We got up at the crack of dawn (actually a few hours before dawn in Texas) to hit the road to New Mexico. We are staying with our friend Caitlin who was in our public policy program (yes, a different Caitlin, there were three in our program) in Albuquerque then heading to Santa Fe and then Taos.
- For all of you spending sleepless nights wondering if log cabin tattoo parlors exist, rest assured: THEY DO!
- There was this toll road outside of Austin but you only had to pay a toll if you got off… so we never had to pay. Weird, huh?
- On the toll note, we have (knock on wood) not had to pay any tolls this trip! It is amazing that going this far we haven’t hit tolls, yet when Ashley drove to Chicago this summer there were zillions of tolls. And there are a ton driving up to Boston. It seems that as a whole (at least from our experience) there are more tolls in the North than across the South and West. Is this because the snow is harder on the roads and thus they require more maintenance? Or something to do with the tax system in general? We don’t know. If anyone has insight, please share.
- Ash passed a car for the first time (the kind of passing on a one way road and you have to go into the other lane). Yes, the first time. EVER. At 23 years old. Meredyth finds this fact ABSURD.
- The sun didn’t rise until almost 7:30 am! While Meredyth was sleeping, Ashley thought about this a lot and then we discussed the ramifications for this and how there are places in other states north of Texas that are East but on Mountain time. We were wondering the benefits and drawbacks of some states having all one time zone (like Texas) and others being split.
- The drive before the sun rose was VERY dark with almost NO stoplights. The only light was an illuminated cross and Texas star on the side of someone’s house with a spotlight on it.
- There were weird rigs on the side of the road pumping something, although we weren’t sure what. Oil perhaps? Not sure. What we are sure of is that it smelled terrible.
- We also passed a ton of windmills that were awesome! Ashley loves windmills.
- We stopped by Texas Tech for lunch and we were both overwhelmed with how fortunate we were to have such a beautiful campus at UVA.
- At a pit stop at Stripes (a gas station/convenience store) there was a fruit salad bar. And the fruit even looked fresh! More gas stations should have this.
Once we got to Albuquerque, we immediately noticed a change in the air – there was no humidity! Coming from Texas where we were essentially breathing water vapor, this was a delightful experience. But, along with the dry air came some headaches, chapped lips, and dry noses. The altitude has also been a bit difficult to adjust to (we think this has been causing Ashley’s recent headaches) but we LOVE the 70-degree weather. Caitlin showed us around the main downtown area of Albuquerque where there was a row of shops and restaurants. We ate dinner at a well-known New Mexico restaurant called Flying Star (where we had some divine bread pudding). We’ve noticed that green chilies are in almost everything – soups, salads, breads, quesadillas, burritos, salsas – everything. They are a bit spicy for our tastes, but are yummy nonetheless. Our first day in New Mexico was definitely a good one – on to Santa Few tomorrow!
- Miles to go: 1,313
- Total Post Cards Given Out: ??
- Post Cards Received: Still just 1
- States Traveled: VA, MD, WV, PA, OH, KY, TN, MS, LA, TX, NM
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