Left OKC at 8:20 AM (CST), arrived Albuquerque, NM 3:45 (WST). 8 hours, 45 minutes, 518 miles. Traveled western half of Oklahoma, Texas, and eastern New Mexico. Western Oklahoma is much prettier than eastern, though the roads are still very bad. HPD was out in force in Texas, though the majority was on the opposite side of the road. Traffic was almost non-existent; not at all like we’d experience between the coast and Raleigh on the last day of a 3-day weekend.
We stopped for lunch in Amarillo, Texas, at Chick-Fil-A, enjoying free sandwiches by wearing our favorite team’s logo. Sam wore NC State and I had on my “almost favorite” grad school Florida Gators tee-shirt. Most folks were wearing Texas Tech, Texas A&M or Texas shirts.
On the way out of Amarillo, we passed the Cadillac Ranch. Too funny!
We had 2 NC sightings today. The first was an NC State alumni sticker on a truck with NC plates as it passed us. Later as we passed them, we gave them the wuffie sign and everyone grinned and gave us thumbs up. Ironically, 4 hours further down the road we all ended up at the same gas station and exchanged stories. Three guys from Lexington, NC headed to Colorado on a hunting trip. The second was a USDOT truck with NC tags and DEECO, Raleigh, NC on the side. We “wuffed” him and got a big grin and thumbs up in return.
The most exciting part of the day for me was the windmills in Oklahoma and Texas. They were huge and numerous, like fields of flowers with 3 rotating flowers. I felt like Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Very sci-fi.
And, the landscape. Wow! Texas and New Mexico bring to mind Pete Townsend’s lyrics… ”I can see for miles, and miles, and miles.” So much space, so few people. Just lots of sagebrush, cattle, and pick-up trucks.
Eastern New Mexico’s landscape was similar to Texas until we approached the Santia Mountains. Albuquerque sits in a valley inside the Santia range, like Asheville, NC. The mountains are beautiful, but very different than the Smokies, with very few trees, lots of rocky outcrops and striations.
Looking forward to the Grand Canyon tomorrow.
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