"I saw miles and miles of Texas, all the stars up in the sky; I saw miles and miles of Texas, gonna live here 'til I die." - Miles & Miles of Texas, Wills Bob.
Day 1: Austin, TX to Raton, NM - 702 miles.
It all fits! With the Baja Bags and Ozark Trail bags on the roof rack, and the trunk of the Armada full to the roof, an extremely sleepy Katie in her booster seat with her bag on the seat next to her, off we went to pick up my brother at a little after 6:00am. We pull up with Steppenwolf blaring on the stereo (always a good way to keep in with the neighbors first thing on a Monday morning). My brother manages to squeeze in stuff (Once he figured out we’d be sleeping at 8,000 ft surrounded by snow capped mountains, he decided a SwissGear sleeping bag rated down to 0F might be somewhat appropriate after mocking mine). His stuff barely fits on the empty seat in the back – the only room that was left. And true to form, our mother has put together a food parcel, including items such as home-cooked brownies - I'm 37 and my brother is 28. Just like when I was in college, every time I’d get there and unpack my cases, for every two items of clothing I’d remove, there would be a food item hidden away in my case. My brother tells the same story. Not that either of us were complaining.
The goal for the first day is to get out of Texas and into Oklahoma. And with the help of my brother’s superior driving/navigational skills, we indeed made it to New Mexico. We expected a long, mostly boring day, and weren’t disappointed. On the road by 6:20am, and by 6:30am we are in lightening storm & driving rain. The first four hours to Abilene are miserable, slick roads, poor visibility, very heavy rain, while wondering if the Baja bags and Ozark Trail bags on the roof actually work, otherwise me & Katie wouldn't have any dry clothes for the rest of the trip. Also hoping the weather wouldn’t be like this the entire trip.
And my brothers’ flatulence problems immediately emerge, I’d forgotten about that. A few years ago when he went vegetarian, his methane production increased significantly to offset and gains in his carbon footprint from eliminating meat from his diet. Personally I’m verging on carnivore, so between us we eat a complete meal. His box of food contained mostly seeds, berries, dried fruits, and assorted other bear foods, just perfect for camping trip amonst Grizzlies.
The rain clears up after Abilene, we drive on through Texas, as we head northwest towards Amarillo the trees get smaller and turn into scrub, then fields. At 70mph this occurs at about the same speed and level of excitement that paint dries. We drive through small town after small town, and see nothing but cornfields, oil fields, and windmills. This is interesting at first, but you rapidly get over how big the windmills are, and at the end of the day a nodding donkey is just a nodding donkey. We also learn that a 5 year old needs to stop at a gas station for a bathroom break significantly more requently than the Armada needs gas.
Katie is angelic, happily watching DVD’s (despite competing for volume with the iPod) or looking out the window when she’s not sleeping. Around mid afternoon, she starts doing non-stop animal impressions of the animals she thinks she will see – about 15 minutes per animal gets a tad tedious, until she stopped on the wolf. An hour of non-stop wolf howling is somewhat more than a tad tedious, despite the fact she’s enjoying herself. It’s not until about 11 hours in that she finally politely asks if it’s going to be much longer before we reach a motel and can get out, because her seat is getting uncomfortable (she’s been warned about constantly asking “are we there yet?”)
We end the day with over 13 hours of driving, covering a mere 702 miles, in a Best Western in Raton, New Mexico after more rain. Because Katie has been so good, we let her choose where we eat - our first mistake: McDonalds, because she wants to go on the playscape. So, we get her a milkshake, and let her play for a bit, then make the second mistake. We find a small, local Mexican restaurant because my brother hasn’t had Mexican since he was last here a couple of years ago. Horrible place, mediocre food, horrible service - I order fajita’s – I think that’s the first time ever that I've had the check arrived before the tortillas. Then back to the motel for a good nights sleep, with an incredibly excited & bouncy 5 year old. She was too excited to even get upset by the fact the pool was shut for maintenance. Fortunately the bags on the roof worked, all clothes were bone dry.
The goal for the first day is to get out of Texas and into Oklahoma. And with the help of my brother’s superior driving/navigational skills, we indeed made it to New Mexico. We expected a long, mostly boring day, and weren’t disappointed. On the road by 6:20am, and by 6:30am we are in lightening storm & driving rain. The first four hours to Abilene are miserable, slick roads, poor visibility, very heavy rain, while wondering if the Baja bags and Ozark Trail bags on the roof actually work, otherwise me & Katie wouldn't have any dry clothes for the rest of the trip. Also hoping the weather wouldn’t be like this the entire trip.
And my brothers’ flatulence problems immediately emerge, I’d forgotten about that. A few years ago when he went vegetarian, his methane production increased significantly to offset and gains in his carbon footprint from eliminating meat from his diet. Personally I’m verging on carnivore, so between us we eat a complete meal. His box of food contained mostly seeds, berries, dried fruits, and assorted other bear foods, just perfect for camping trip amonst Grizzlies.
The rain clears up after Abilene, we drive on through Texas, as we head northwest towards Amarillo the trees get smaller and turn into scrub, then fields. At 70mph this occurs at about the same speed and level of excitement that paint dries. We drive through small town after small town, and see nothing but cornfields, oil fields, and windmills. This is interesting at first, but you rapidly get over how big the windmills are, and at the end of the day a nodding donkey is just a nodding donkey. We also learn that a 5 year old needs to stop at a gas station for a bathroom break significantly more requently than the Armada needs gas.
Katie is angelic, happily watching DVD’s (despite competing for volume with the iPod) or looking out the window when she’s not sleeping. Around mid afternoon, she starts doing non-stop animal impressions of the animals she thinks she will see – about 15 minutes per animal gets a tad tedious, until she stopped on the wolf. An hour of non-stop wolf howling is somewhat more than a tad tedious, despite the fact she’s enjoying herself. It’s not until about 11 hours in that she finally politely asks if it’s going to be much longer before we reach a motel and can get out, because her seat is getting uncomfortable (she’s been warned about constantly asking “are we there yet?”)
We end the day with over 13 hours of driving, covering a mere 702 miles, in a Best Western in Raton, New Mexico after more rain. Because Katie has been so good, we let her choose where we eat - our first mistake: McDonalds, because she wants to go on the playscape. So, we get her a milkshake, and let her play for a bit, then make the second mistake. We find a small, local Mexican restaurant because my brother hasn’t had Mexican since he was last here a couple of years ago. Horrible place, mediocre food, horrible service - I order fajita’s – I think that’s the first time ever that I've had the check arrived before the tortillas. Then back to the motel for a good nights sleep, with an incredibly excited & bouncy 5 year old. She was too excited to even get upset by the fact the pool was shut for maintenance. Fortunately the bags on the roof worked, all clothes were bone dry.
Overall a reasonable first day, and almost half way to Yellowstone already, despite missing Oklahoma.
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