Follow-along-with-JD-on-his-trek-to-the-Pacific-Northwest running thread

Well, OK ... since you asked ...



I took a few shots of the last parts of West Texas before I crossed the border into ...



New Mexico, Land of Enchantment.



I'm not really sure why this was such a cool moment, but it was. And hey, I cut an hour off my drive just like that! Oh, wait ...



The hard-working 1999 Honda Civic LX, fully loaded (so to speak). If you look closely, you can see the (purple-and-) golden sombrero a certain coach gave me as a gag gift (actually, co-workers got it for me, but he presented it at a presser) after I missed badly on a prediction. I'm going to hang it in the home of an LSU fan I know in Oregon. I shudder to think what he might do with it. Turn it upside down and put some nacho chips inside? No, it could get a lot worse.

Oh yeah ... Luggies wanted pictures ...




Miles so far: 1,122.
1999 Honda Civic LX mpg: I'm too tired to do the math, but it's in the 34 mpg range.
Armadillo sightings in Texas: 1.
XXX store sightings: 1 (but I probably missed a bunch while looking at the beautiful sky).
XXX stores visited: 0 (I swear!).
Incidents: 0 (unless you count what prompted 21 to ask someone to roll down a window).

Just past Amarillo, I saw a wind farm (the Wildorado Wind Ranch) that wasn't able to do much farming. The air was barely moving. But that was a pretty cool sight.

Two transcendent moments: Noticing everything changing -- the sky, the colors, the landscape, the air -- as I drove deeper into New Mexico, and reaching the southernmost peaks of the Sangre de Christo Mountains at Albuquerque.

Thanks to the movie "Roxanne," I can spell Albuquerque without having to Google it.

Don't know how much more time I'll have for taking photos, Luggies, but I hope you like these (if only to tickle the senses to make up for my lacking photography skills).

Oh, and Jesus Muscatel mentioned my makeshift Wichita Falls soundtrack. That was cool, but even better was listening to the "Almost Famous" soundtrack and hearing Simon and Garfunkel sing one of my favorite songs as I drove through places I'd never seen before.

"I've gone to look for America."

 

Oh, and if my route starts to make you think I'm lost or confused, know that I'm heading to California first to visit family before driving up the coast to my new job and new home.

 

Posted at 5:17 a.m.? That picture you took of the sign announcing Mountain Time--which way did you set your watch?

 

I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

 

Have you found the girl in the flat-bed Ford yet?

 

Yes, he has - she's slowing down to take a look at him.

 

Found her. Photos later today.

 

If you need an alternate route, you could try Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonepah.

 

I've always been partial to Flin Flon, Moose Jaw to Medicine Hat...

 

I've done it too, JD. I mean, if you're cruising by, you just have to stop, right?

Trouble was, the loudspeaker by "the corner" was blasting some crappy song off "The Long Run" when we stopped by. They should at least limit the song repertoire to the first four Eagles albums.

Thanks for the updates ... and don't let the sound of your own wheels, well, you know.

 

Lunch in Flagstaff.
Cajun.

(Kidding)

 

Might want to start heading North at some point.