The Long and Winding Road – LA Trip, Day 3

Greetings from Santa Rosa, New Mexico, from an Internet-less hotel on old Route 66 (I’m writing this at night, but you won’t see this until Saturday morning)! Today was a much more pleasant drive than yesterday. Outside of Oklahoma City, nearly no one else was on the road except for a few truckers and some other out-of-town travelers. Most of the license plates I saw were out-of-state. I guess Oklahomans and New Mexicans don’t drive I-40.

The first part of the drive was fairly nondescript. Every town I passed had a sign proclaiming that it was the birthplace of “insert celebrity here.” Carrie Underwood and Troy Aikman were the only ones I remember. There was an astronaut, and actor/performer of some sort, and some people who I have no idea what their grand contribution to society was. I saw signs advertising miniature donkeys (I want one).

But, by the mighty hand of Zeus, the scenery. Especially after I passed through Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and most of the part of Texas I traveled across were breathtaking. It is serene, peaceful, vast. Looking out my car window and seeing nothing but plains as far as my eyes could see made me want to jump out of the car and just marvel at the sheer beauty of it all. There was the occasional tree patching the landscape, with livestock gathering in its shade. Every once in a while there were wind farms filled with multitudes of windmills. Power lines stretched for miles.

And it was a perfect day to see it all too. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, but there were enough clouds around to keep it interesting. Whatever holy deity, alien civilization, or super-powered cosmic being kissed the ground that became this part of the country, kudos to you.

This was taken while driving down I-40.

These pictures are when I took a detour down a winding road somewhere in Texas.

New Mexico has its own beauty too, but its emptiness seemed more desolate than serene. It was mostly flat, with a lot of shrubs. As I got further into the state, there were small mountains and plateaus way off into the distance. Maybe the awe-inspiring visuals of Oklahoma and Texas drowned out New Mexico for me. Hopefully a good night’s rest will give me fresh eyes for the rest of the state tomorrow.

The coolest thing about New Mexico was every once in a while seeing a point where one could turn directly off I-40 and enter the vast desert wilderness. After slowing down the car a bit to see one of these gates, I found out that these are entrances to private ranches. Most did not have roads after you opened the gates. I couldn’t even see any homes off in the distance, except for one. Imagine if you were invited to come to someone’s New Mexico ranch. The directions would be something like “uh, just go down I-40 a ways, there’s no mile markers or landmarks or anything, and just keep your eyes peeled for a tiny gate on the right hand side. If you miss it, you won’t be able to turn around for about 45 miles because that’s where the next exit is. See ya!”

The drive through the plains is finished; the desert drive through New Mexico and Arizona awaits tomorrow. Here’s a view from one of the hotel windows. Until tomorrow…

Actually, one last thought. Some kid who washed my windows while I filled up my tank at a Pilot gas station in Amarillo said he makes $80,000 a year doing that and some consumer research for Pilot gas stations. (He had a uniform on as well as some other window washers at other pumps, so I assume he was employed by the gas station and not some random guy washing windows). I don’t believe he makes that much. I also didn’t give him a tip. In my defense, he walked away before I could give him a tip, but completely nullifying that defense, I wouldn’t have tipped him anyway.

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