And We're Off... Finally

Sunday  July 8, 2012

After a minor delay of watching the Wimbledon Men's tennis final (I was rooting for Andy Murray... maybe next year), we hastily finished packing and headed down the road. I think it was around 4:00 PM when we actually started rolling out of the driveway. Debbie, Jill, and I are in good spirits, but I can't help thinking we're not going to make much progress today especially since we have to stop in Auburn and pick up Audrey. I'm hoping that will be quick and painless, but you never know.

Upon arriving in Auburn, we proceed to Audrey's apartment and begin the process of getting her loaded into the van. There are complications and this takes about an hour or so. There's no reason to get upset over the small stuff like delays; this most likely won't be the last.

Finally, we are underway in earnest and take S-280 to Birmingham. From there, we go to Memphis to catch I-40 all the way to Flagstaff, AZ and the Grand Canyon.

When we get to Birmingham, it's just getting dark and we decide to stop for a bit to eat at what looks like a nice local eatery. The place is called Lloyds's and has been there since 1937. They "specialize" in BBQ, fish, and steaks from my interpretation of the menu. Debbie and I get the "fish" sandwich. After this meal, it's no mystery why chain restaurants do so well.

When we finish our meal, we head back out on the road again. It's dark and there's not a lot to do but drive. The question now is what should we do for the evening, stop or keep going? Since we have four drivers (Jill in an emergency), I decide to keep going to make some miles. There's not a lot to see in Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas that we haven't already seen, so it's pedal to the metal.

Not much notable happened on this leg of the journey other than the crossing of the Mississippi river. We managed to get everyone awake to witness the occasion, but the enthusiasm was a bit subdued considering the hour. After many miles in Arkansas, we decide to stop at a WalMart just off I-40 to stock up on some supplies. There's nothing like doing your shopping at 4:00AM in the home state of the WalMart Corp.

With our shopping done, it's back on the road. We are actually making very good time, but the two main drivers are getting a little weary so we decide to stop at a rest stop in the Cherokee Nation area of Oklahoma. We pull in and it appears to be a well-kept stop. The two front seat occupants let the seats back to match the passenger compartment and settle in for a little rest.

Oklahoma Rest Stop

We are awakened by the sunlight that has overtaken the night. We must have slept for a couple of hours. I'm feeling pretty good, so I continue as the driver.

Monday July 9, 2012

Onward we go enjoying the scenery and changes in the landscape. The eastern part of Oklahoma has many trees and is not that different than many eastern states in appearance. The trees appear to be of a different variety and not as tall or dense as one would see in Georgia but not that foreign. In the western part of the state, things start to change considerably. The trees become less dense and the land becomes more of an open grassland plain.

Eastern Oklahoma

Western Oklahoma

Cruising on I-40, we will only pass through the pan-handle section of Texas which isn't that many miles, less than 200. This part of Texas isn't as scrubby as the southwest section and is actually kind of pretty. The temperature is not that hot due to overcast skies and the rolling plains provide a nice backdrop for the drive.

Well inside Texas, we are hungry and decide to stop at a rest stop for a picnic. The stop is very nice, as most are in Texas that I've had the pleasure to patronize, and we break out the food and set up on a table with a most pleasant view. Immediately, I fire up some charcoal in the ornate rest-stop grill and then proceed to the bathroom while they burn. Unfortunately, I see a sign at the visitor center prohibiting open fires due to drought and am compelled to inquire about the appropriateness of my grilling activities. I am informed that my burning coals are indeed not allowed, so I get a bucket of water and douse the coals. Bummer, I was so looking forward to grilled hamburgers. Oh well, we also have some sliced roast beef for sandwiches.

Sorry Jill, No Burgers Today

Great Table and View!

After our extended lunch and rest, we're back on the road heading west to New Mexico.

Welcome to New Mexico

Just after entering New Mexico, we stop for some fuel at a place called Russell's Travel Center. It's a large facility catering to truckers and autos, but the most interesting thing about the place is a free antique auto and memorabilia museum. I almost left without checking it out, but Debbie was smart enough to follow the signs in the store. I'm glad she did, because it's way better than some museums I've paid to visit. This is a great collection and after talking to the proprietor, it's only half of what's in the inventory. The items are rotated on schedule to keep things fresh.

Sweet Rides!

Lots of Coca Cola

The King

After the museum tour was complete, we headed out on the road again. I decided to detour to the Historic Route 66 for a bit of nostalgia. As it turns out, historic route 66 is harder to find than Cortez's City of Gold. The road itself is broken into such little pieces here and there that you can't really navigate in any meaningful way (at least from where we tried). Most of the working route 66 we saw was in the more populated areas and contained the nostalgic businesses. Using the highway for getting from point A to B was not really possible from our experiences. After exiting and failing to find the "highway" several times, we resigned ourselves to only exiting at larger towns for the historic venues.

If one is to do the historic route 66 tour, I would suggest buying a book to learn all the areas that can be navigated. I'm sure they're there, we just had no luck finding them.

Route 66

After growing weary of exiting and getting turned around multiple times looking for route 66, we commit ourselves to I-40 again and continue west. The landscape begins to change quite dramatically once we get into the state of New Mexico. It's a beautiful landscape with much open plains and plateaued mountains

New Mexico Landscape

On down the road, I was feeling a little sentimental and decided to stop at a rest stop I had visited on my motorcycle trip this past spring. It was actually a little cold at this time of the day, so we cut this stop short and headed for Albuquerque to get a room for the night.

Deja Vu Rest Stop

We hit quite a bit of rain on this last leg of the journey. Again, my sentimental nature took over and we stayed in the same Motel6 I had previously stayed in. Not coincidentally, it is also the nicest Motel6 I've ever patronized.

So it's the end of a long two-day journey. We have covered just over 1500 miles in a 24 hour period. That's way better than I thought we would have done. We are ready for a hot shower and clean bed! Tomorrow we should be at the Grand Canyon before sunset.

Photos