Today was mostly driving, trying to get from Amarillo, TX to Albuquerque, NM, which was a long haul, over 300 miles worth. We did see a few more sights in Amarillo before we left for the day. We drove a little further south to Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the U.S. A road was actually cut down into the canyon floor - about a 16 mile loop - so we rode that and made a few stops to get out and look around. It was so refreshing to be outside for just a bit. And it was beautiful. I've always been a sucker for sedimentary rock, for all those layers of color and just the idea of it, how it's a timepiece of nature - layer after layer packed down by the weight of time, the color and features telling something of each specific age. This made me nostalgic of my 5th grade egg-crate rock collection. I could always find the most exotic rocks, even in my back yard. I also got to see my first Southwest cactus here, and as I was taking some photos, I even got pricked by a few, just for those extra special memories. As we headed back into Amarillo to catch I-40 west, we drove past Cadillac Ranch, a field with 10 Cadillacs sticking nose-down into dirt, their tail-ends upended to the Texas sky. Our longhorn limo driver told us a little about this Route 66 oddity last night: they were placed there by a crazy local (Stanly March III) who grew up with way too much oil money. Rumor has it when he graduated from high school, his parents gave him a million dollars, and he went off and bought a zoo... and brought all the animals home... to his backyard. Obviously, this didn't exactly fly with the fam, so the animals were sent back. So this is what crazy Texas oil millionaires do in their spare time - bury cars in the ground and let people come and spray paint graffiti on them. Get your kicks on Route 66! So, after smelling way too much spray paint (and about getting doused with some by 2 young kids), we boarded Rocinante and bounded across two states worth of empty, unsettled land. There's not much that can be done with this dry dessert, but it sure is pretty to look at. From Texas into New Mexico, the landscape changed from flat land as far as the eye could see to canyons and rock formations. It's always interesting to me how you can watch this gradual change occur and how it gets more and more pronounced along the way. As we turned our clocks back another hour, we made it into Albuquerque about 4:30PM. We came in on the old Route 66 and looked for a place to eat dinner. A lot was closed because of the new year, but we did find this great little hole-in-the-way Mexican eatery, called Mac's. It was packed with locals, had great old Southwest charm and even better food. Now, friends, by now, you should know the rest. Campground. TV. Music. Typing. Yep, you got it.
Another note... The weather so far has been perfect. We haven't needed more than a light jacket, and the days have been bright and sunny. However, the snow is on its way and has been just behind us, helping to push us further west. It looks like we will meet it in Arizona, so we'll have to wait and see how that goes and how Rocinante can handle it.
Happy trails to you till we meet again...
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