sign at least five times, but never saw a donkey, not one. In California we call speed bumps, "speed bumps," not in New Mexico. Another sign that I saw more than once was also a diamond shaped yellow sign that I'm guessing is a warning, but it reads "speed humps"! Not kidding. I have a whole different picture of what that means in my mind.

So, I left Debbie’s house at 11ish. I went to Best Buy to purchase a charger for my selfie stick, but of course they don't carry that charger. Then I stumbled upon a Costco -- YAY! Cheap gas. By the time I hit the I40 going east it was 11:45. More than 4 hours later (Darn that Road Work) I made it to Amarillo, which used to be a quaint little town. Everything was grown up so much. It wasn't worth stopping to see the same things I can see in the OC. So I soldiered on and so did my pups, who, by the way have discovered that there is more the see out the windows than just me :0). Every time I leave the car they stare me down. Then I get back in the car and they lay down. We were on the road so long today that they discovered if they sit up while the car is moving, they can see stuff to bark at... cows -- so many cows, and some horses, of course, and the random guy on a motorcycle is also fun to bark at. Wanted to see what Lubbock is all about, but realized I had actually already passed it because there is nothing there to see. I'm not hating on Lubbock, but truly there was just a lot of flat land -- so much flat land and some grain silos, and some tractor dealers. Yes, more than one dealer of tractors. One think I did get excited about, but it was a whoops you missed it, was a Starbucks that was located on the western side of the I40. Bummer. Another thing that I have seen a lot of is trains. I'm not talking about a train here and there, no, these trains (so many trains) have 3-5 engines that are pulling 100+ cars. It reminded me of traveling as a kid with my dad and counting the cars on every train we saw to see if it beat the one with the most cars. To pass the butt numbing time today, I listened to Apple Radio Country Station, which also reminded me of my dad because he loves country music and was the one who introduced me to the Old Greats, which helps to appreciate some of the new artists. The songs are pretty simple, so once you've heard the chorus it's easy to sing along. My favorite songs of the day were: I Can Fix a Drink by Chris Jansen; I'll Think of a Reason Later, by Lee Ann Womack; My Give a Damn's Busted by Jo Dee Messina; and Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts.