I AM the Danger, Skyler!

Today we rolled into Albuquerque, home of Breaking Bad. This is not lost on me as the van is full of so much gear from this trip that I hope to hell it’s not been broken into. Additionally, if Indians Native Americans are selling tourists bags of blue rock candy around the mission tomorrow, I will be sorely disappointed.

But I digress. It’s been 3 days since our last post, and in that time Kerri has arrived. We spent a good chunk of Friday eating and walking around Santa Monica, because we needed a lazy day. We were also too lazy to go back to the beach and so hung around our Melrose-Place-like apartment hotel with the pool in the middle. That night we drove John and Lily to LAX, whereby they were promptly back in VA and in bed by the time we woke up in LA.

I also want to mention that we saw only ONE Tesla out in the wild. On the way to DC in the mornings I usually see one, so I’m calling California on its environmental crap.

EARLY start on Saturday because Kerri had jet lag and made me get up early, and we had a good 8-hr drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Because I just can’t get enough of a big hole in the ground. Seriously, Kerri has never seen the parks out west, and this one is sure to bowl her over, which it did. Unfortunately she toured herself since I managed to snag a migraine on the way, in between monsoons. Still made the dinner at El Tovar that I booked a month ago, tho.

Felt better by this morning, and we took our time at the GC Visitor’s Center where I snagged 2 more WPA posters. From there, a long drive to the Petrified Forest NP, and then back on I-40, where seriously, a flash flood shut down the road. AND WE WERE IN IT.

Actually the water never got over an inch around US, but still, damn. There was debris all over the road and traffic was backed up for miles. Fortunately we were the 4^th car in and got to see all the drama. A few cars with NM tags tried to sneak up on the tiny shoulder (also filling up with water), which leads me to condemn all NM drivers as douchebags.

Also, a tire blew on a rig beside us and it fishtailed. Could have done without that.

Which brings us to a late night in Albuquerque. Kerri and I were both beat, so we just ate Mexican at the hotel’s restaurant. Also it being Sunday night, this town shuts down so our dining options were limited. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Old Town ABQ before heading out to 2 days of pure driving: through Amarillo, to OK City, to Little Rock, and finally Memphis. For those of you snickering, this is actually the Thelma and Louise route IN REVERSE. And we are running out of mesas to sail off of.

Also, we’re realizing just how hard it is to spend all day driving. It will be a long couple of days here soon. Perhaps Memphis will make it worthwhile. And then we will be back in the Southland.

Random thoughts:

1.       Music: Love is Blue by Paul Meurat will mess with your head on I-40’s high desert, in much the same way Radiohead will. Metal, however, will assist the drive through a monsoon.

2.       Sadness factor: pretty high since we’re on I-40 through AZ, NM, TX, and OK, which ALSO happens to be, in most spots, Route 66, or "The Mother Road." Route 66 is decrepit in places, preserved in a few, but mostly it sits there beside I-40 as a testament to westward expansion in the 20th century much like the Oregon Trail ruts testified to wagon caravans in the 19th. The movie Cars can explain all this.

3.       I am done with National Parks for a good long time. I believe this makes 11 total for me. Guh. Although the annual pass has more than paid for itself.

4.       This thing can turn on a DIME. I have a newfound respect for the ’08 Honda Odyssey.