Up
and on the road around 8:30 a.m., before we really settled into a day of
driving we stopped at Denny’s where we ordered off the senior menu and then got
another 15% off with my AARP card…just because we could.😊
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| McGinn's Pistachioland |
We
didn’t get too far down the road before I saw a gigantic pistachio nut statue advertising
McGinn’s Pistachioland. We missed the
driveway but Kim was willing to turn around and go back. It was a pistachio enthusiast’s dream. A big variety of flavored pistachios,
pistachio shirts and socks, and lots of other goodies that weren’t pistachio related. We made our purchases and squished a penny
for my collection on the way out. The
pistachios will get eaten but the penny will remain as evidence of our
visit. 😉
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Since
we’re just driving today and I’ve run out of other things to do, I decided to
get the computer out and get a start on the journal. When I did this on the trip out to Arizona,
using the mouse became problematic in a moving vehicle. Multiple times it fell into the door well,
down in between the seat and the console or onto the floor. Not easy to retrieve with a computer on my
lap, especially in the dark. It also
jiggled with the movement of the truck and the pointer had a mind of its own in
those moments. This time I decided
against the mouse and since the computer has a touchscreen, I’m using my fat
fingers to maneuver around the screen.
Still not an easy thing to do in a moving vehicle but there is a
bonus…they’ve not once fallen on the floor.
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We
drove from Alamogordo to Santa Rosa, NM, on US 54, then hopped onto I-40, which
took us through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle and then into Oklahoma City. I don’t
know how much longer we’ll drive today but tomorrow I-40 will take us into
Arkansas and through Memphis on the way to Zac and Angie’s in Spring Hill,
TN. Not how we’d do it on the bikes but
then we’re not on the bikes…we’re in the truck looking to cover a bunch of
miles in as little time as possible. I
accept the part I play in extending our time when I side track us with the weird
but wonderful stops along the way.
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| US 54...open roads through high desert |
When
we plugged our Spring Hill, TN destination into Rapunzel, she gave us several
choices…I-10 through Dallas being her preferred route. Jeff, I and the kids went through Dallas on a
road trip back in the 90s and I don’t have fond memories of the traffic through
that area. So I said ‘No’ to the Dallas route and selected the I-40 route
instead, which meant heading north at Las Cruces and then angling northeast on
70 and 54 up to Santa Rosa. It’s impossible to know what the road conditions
will be, especially on a ‘short cut’, but it was a good route. We drove on 70 to Alamogordo after dark. Today we were on US 54 up to Santa Rosa. The road surface was smooth and the landscape
was wide open. Mountains were in the distance as we drove through miles and
miles of ‘high desert’. The towns along the way were few and looked to be on
the edge of extinction. A couple of
times I thought what a fun ride it would be on the bikes…however, it was still
a good ride in a truck pulling a trailer.
**Side note on my love/hate relationship with
the GPS: The Biker Girl nav system on Zeus
will say if there is a gravel road on a particular route and then ask if I want
to proceed. Well done, Biker Girl…well
done!
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I
drove the truck for a couple of hours coming across Texas. On these trips, Kim does the driving unless I
ask/offer. It’s not that he doesn’t want
me to drive, it’s just that he’s willing to do it. Today was all highway driving, no tight turns
or small town driving, so I figured it was a good opportunity for me to take a
turn at driving the Beast while pulling the trailer. I knew the challenges when I offered…that it
would be windy and that I-40 goes through Amarillo. I drove into Oklahoma where we switched
places again. It was a good first time.
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Texas
has frequent road signs which say “Left Lane For Passing Only” and it
works! Drivers pull out to pass and then
pull back into the right lane. There
were no cars just meandering along in the left lane like they tend to do in
Michigan. Oklahoma road signs use
different language to say the same thing…”State Law…Do Not Impede Left
Lane”. Again it seems to work. I imagine it keeps frustration levels down,
too. So aggravating to get stuck behind
someone who thinks the left lane is for driving…usually at a slower speed than
the right lane. Way to go OK and TX drivers...keeping the left lane open for passing!
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Temperatures ranged from mid 80s through New Mexico and Texas to 49o
just west of Oklahoma City. I’m still in shorts and sandals and spent most of
the day sweating because the sun was on my side…stepping out into a windy 49o
made for a quick dash into the gas station. 😕
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Changed time zones again somewhere along the way so we’re only 1 hour
behind normal time now.
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Stopping
west of Oklahoma City for the night…less than 10 hours to Spring Hill and the
TN WonderKids!
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