Georgia to New Mexico--The Dad's Own Words

OK, now it is time to update the cross country trip, Old School style. Getting out of Atlanta was not too bad.  Rush hour had passed and the downtown connector was clear sailing. There was nothing too eventful through Alabama.  We did see one area where the recent tornadoes had touched down.  You really have to feel for those people. There was nothing left.  Just total destruction.

We made our way to Memphis and took some video of the swollen Mississippi River. Of course it had receded a great deal which is a scary thought because we could see where the river was still well over its banks. It was nice to see gas prices fall as we got further from Atlanta.

A night in Conway, AR and we were on the road again. The plan was to camp at beautiful Lake Meredith, TX.  Yeah , well I’m sure it would have been beautiful if it still had water in it and the winds weren’t blowing 40-50mph. Can you say hot, dry, and dusty. All I kept thinking about was the scene in Giant when Elizabeth Taylor encounters her new home on the Bar H Ranch for the first time. Big, dry and a hint of eau de cattle  wafing through the air. Hmmmmm, Texas. But seriously, TX is an impressive state. Hell, the United States is an impressive country and there is a lot of it.

Well back to the failed camping attempt. We quickly contacted our road manager/ wife/ mom who was still in Atlanta and asked for a Trip Advisor lead on hotels in Amarillo.  Sleep Inn to the rescue and we were charging up the laptop, iphone, ipods and cameras in no time.

After a night in Amarillo, with the camp food still cool on the Coleman, and we were westward bound by 8 am.   Then we caught sight of Cadillac Ranch on the other side of the highway. A short deliberation as to whether to stop or get going on to NM and the Chevy Suburban was turning off the next exit and heading back east along Rt 66 to leave our mark in Amarillo.  Literally.  We found a few cans of leftover spray paint and sprayed our words of wisdom on the buried Cadillacs. The boys thought that was the craziest thing they had ever seen. The youngest son scared me a little. Once he had that spray can in his hands and no rules, look out. He was a possessed child, a graffiti terrorist, a mad vandal. Remind me to have a talk with that boy when we get home!

Back on Hwy 40 west and an hour later we were in New Mexico. We left I-40 to head north on 39. We followed a very isolated route to Red River.  Again, this country never ceases to amaze me. It was glorious to drive with no--and I mean none--traffic and beautiful two-lane roads through spectacular scenery and no "tourists” except us to bother any view.  We probably could have made it to Red River sooner if we hadn’t stopped for skateboard video ops down an unnamed hill in the middle of nowhere.

One memorable town was Mosquera, NM. It sits at the top of a high plain. You come to it just as you climb out of the hot, dry, valley and the temperature drops about 15 degrees. Small cowboy town and abosolutely picture perfect. I will go back some day to eat at the small, colorful café we saw as we whizzed by at 25 mph.

After a short drive on I-25 we headed west on 64 into Cimarron. The scent of cinnamon or something bloomimg that smells like the spice filled the Suburban. Nice change.  Five hours after leaving Amarillo we arrived in the small ski town of Red River and just as quickly drove through it.  Not that we hated anything we saw. In fact it looked quite inviting but the boys were ready for lunch and the camp site.  We were at 8,000 feet elevation.

After we left our campsite we drove through Carson National Forest and crossed the Rio Grande:

(click photo to view larger)


--Posted by Paul