6:49 am Mountain Time
“You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own and you know what you know
And you are the one who’ll decide where you go.” –Dr. Seuss
Before I begin this blog, let me first apologize to Jay Williams, who was left out of the previous blog due to a mental state caused only by sleep deprivation. Without his wisdom and guidance, we would not have had the most important and interesting part of our trip to Texas, the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Thanks Jay.
And we are off again. Traveling down I-40 where the speed limit is 75 (never seen that one before) listening to “Crash” by Dave Matthews Band. We just changed time zones and crossed into New Mexico. Now headed to Santa Fe and the Turquoise Trail. I like the views in New Mexico a lot more than Texas. Beautiful horizon lines. I really have no idea what we are looking at, but God knew what he was doing when he made this state. Now that I am thinking about it… Where the heck do all the people live? All I am seeing is miles and miles of land. There is literally no one but the drivers on the road and I love it. It rained this morning leaving Amarillo. I turned on the rear windshield wipers after Kristen asked if I had any… there is a bike rack on the back of the car. Perfect. 
(10:03 am) We decided to take the scenic route off of I-40 down Highway 3. We saw some sort of life form there and beautiful hillside travel. We turned on The Beatles “Here Comes the Sun” in hopes that the weather would stop being so stubborn. No luck, as we cut over to Highway 25 through the Pecos National Historic Park. The view here was beautiful with a low fog covering the mountain tops. There are these strange little dark green bush-tree-type plants everywhere here. There are so many of them, I looked out into the distance and yelled, “LOOK AT ALL THOSE COWS!” They were just bushes. This weather is making us a little sluggish, so I decided to bust out my Skinner Boys Band cd. It was Kristen’s first time hearing the boys and we jammed out. I seriously love this cd! If you haven’t heard em, go to myspace.com/skinnerboysband. So stinkin’ talented. Everytime I hear em it makes me think of my friends back home... and this is a good thing. Gotta make a coffee and gas stop, then onward to the Turquoise Trail for some real photo opts. FYI: There are no gas stations in New Mexico. Last one we saw was about 100 miles back on I-40. We are wandering around Sante Fe right now because my Garmin is lying to us about the location of the nearest gas stations. It’s a cute, quaint little town. All of the buildings are the adobe style. It’s raining so I can’t do much with pictures. I didn’t know it even rained in New Mexico… isn’t this a desert?! (We later learn that it is monsoon season in New Mexico).
Well, we finally found a gas station and Kristen realized that my driver’s side door is not locking. Exactly what we need since the entire back of my car is filled with everything from lap tops to a flat screen. It was probably like that last night at the hotel and we didn’t even know it. We don’t have much phone service, so we are pressing onward to the Turquoise Trail. We missed the exit for highway 14 and had to turn around, and thank goodness we did. The Turquoise Trail was our first look at some real photo opts. The 2 lane highway was gorgeous and we took some great pictures in each of the tiny little towns along the trail. Madrid was my favorite because it is a tiny artsy strip with gift shops, galleries, and cafés. We were total tourists along this route and I think we mastered the art of taking pictures out the window of a moving vehicle. We stopped at every scenic view and took stupid pictures, like us jumping up in the air or doing cheerleading poses (my favorite). We quickly learned that Kristen is incapable of jumping off of the ground. Literally. She doesn’t know how to jump up. Not even an inch. I have pictures to prove it. She set a goal today that she will be able to jump by Christmas.
Once we got back on 40 and rolled into Albuquerque, we decided to face the fact that we had to detour to fix my car lock. Road side assistance was absolutely no help and actually suggested that we call 411 to find a locksmith. Isn’t that what we pay a monthly fee for you to do Mrs. Roadside Assister? As the lovely woman on the other line tried to convince us there was no Ford dealership in Albuquerque, I happened to spot one at the exact same time. We turned on the southern accent and flirted a little with Tyler, our young, married Ford service attendant originally from Michigan. He found the part we needed to fix the lock and got the only service parts worker to replace the piece within an hour & a half. We walked the streets of Albuquerque and found the nearest Subway for some grub. My baby got fixed for the small fee of $247. The most expensive lunch I have ever had.
Question of the hour: When was the last time you did something for the first time?
The sun finally made its way out for us today, reaching the perfect temperature of 75 degrees at its highest. Just in time, as we reached the coolest, most beautiful place I have ever seen: the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park (check back tomorrow to see if that statement stands true after seeing the Grand Canyon.)We knew had donesomething right, we we rolled up to the entrance of the Forest and learned that it was National Park Weekend. This momentous weekend allowed free entry into any National Park in the country. I honestly don’t even know what to say about this place because words don’t do it justice. Pictures can’t even capture half of the beauty and emotional power of such a magnificent piece of nature. No exaggeration. We laughed about how excited we got the first time we saw a mountain back in New Mexico. We were even frantically grabbing the camera just to get a picture of cattle in a flat field. And now we come to something as extraordinary as this. 
(Pretty sure your not supposed to do things like this to the wood)
(Petrified wood)
We made our way through the 28 mile national forest. 7 miles of Painted Desert and the rest is Petrified Forest. By the time we hit the Crystal Trail, it was sunset. One of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen. The temperature was perfect, a slight breeze, and gorgeous views in every direction. The Forest hours are 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and the sun started to set about 7:05. Even though we probably were not supposed to still be in the park, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to see such an incredible sunset. I swear we were the only people in the entire park. We looked back and it was just me, Kristen, and my car in the parking lot. It was completely silent and completely perfect. It was a very emotional experience actually. Standing in the middle of that place makes you realize how tiny you really are in comparison to the capabilities of God. I can’t even wrap my brain around the idea of what I am looking at. If the only place you have seen the Painted Desert or Petrified Forest is in a 7th grade social studies book, you need to make the trip out here. You. Will. Not. Be. Disappointed. 
Kristen and I were so amped up after seeing the Desert and Forest, we decided to drive a little longer into the night and spend the night in Williams, Arizona. At dinner we chatted with our server and told him we were from Tennessee. He responded, “Where is that?” I can only assume he was joking…? We laughed and said “Straight over to the right. In the south.” His response: “Oh! The racist state.” After 17 hours in the car today, that statement was a little too much to process. I don’t know about you but I think that our license plates would look awesome with “Tennessee. The Racist State” on them. And I guess UT would consider changing its mascot to the Racists? It’s said that people are so narrow minded. To me, being judgemental about someone you don’t know, or in this case, a place you don’t know ANYTHING about, is just as bad as being racist toward someone.
Lesson of the Day: In travel, when in doubt, DO IT!
One thing that I am really glad we did on this trip was not plan anything. We were open to all ideas and flexible about everything that we did. That is one reason why Kristen and I get along so well. We are both always willing to step outside of our comfort zone and try new things. This entire trip has just been about us shrugging our shoulders and saying, “Why not?” There have been numerous instances on the road where we were unsure about where we were going or what we were going to see. We’ve got nothing but time on our side. If we wanted to do something we did it, completely unsure about what the outcome would be. It’s situations like that that make life fun.
(10:21 pm Pacific time) Currently, I am riding down 1-40 with the sunroof open looking at the most stars I have ever seen. It is a perfectly clear night, about 70 degrees. Although, Meredith if you are reading, the number of stars I am seeing right now might be pretty close to how many we saw the week before I left, in the middle of a cotton field, on the back of a stolen gator. But the sky is just so much bigger here. It’s incredible. There is not a single light on the road in front of us or in the black abyss to the left and right. Just us, the road, Paramore, and Edward Cullen (the action figure not the real one), of course.
(Edward hanging up on Ashley)
