Goooodbye Sheppard AFB!
There was no reason to stop in Amarillo, except for lunch and the tacky tourist stop of Cadillac Ranch. Cadillac Ranch is public art - Texan style. A bunch of half buried Cadillacs in the middle of a field, all decorated in graffiti. A must see in my book. We jumped off the freeway, parked and hiked out to the cars. The walk out there wasn't far but it was FREE-ZING with blowing winds (a sign of things to come). After a (cold and quick) look at the Cadillac Ranch we were back on the road - couldn't stand to waste more time in Texas than necessary :)Our first stop to kick off our roadtrip was at 501 Winery in Childress, Texas. I was looking for a bathroom break and the giant winery billboard on Hwy 40 worked it's advertising magic. We stopping in for a quick potty stop and wine taste. The funny thing is we visited the sister winery in Wichita Falls so it was fun to stop by this one. The lady hosting the tasting bar was so sweet, typical Texan, big hair, too much makeup and a heart the size of the state. She chatted with us and we told her what we were up to, she thanked Chris and myself for what we had just been through and threw a few extra gifts in our box.
The next stop was another leg-stretcher at a roadside tourist trap. They usually have good bathrooms and you can zip in and out without buying anything. I know, sounds horrible, but if you bought something everywhere you stopped when you have a bladder my size you'd be broke before leaving Texas! So Big Tex Steak Ranch it was...
Really?
No, you can not have a set of long horns.
My favorite red was named after this sweet girl, one of the winery's resident longhorns!
The next stop was another leg-stretcher at a roadside tourist trap. They usually have good bathrooms and you can zip in and out without buying anything. I know, sounds horrible, but if you bought something everywhere you stopped when you have a bladder my size you'd be broke before leaving Texas! So Big Tex Steak Ranch it was...
Big Texas Steak Ranch on Classic (ie - trashy) Route 66
Really?
No, you can not have a set of long horns.
Cracker Barrel front porch rocking chairs
Even the gate had graffiti on it...
Even the gate had graffiti on it...
Walking in to Cadillac Ranch
Look at the ice dripping... told you it was cold...
Good photo, except for the word over my head. Wish we would've noticed that before the photo :)
Apparently graffiti here is illegal? Who would've thought.
It was flat. I didn't lie.
A rather fancy entrance
Not sure what was so "enchanting" but we were one state closer to home, so that will do.
Look at the ice dripping... told you it was cold...
Good photo, except for the word over my head. Wish we would've noticed that before the photo :)
Apparently graffiti here is illegal? Who would've thought.As we continued the flat, boring drive out of Texas I received some good news. Our National Certification exam results were to be mailed home to us, but because I was going to be gone for a month my instructor agreed to text me a yay or nay on my results so I wouldn't have to wait until I got my mail. I heard the text come in and was scared to even look at it... but a deep breath and a quick glance at the message - I PASSED! Not only did I pass, I aced it. Highest grade in the class actually (ok, I'm done gloating :). That made the mood in the car skyrocket. Chris graduated with honors that morning, I got my test results, vacation had officially started and we were heading home. What an emotional high.
We continued on, smiles the size of Texas (ok, last Texas reference) some good tunes on the radio and some good hearty laughter for the first time since July. We felt we could take on the world. That is until we crossed the state line at stopped at the New Mexico welcome center (pee stop and a new map!). Where they felt it necessary to ruin our good luck. "Your heading Alb tonight on 40? oh...be careful" "Snow reported East of Alb. They might close the freeway" "There's been a few spin-outs on the highway already, it will only get worse" Great... Considering we were in the middle of nowhere we had no choice but to push through. The kind ladies at the info booth were indeed correct, it did get worse, a lot worse. As soon as we left the visitor's center it started to flurry and than just began to straight up dump snow (add a little snow in there for even better driving conditions....) and by this time it was dark (no street light dark). Long story short - the Corolla is a champ. Things got real nasty on the freeway, but luckily for us the accidents were all headed East bound. Slow and steady got us to Albuquerque safely (our last hour took three, ugh) with only a few anxiety attacks on my side of the car. Side story here - while in Disneyland we got talking with an employee who had made the drive Eastbound on Highway 40 the same time we were coming west. Our conversation led us to the fact that we were on the highway at the same time (using semi truck accidents as landmarks) and we JUST BARELY escaped the highway closing. She was stuck sleeping in her car on an off ramp that night because the highway was closed for five hours, thank you freeway Gods for smiling on us that night. We arrived tense, exhausted, starving and cold at Kirtland AFB and checked into our room. It was late and even the thought of venturing out into Alb for dinner was too much to think about. Luckily Rudy's BBQ (if you've been there, you know what I'm talking about) was worth the trip out, filled our bellies and erased the nightmarish past few hours. We called it a night and collapsed into bed. What a day.
We continued on, smiles the size of Texas (ok, last Texas reference) some good tunes on the radio and some good hearty laughter for the first time since July. We felt we could take on the world. That is until we crossed the state line at stopped at the New Mexico welcome center (pee stop and a new map!). Where they felt it necessary to ruin our good luck. "Your heading Alb tonight on 40? oh...be careful" "Snow reported East of Alb. They might close the freeway" "There's been a few spin-outs on the highway already, it will only get worse" Great... Considering we were in the middle of nowhere we had no choice but to push through. The kind ladies at the info booth were indeed correct, it did get worse, a lot worse. As soon as we left the visitor's center it started to flurry and than just began to straight up dump snow (add a little snow in there for even better driving conditions....) and by this time it was dark (no street light dark). Long story short - the Corolla is a champ. Things got real nasty on the freeway, but luckily for us the accidents were all headed East bound. Slow and steady got us to Albuquerque safely (our last hour took three, ugh) with only a few anxiety attacks on my side of the car. Side story here - while in Disneyland we got talking with an employee who had made the drive Eastbound on Highway 40 the same time we were coming west. Our conversation led us to the fact that we were on the highway at the same time (using semi truck accidents as landmarks) and we JUST BARELY escaped the highway closing. She was stuck sleeping in her car on an off ramp that night because the highway was closed for five hours, thank you freeway Gods for smiling on us that night. We arrived tense, exhausted, starving and cold at Kirtland AFB and checked into our room. It was late and even the thought of venturing out into Alb for dinner was too much to think about. Luckily Rudy's BBQ (if you've been there, you know what I'm talking about) was worth the trip out, filled our bellies and erased the nightmarish past few hours. We called it a night and collapsed into bed. What a day.
It was flat. I didn't lie.
A rather fancy entrance
Not sure what was so "enchanting" but we were one state closer to home, so that will do.
No comments:
Post a Comment