Day 29: Texas

Angel Fire

From Taos I decided to take a slightly longer route to Texas, electing to go by the Ski Area, Angel Fire, 25 miles outside of Taos.  Going this way and along the North East part of New Mexico, really surprised me with how beautiful it was. I always thought of New Mexico as Adobe and desert, but this part of New Mexico is great. At one point I pulled over and was rewarded with seeing a Hot Air Balloon in the distance, taking off.  I also have to say that even in the small towns in New Mexico, everybody is wearing masks, and I didn’t see that in the other small towns from Maine to Oregon.

Driving into Amarillo I reflected back on the spring break trip I talked about yesterday. We left Center Colorado in the evening and it became my turn to drive around 3 or 4 am.  We were all excited to be on the trip, by the time it was my turn, everybody fell asleep and it was up to me to get us beyond Amarillo safely. I remember being so tired, I was having trouble seeing and there was road construction. I was hitting the gas and letting off on the accelerator, so much so that my friends would later say they thought they were dreaming of rocking back and forth.  I was staring at the gas gauge, willing it to go down so I could stop for gas and change drivers.  Turns out my driving was so bad that we burned through a tank rather quickly and as the sun came up beyond Amarillo, we changed, and I slept.

Today in Amarillo I stopped at the Cadillac Ranch, where 10 Cadillacs are buried nose first into the desert. It’s become a public art exhibit as people spray paint the cars.  Looks like they also believe in throwing the used cans and caps anywhere.  I also took a spin through downtown Amarillo, not a lot going on there.

Song of the Day: Texas Sun, Khruangbin, Leon Bridges

Podcast: The Habitat: Finished, really enjoyed the science and thinking behind this simulation of life on mars, from a group dynamic standpoint. The producer examined the pros and cons of sending humans vs Robots to Mars.

Book on Tape:  The Reckoning

Beer of the Day:  Shiner Bock, Spoetzl Brewery (Only Texas beer at the gas station, what happened to Lone Star?)

Total Miles: 330