All right, now we’re into territory that neither the Thriller nor I have seen before. And man, what a first impression.

While my poor family and fiends back in Ohio are suffering intolerable heat, I wore my sweater last evening while we were out and about in Gallup — it was 60 degrees outside.

We kind of expected a more desert-like atmosphere in northwest New Mexico. Instead, we got beautiful red rock, huge plateaus and buttes, massive expanses of horizon, and the Continental Divide:

Yesterday also brought the first thunderstorm we encountered on the road. Little did we know, when I took this photo, that the beautiful gray curtain of rain contained a crapton of hail, too:

I was too traumatized to take a photo of it while it was happening.

The most exciting part of New Mexico happens today, when we hit the downtown area. We drove through it last night and saw no fewer than twenty Native American jewelry and crafts outlets — including the wholesale guy who supplies the Thriller with his beautiful, authentic Navajo jewelry at jaxworld.com (yes, I’m spamming you).

Shopping daaaaaaay! Off to enjoy the gorgeous sunrise with some coffee and conversation.

Stay cool, fiends.

Fink in a blanket

Is it three days later and we’re still in Texas? Um, yep. Texas, she is a big state.

After a long, long, long nine hours driving through nothing but this:

we finally made it to Amarillo around dinnertime. Don’t get me wrong — we loved this gorgeous, wide-open expanse. Northwest Texas is much different from what I imagined. Much greener.

Along the way, we’d go through small towns so remote, we’d wonder out loud, “Where do these people shop?” Talk about rural, yikes. But it was all beautiful.

We had a great time at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Excellent steaks and shopping, and we got a ride in a silly, over-the-top-Texas limousine to and from our hotel (Big Texan offers it as a free service to all Amarillo hotels). You can see photos of it on my Facebook page, and if you’re not on FB, send me an email and I’ll send you a link to the pictures.

So as of today, after our fantastic Texas adventure, we’re officially back on the Old Road. Breakfast at IHOP (because I haven’t eaten there in 20+ years), then we hit the trail to Gallup, with lots of leisurely stops in between.

Back at ya from New Mexico!

FO

OK I lied. I said I was never going to eat again, and dang if I didn’t blow that last night. And I even ate steak again. Geez! But it wasn’t half as fun as hanging with my wonderful stepchildren at Nancy’s in Bastrop.

This was a high point of the Thriller’s vacation as well, since he doesn’t get to see his kids nearly as often, with 1300 miles separating them. It was a delightful evening.

Here’s proud papa with his gorgeous daughter Johanna, handsome son James, and beautiful daughter-in-law Vanessa:

And here ends our most excellent detour from the Old Road. It’s back on it today (after 8+ hours of navigating northbound Texas highways), as we head for Amarillo after Starbucks.

More to come! Have a great…um….I have no idea what day it is.

FO

Our off-66 detour couldn’t have been more enjoyable last night. We arrived at BoomR and BluVox’s gorgeous home in North Dallas, at which time they treated us to a positively magnificent dinner at Chamberlain’s Steak and Chop House. It was a religious experience — and I’m still bloated. I was a member of the Clean Plate Club fo sho. A big piece of crusty bread, a Caesar salad, a medium-rare filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, and several sample bites from this —

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— all gone, down the hatch, into the gullet.

The food was matched only by the company and the conversation. I love these guys! We all had a great time and a ton of laughs, and I’m looking forward to when BoomR comes to visit me in September.

Now if I can drag myself to the shower and the car, we’ll get on with this thing. I’m never eating again. I mean it. Fly me over the Super Bowl.

PiggyFink

Flying down the interstate today. We want to reach BoomR’s house as quickly as we can, YaaAAaaAAy
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But yesterday, we avoided the expressway almost completely and stayed on the Old Road. And while we saw some delightful stops along the way, the commercial devastation caused by the advent of the interstate highway was impossible to miss. Some of the little towns we drove through had just dried up, with abandoned remnants of better days standing guard over the two-lane road that once was the signature thoroughfare between Illinois and California.

Some out-of-the-way places have really capitalized on tourism, however, and seem to do really well. For those of you not on Facebook, one of my favorite stops was the World’s Largest Rocking Chair in Fanning, MO, where we spent some time at the Trading Post and did some shopping.

We drove through Cuba and saw another Route 66 classic — the Wagon Wheel Motel. Built in the 1930s, it embodies the old-style “motor court” establishment, with stone cottages built from pieces of Ozark mountain rock.

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Great day, full of fantastic memories, with a comfortable night in the “Route 66 Room” at the world famous Munger Moss Motel. I’m uploading most of my pictures to Facebook, and if you don’t do the FB thing, email me and I’ll send you a public link to them. Fun stuff.

Speaking of fun…writing the blog in the car is just that. Having family and fiends to share it with: amazing.

Fink (and the Thriller), Dallas bound