Oklahoma City to Albuquerque

Today's drive was off to a quick start following hotel breakfast in OKC. We got back on the interstate and before we knew it we'd crossed the rest of Oklahoma and made it into the Texas panhandle. En route we saw a ton of wind farms with giant, electricity-producing turbines dotting the rolling fields of western OK. They reminded me a lot of the windmills I'd seen in Spain and Germany earlier this summer!

Booking it into Texas the landscape really changed a lot from what we'd seen of Oklahoma - the land started to include a lot more farm land with sage brush as far as the eye could see, plus lots and lots of cattle! After being passed by a big pickup truck at one point we noticed a NCSU Alumni Association sticker on its back window. We sped up and gave them the Wolfpack sign, which was reciprocated and met with a lot of smiles.

Being that Chick-fil-a was giving away free sandwiches today if you were wearing your favorite sports team's apparel, we decided to make a stop in Amarillo to pick some up! It was neat seeing a bunch of Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, and other Big XII school shirts! Plus, you can't beat free lunch. We gassed up and got back on the road quickly, though, making our way toward New Mexico!

West Texas' farmland slowly dissolved into more desert-like terrain as we passed into NM. We really enjoyed seeing some mountains and larger hills - not quite Monument Valley buttes, but close - after having driven through so much flat or rolling country. I saw my first dust devil somewhere along the way, as well as a dead jackrabbit and some (live) mule deer. We actually ended up talking to the guys in the truck with the NCSU sticker at a gas station about an hour out of Albuquerque. They were driving out from Lexington, NC, to go elk hunting in Colorado - pretty neat considering they were the first State fans we'd run into all trip!

We finally made it to Albuquerque around 3:30 Mountain Time after passing through the Sandia Mountains. We checked into the hotel and rested up a bit before heading downtown to grab some dinner and see some of Albuquerque. The city itself was pretty nice, with old Route 66 running right through town! There were lots of old diners and southwestern restaurants, though we ended up choosing a sports bar in order to catch the Miami/FSU and Panthers/Steelers games. After getting back to the hotel I took a brief dip in the DESOLATE pool before starting to calm down for the evening. I don't think I'm adjusted to MDT, though, as I was exhausted by about 10 PM.

I can't believe we're more than 2/3 of the way now! I'm looking forward to seeing Petrified Forest National Park tomorrow as we get into eastern Arizona. I'm also VERY excited to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow afternoon - it's probably going to be the coolest part of this whole experience.

Song of the Day: "Route 66" by John Mayer
Distance Driven Today: 530 miles
Total Distance Driven: 1,775 miles
Distance to Go: 940 miles