America the Beautiful - Day Last
Posted by marshall Sun, 11 Jan 2004 04:38:00 GMT
Note: I'm actually posting this about a year and a half after the fact (in late summer 2005); Lara's looking to sell her Palm, and we've discovered the long-lost notes from the last few days of the trip. So I'm adding those here to complete the account for reference.
On Friday, January 2, we left Dallas with the town of Odessa in mind as our next stopping point. We stopped at InfoMart on our way out of the city, which I (Marshall) used to like going to as a kid because the companies there had all sorts of tours and displays describing what high-tech things they were doing. Sadly, when we got there they informed us that they had stopped all of that about five years ago. So we continued on to Irving, where I had lived for about three years. We found my old elementary school (John F. Townley), which was closed for the holidays, but a teacher saw us looking in and we were able to ask about Mrs. McGahee, my fourth-grade teacher. Apparently she was there until around two years ago, and now she's doing educational technology work in Arlington. As we left the Dallas / Fort Worth area, we got some lunch at Whataburger. It was decent (Lara enjoyed her chicken sandwich), but we didn't feel it quite lived up to its advertising as a "Texas Treasure".
The remainder of the drive on Interstate 20 to Odessa wasn't much to write about: lots of flat plains and oil rigs, with the occasional museum thrown in (Presidential Museum, Petroleum Museum, and so on). They say that "the stars at night are big and bright" deep in the heart of Texas, and that's because there are no other lights to compete. We checked into our hotel when we arrived, then went to a restaurant called On The Border for something to eat. The appetizers were quite good, as was the dessert (a Kahlua ice cream pie).
On Saturday, January 3, we visited Carlsbad Caverns. When I was living in the Dallas area, we used to drive past a sign for this place all the time, and I always wanted to go. I finally got my chance, though it took a lot more desert driving to get there: hours on a two-lane road (one lane each direction), 70-75 mph speed limits, and very few intersections. Note to all travelers considering driving through Texas and/or New Mexico: get gas whenever you can! It may be a very long while before the next opportunity. Thankfully we had a full tank when we started our journey to Carlsbad, New Mexico, and didn't have any trouble.
As we neared Carlsbad, we took a "shortcut road" that I think we saw on a map or sign or something. We spent some time on this road thinking we might be lost; there was virtually no sign of civilization for miles, not even road signs (except for maybe one telling us to watch for cattle). We went through Black River Village, but I get the impression that "village" in this area just means "more than one house within a couple of miles of another". There was no store or gas station or anything that we could see; just a couple of houses and a horse.
Well, the road did eventually take us to the area of the caverns, and we had a great time there. We toured the "Natural Entrance" (a steep but impressive walk) and the "Big Room", and took lots of photos. Then we headed out again toward El Paso, first getting some gas in White's City. Note that "city" here means "more than one shop with some houses somewhere nearby". The description in the Carlsbad Cavern marketing materials for White's City reads: "After a day in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, plan to stay in White's City. Visitors appreciate the grocery store, post office, ice cream shop and gift shops." Yes, visitors do appreciate those things, because they're the only ones you'll find for miles and miles.
The Guadalupe Mountains were gorgeous as we drove from New Mexico back into Texas toward El Paso. As we approached the city, we started to wonder about it a bit; the billboards were all either for cars or "adult entertainment". But it ended up being an okay place. We went to a restaurant called The Little Diner, which was recommended by a local magazine. I'm glad we had directions, as it was in the middle of a residential area and difficult to find, but it was some of the best Mexican food I've ever had.
On Sunday, January 4, we had a buffet brunch at Luby's, and then drove on Interstate 10 through New Mexico to Tucson, AZ. Along the way we went through these "safety corridors", which seemed to be no different from any other stretch of road except the fines for speeding were higher. Sounded to me like a government money-making scheme. We listened to a good Mexican radio station along the way, which played a mix of pop music in both Spanish and English. The drive was pretty much just more seemingly endless desert, with minor amusements along the way like a big rock sitting in the middle of nowhere with "Fraggle Rock" spray painted on it. We had a wonderful dinner with some friends in Tucson, and then we drove up to Phoenix to spend the night at a hotel.
Monday, January 5, was the final day of our journey. We took Interstate 10 from Phoenix and followed it to Redlands, California. It seemed a fairly brief jog after the previous days' longer drives. We stayed in the very comfortable Dynasty Suites in Redlands for the next couple of days until our apartment became available; Lara had set up some job interviews, and we toured the area a bit. We got our apartment on Wednesday, but we discovered late in the day that the apartment complex had neglected to turn on the heat for our unit. We didn't want to spend the money for another night in the Dynasty Suites, ended up staying in a cheap hotel that night instead, which was a rather unpleasant experience. But it all worked out in the end: the movers came, we were able to sleep in our own bed the following night, and our new life as Californians is getting off to a great start overall.
