Heading Back

We left Rancho Cucamonga at 5:15 PT and it was sprinkling. As we made our way to I-40 (referred to as "The 40" by Californians), we were treated to a nice soaking rain. The rain lasted until we hit Barstow an hour later. Barstow is the last bit of civilization for a while so we stopped for breakfast and gassed up at the same travel center we hit on the way to Rancho.

7:30AM Still raining in the desert and 68 degrees outside. So much better for traveling...40 degrees cooler!

8:00AM  No rain over but clouds still covering. 69 degrees and kids are still asleep. Score!

9:00AM bio break at Shell/DQ. Switch drivers.

We kept on trucking until we reached Flagstaff and then we drove around until something looked appealing for lunch...something that we don't have in Oklahoma. We ended up at CoCo's (my spicy shrimp salad was really good) and on the way out Emi mentioned her bag of Hi-Chews (something we were all introduced to at Costco) and we all started chanting 'Hi-chew! Hi-chew! Hi-chew!' until she gave us each one. Yes, it did seem a bit Griswoldy, but it wasn't the first time this trip.

3PM (4PM Okie time) twisted my ankle trying do the Eagles' 'Take it Easy' thing (see below). As we drove up to this corner, there was a man with his backpack adjusting his pack. I think he thought we were going to offer him a ride as we were exiting the car and he started walking off rather quickly. Wonder what he was up to...

Standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ *

**Thanks to my co-worker Carl for this suggestion**

We rolled in to Albuquerque in the early evening and decided to wander around downtown in search of some authentic New Mexican cooking (with lots of green chiles). It was a fail for sure. The first place we stopped at looked like a questionable place to stop (bars across the windows) and it only got worse from there.

While downtown seemed nice and hip while the sun was up, it transformed into something less desirable as the sun went down. We saw people hustling to their covered/locked parking garages looking over their shoulders and then we saw a couple of guys get arrested. There were cops everywhere and we did see what appeared to be real live hobos. They are not as cute as my hobos!

This bike stand spoke to me. It said 'Get on your bike again soon, woman!'

After wandering around and consulting a few applications that led us to closed restaurants, we decided we just needed sustenance and asked one of the nearby police officers for a recommendation. He pointed to Lindy's, a place that looked questionable earlier but that Emi was pushing for nonetheless, so we decided to just make do.

This place couldn't be too bad, right?

Wrong! It was a mistake and a half. The food was flavorless except for the very hot (not complaining about that heat) chiles. There was no authentic New Mexican fare being served after 8pm, so we got diner food. Oh well, at least we had a nice hotel room to settle into for the evening. 

It was too late to swim when we got back so we turned on Parking Wars and eventually got to sleep....