I got him again, he's not going to let me drive anymore after this. A few miles down from the crater is Winslow, Arizona.  When we were coming up on the crater we listened to an AM radio station that had information about the crater and Winslow.  The station mentioned getting a picture with the girl on the flatbed truck, or standing on the corner.  These references sound vaguely familiar but I can't put them together with the Eagles song so I'm not sure as to their reference.  But sounds like fun, and at least there's a girl involved, so we looked for the girl on the flatbed truck, no luck but we did get this picture of the sign "Standin' on the corner in Winslow Arizona."  This 'Route 66' addiction that I've slid into has caused me to completely miss the Wal Mart where my dad wanted to stop and get gas but there will be no turning back, the next gas station won't be too far.  He buys, he drives now, I figure my little expedition cost us about 6 cents a gallon in addition to the entry fee for the crater, there'll be no more messing around for a while, but he was a great sport about it and I think he actually enjoyed it.

He had planned to stay the night in Albuquerque, but I quickly got out the map and determined that we should be able to make Tutucme, Tucucme, Tuccucuume, hell I don't know how to spell it.  This put us at about 1100 miles of our 1600-mile trip and will make the next day a little easier.  Truth is I'm hoping tomorrow will bring more opportunities for misadventure.

 Trailer Ruins outside Gallup NM (Click)

Well we bore on for the next two hundred miles, taking a few shots of southwestern lawn statuary or so they must call it.  A few dinosaurs, interesting buildings, the ruins outside of Gallop, all kind of cool and at least interesting enough stuff to break up the drive.  If nothing else these man made fixtures help us get off the conversation of gas mileage for a bit.

Fortunately, or unfortunately for cell phones I'm able to deal with a few things from the office on the road and keep in touch with everyone so that makes the drive more interesting.  At least trying to carry the signal all the way through a conversation. 

Most of New Mexico seems to be Indian Reservations which makes for some interesting Casino Sights as opposed to buffalo, they come in different shapes and sizes from card rooms to the one we stopped at for cheap gas which is so large that on the edge of the Casino Parking lot they added a building called Casino Express for quick drive up and drop your cash gaming, Yeehhaa can you imagine the fun, what's next drive through liquor stores. 

I'm buyin' I'm drivin' no food; we're still working on the peanuts, apples, and water from earlier.  This is the way to travel, cheap and fast leaving more time to see the country.  In Albuquerque an interesting occurrence came up that I don't think I've ever experienced before.  Sign up ahead reads Interstate closed detour ahead, not left lane closed, or 1 lane ahead, but the whole darn thing.  Where I live right now they are completely rebuilding a cloverleaf overpass through a major freeway intersection and they pretty much keep every lane open every day all day and only in the dead of night do they think of reducing lanes.  I thought this would be horrible, and take up at least a couple of hours, nope, get off the freeway take a quick loop through the outside of town and we are done.  The detour cost us maybe 15 minutes, regardless my estimates were off on the prospects of reaching Tucumcari and we are going to need to stop sooner.  My dad grabbed a travel guide, called a place in Santa Rosa about 110 miles away and booked us a room.  He even spent the money on a little nicer room to make sure I had free high speed internet access that later I discovered I was unable to use because I didn't bring a network cable. I'll have to remember to call Kari and have her pack one for Albuqurque.

On the way there he mentioned - and we were both concerned - about the actual food situation, a small town like that the only thing that may be open is a Denny's.  Both of us wanted to sit down for a decent meal after a long day of traveling and the meager rations we had allowed ourselves, Dad even mentioned he usually stops for a good steak after the first day.  Sure enough, Denny's was it by the time we checked in a little after nine.  Not bad though 994.5 miles of our 1600-mile journey in the tank.  Tomorrow, Texas, Oklahoma, toll roads, and our destination.

Through this trip I'm finding more and more how much I'm like my dad.  We get back to the room, strip turn on the TV, watch a little of the uncomfortable comedy on America's Funniest Home Video, "The baby always wins." my Dad comments, the baby does and we are out for the night.  Alarm clock is set for 5:00am after a small negotiation but we both wake up about an 45 minutes early the next morning which means that since the complimentary breakfast buffet doesn't start until 5:00 we both get time for showers before tapping on the office door at 5 am. We get our coffee filled up, two apples each and orange juice.  I see Dad go to check out manually,  I instinctively know that it's time to go get the truck.   I get it intending to pull up to the office; nope, he's too quick you got watch those old guys they'll sneak up on you before I back up he jumps in the passenger side with a pastry.

 click it! Sunrise NM

Heading on we finally get out of New Mexico and we are into Texas, I've heard people talk about driving through Texas and how different it is and they are right.  You think you've been driving over the flattest, most empty area in the world and then you hit Texas.  It is flat and it changes almost right at the border like you stepped through a doorway, still there's something majestic though how it goes on and on.  We drive in a little further, time to get gas and change drivers, Dad does not like to let the gauge to go past half way which is about 200 miles or so always seemed silly to me to stop so frequently.  I run in to refill my coffee cup, 50 cents, I paid 50 cents for coffee.  My goodness, I think I'm in love, additionally, this little gas station coffee shop is running high speed Wifi for free.  When we passed the border I noticed the Fiber optic Cable posts,  the whole state is wired and I can't get DSL in my track back in Highland where the homes are 10 inches apart, but a farmer that’s 5 miles from his closest neighbor has Fiber optic cables piped right to his homes.  The main impression I get is that Texas is like a different country altogether, oh well no time to open my laptop and catch up on emails we are ready to go, Dad's driving and buying.

A few miles down the way we see out of the corner of our eyes the 'Buried Cadillac’s', I made a deal with him earlier that we had to stop to get a picture, so he pulled off the road and after a little negotiation found our way back to the entrance.  Cadillac Ranch, IS a "Ranch," they are further off the highway than I ever expected but this rancher has kindly installed a special gate that allows eager 'Taggers' to get in and go up to the infamous fleet.  Surrounded by cattle, the Cadillac's are about an 1/8 mile or so from the freeway, apparently heavily traveled the path up to them and surrounding them is worn down and smooth relative to the field they are in.  We go ahead and memorialize the occasion by signing our names to the Caddies and in typical fashion pick up some of the trash on the way back out, the rancher has installed a trash bin outside the gate, I'm sure it's rarely used.

A ways down the road from the Cadillac’s there's a similar and less famous Bug example, I tried to get a shot off as we drove buy but it got away from me.  Later my dad tells me to get ready to take a picture of the Largest cross in the Northern hemisphere.  It's big, looks like it's made out of aluminum siding, hey if your gonna have a big lawn, you might as well have big sculptures.  Besides in Texas everything is big, including the opportunity to down a 72-ounce steak in Shamrock, and if you can do it in an hour it's free.  Another fine example of, now Midwest Lawn Sculptures, is the leaning water tower of Britten, TX not to be confused with the Italian tower of similar name.

On to Oklahoma..... And the first Cemetery we saw, it's in Edwardsville and looks like it's a co-op with the local baseball field as they are adjacent.  We'd been listening to the local am stations of towns as we drove through and I notice an unusual amount of radio advertising for Monuments, Urns, and pre-arrangements but as of yet I hadn't seen one cemetery due to my previous profession in the Death Care industry these little differences spark my curiosity.

Somewhere on the west side of Oklahoma city we stop for gas now down to $1.95/gallon, yeehaa now we're saving $1.00 of CA prices!  We stopped at one of the many Wal Mart super centers where you can buy gas, groceries, guns, get a haircut, have your eyes done and pay for it with a Sam's Card.  I guess it's only fitting as our destination is just outside Wal Mart's corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.  My brother in law owns a landscaping company that is taking off, partly due to the influx of executive level positions in that area.  Wal mart told all its vendors 10 years ago that if they wanted to sell products through Wal-Mart they had to have an office in NW Arkansas (It's great to have power).  So we get gas and Dad throws me a curve, he's buying because he can use his Sam's Card and save a couple of cents a gallon, sure enough $1.93/gallon on the pump, we grab a bite at a unfamiliar fast food chain and I've added three non-California experiences to the trip in one stop.  We are on our way....

Before we get to Oklahoma we jump on the Toll way, Dad had been debating all the way if taking the toll was worth it.  We'd save a couple of  hours over the 200 miles of toll ways and some gas but probably not enough to offset the $10.00 in tolls.  For me an hour of time is well worth the 10 bucks so we decided to give them a shot.  Visually we go from miles of open space and the flat land to hills and trees, lots of trees. 

After paying the next toll a sign reads no exit for 22 miles.  Soon I find out that they are referring to a Gas station and Sonic restaurant. The next sign reads no exit for 25 miles, and again we are only treated to gas and food.  This goes on for about 100 miles between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, nothing but dense forest on either side and the occasional filling station.  This part of the drive is a long one, I'm in for this last 300 miles or so, and there's something about getting nearer your destination that seems to go slowly.   The drive is wearing on my back and my eyes and being so near the finish makes me want to quicken the pace as my right foot gets heavier, a glance over at the gauge from dad followed by a huff and my foot gets lighter.

Not much for talking on this trip I was quite content to sit back and listen to my dad's views on topics that range from the significant to the ridiculous.  It's in our families nature to argue whether or not we believe in our argument or not. Holding back and listening wasn't always easy, and Dad wanted to spark the debate at times, because certainly nobody could be that passionate how many lanes should be put in when a new road is built.  This last stretch slowed us both down, the cab was quiet and it was nice to take a look back over the last several years.

My life began when I met my wife, about the same time Heidi moved back here to Arkansas.  Over the past 12 years; I've nurtured a career and left it,  we've had two children and lost one,  purchased two houses, and regrettably sold one, and nine cars.  All the while, Kari and I have been our own Ying and Yang of emotions and logic.  We've begun a new chapter now, goals are different, I've traded some income for some time, and stability for opportunity.  It's somehow fitting to be taking this trip to mark the occasion.