Austin July 8, 2010

Up at 8 to leave Albuquerque at 10. We take so much more time getting ready when we all share a room with one bathroom. We decided to save about 60 miles by turning south at Santa Rosa. Anna mentioned she wanted "New Mexican" food before we got to Texas. She and Katie found the Silver Moon Cafe on Route 66. I found some crushed semi-trailers in back of the cafe. Matt saw a man with a gun hoster paying for his food.

We stopped at a tourist store, the Flying C Ranch. I saw a full-size stuffed buffalo for $19,999. I could just picture it strapped to the roof of the Jeep. Today, Anna had the opportunity to drive through two rainstorms; and Katie, only one.

We saw our first wind farms. Each unit has a red light at the center of the blades. At night, all you see are the blinking red lights.

Another road sign, "Tractor crossing".

We stopped at the "Authentic and Real Billy the Kid" gravesite. We learned, after returning home, there is some controversy over this fact. Another Texas town claims that Billy actually lived to a ripe old age and died there. I'm not here to end the controversy; just present it.


We were told in the gift shop that the tarantulas were out, but we only saw another lizard. She also told us she had seen a baby rattlesnake with a rattle the size of a small fingernail. Even though they are tiny, they are still poisonous.

The daughters also reported they saw tarantulas on the road as they were driving, but I missed those. We made it into Sweetwater, where we saw a Motel 6 (not a Super 8) but the rooms only had double beds. That's a little too cozy for two people (aren't we spoiled these days, with queen and king sized beds?). We found a hotel called the Ranchhouse, which had queen-sized beds, and a free breakfast. We found out the next morning that the breakfast was a choice of bacon and eggs or biscuits and sausage. Anna and I chose the bacon and eggs with a biscuit; it came with a small pitcher of gravy, so that was win-win. There was a pool, but one of the clerks told me she would not swim in it because "it's green".

I noticed a smell outside the town of Muleshoe, which probably is a given. We sighted oil well pumps today.

Note: Katie sleeps a lot while we drive; I guess that rests her up for driving at night. Also, following her practice, we all open the window when we have had a bit too much fiber.

Anna found a clothing tag which she used throughout the trip to mark her seat in the car.