One Day Down; 27 (or more) To Go!

Well, I'll see how this works.

No 'round the world odyssey, this, but for the next 3 1/2 - 4 weeks (plans subject to change without notice, as we all know if we've traveled more than 200 miles outside our front doors) I will be visiting several states I've never been to before, visiting many far-flung friends I haven't seen in too many years, and meeting a few in person for the first time! I'm going the Southern route: Oklahoma to Tennessee to Atlanta to Alabama to Texas and back to Colorado. If the first day is any indication this is gonna be easy-peasy (yeah I know - knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder, etc.)

Day One: pretty freakin' boring but easy driving and who can complain about that?! Four hours to Albequerque and the required Cracker Barrel stop for a proper meal, another two and a half to Tucumcari, New Mexico. No scenery or photo-worthy sights except for a brightly lit place in the middle of nowhere called "Bad Ass Coffee" but I blew by it too fast. Man, my car gets awesome gas mileage. I logged 425 miles before I got here and the empty light hadn't gone on yet but I gassed up before checking into hotel anyway, so I don't have to worry about it (read: forget about it) in the early a.m.

The hotel (a Days Inn) is exactly what I would expect and require for 50 clams a night - clean, nice bed, right next to the highway, free wi-fi, fridge and microwave.  It amuses me to no end that sometimes the cheaper the accommodation, the more free amenities are offered that are actually useful to a traveling person. I.E.: I have free internet, fridge, microwave here; at a swanky hotel in Vegas all of it is extra.  Although the Vegas hotels do have superior free toiletries.

There was a couple checking in to the hotel at the same time as me and a bit later, when I moseyed across the street to "B-Bob's Steakhouse" for dinner, they were seated at the banquette next to me and the lady asked me if I would like to join them instead of eating alone. Now see, I have no problem eating alone, but A) it would be totally rude to say no! and B) The lady's regional accent was intriguing.

Turns out they are turkey farmers from somewhere north of Fargo, Minnesota (I couldn't figure out the name of the town, just that it's 10 miles from the Canadian border) who are celebrating their 40th anniversary by taking a waaaay overdue honeymoon to Sin City (aka Las Vegas, NV) for a week.

They were very interesting and very cute (neither of them look like they are old enough to have been married that long and have 9 grandchildren but perhaps the Minnesota air is rarefied?)  They were very excited to hear that I've been to Vegas more-times-than-I-can-count and wanted to know where the best places to go are. This gave me a bit of pause because who knows what they are interested in? I ended up telling them that if they wanted to lose all their vacation money they could go and gamble just about anywhere, but if they want to see cool hotels and have some good buffets, go to (A B & C). 

I found it funny that they were really surprised that I was going out on the road for a relatively extended period of time by myself and staying alone in some places. It doesn't feel that particularly abnormal or unduly scary to me - naturally traveling with a companion is my first choice but going it solo is nothing to be afraid of per se - and she told me a funny story about how when they first got into this town (Tucumcari) there were some "strange" looking neighborhoods, and when they got to (this) hotel, she asked the desk manager if it was "safe" here and the desk manager sort of stifled a laugh at her.

I explained that a lot of desert type 'hoods can look a little sketchy but what you really have to watch for is if there are bars on the windows.  She seemed somewhat reassured by this.  (It's a totally cookie-cutter travel-stop type place, kinda BFE but not dangerous in any way).

That's it for day one.  I hope my fleeting dinner-friends have fun in Vegas and make it back to the turkey farm safely and with a little money left!  Tomorrow is onward to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. I hope the scenery gets more interesting so I can take some pics!

Lauri