The Road to Tucumcari

We are on our way!
*

It was 11:30 when we left the the house yesterday, but it was 12:40 by the time we finished final errands and actually headed out on the highway.

*

Here are Sarah, Jacob, and Dylan after we struggled to load 17 days worth of luggage into our new, smaller car.

We crossed the border into New Mexico at 2:30 that afternoon. It's a very wide state! We drove for hours and never reached the other side!

*

A huge storm system dominated the sky for most of the drive. Usually we were totally dry while rain gushed in the distance, but sometimes it poured so heavily on us we couldn't even see.

To make more room in the car, we had strapped our huge suitcase on top, so we were worried that we'd end up with soaked clothes.
*

Amazingly, our clothes and the suitcase both stayed completely dry (and even smashed-bug free!). However, we decided we need to wrap it in a huge garbage bag to avoid future difficulties!

The storms continued off and on all day, even after dark. Even so, we were treated to a beautiful, huge rainbow in the late afternoon.

*

Taking pictures from a moving vehicle can be tricky! I confess to taking a few myself while driving, but most were done by the kids, even if I had to wake them first...

*

There was a LOT of roadwork along the way. It really slowed us down. So frustrating!

We arrived in Gallup, NM at 2:40 and spent more than an hour there.

*

We stopped to gas up the car, and then I asked a clerk if there was a nice park nearby to eat our picnic lunch. He looked perplexed and answered, "I don't know, it's mostly sticks and weeds out here."
*

So, looking for shade and a place to sit and eat our tuna sandwiches, we went to a Sonic and ordered fries and slushees to have on the side.

*

So much for cutting back on our food expenditures! Below is Sarah, helping set out the sandwiches at Sonic.

*

After we ate, we set out to get back on I-40, but ended up spending 15 minutes cruising part of historical Route 66 because it was many miles to the next on-ramp!
*

We stopped again in Albuquerque for gas and left there at 6pm. After that, the drive to the small New Mexican town of Tucumcari seemed endless. It grew dark, and all I wanted to do was sleep!

We finally arrived at 8:30, or so we thought. A glance at the motel clock reminded us that it was really 9:30! (That's Dylan upstairs next to our room this morning.)
*

I'd forgotten the time difference. Arizona is the only mainland state that doesn't observe Daylight Savings, so it's the same as New Mexico in the winter and California in the summer.

We were very disappointed in our lodgings. The room appeared clean, but it had that musty old motel smell and it was too small for 4 of us.

*

Sarah and Dylan slept on the floor with the blanket and quilt from the bed while Jacob and I slept on bare sheets. A true road trip adventure!
*

I couldn't believe I paid $54 for this room. I've never paid that much on priceline before.
A free continental breakfast came with the room. Nothing fancy and certainly not nutritious, but I figured we'd take advantage of the free food, given the price I'd paid for a sub-par motel room!
*

Today we got up at 7:30 (which still felt like 6:30 to us) and went to breakfast. Then the kids and I agreed we didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary, so we quickly packed ourselves back up.

The kids loaded all our stuff back into the car--they're getting pretty good at arranging it all so it fits well--and we got back on the road at 9:30 this morning, an hour earlier than I'd planned.
*
And we were back on our way!