Total travel time: forever (or about 11 hours through some crazy towns, villages, and hamlets)
Our Weather Debacle
We woke up to a wet, drab Oklahoma City. It was cold, blustery, and very overcast. Our original course had us taking I-40 from Okla. City to Amarillo, TX to Albuquerque. Heeding our parents’ warning, I checked roads for OK, TX, and NM. Oklahoma was fine. Texas reported snow-covered roads. New Mexico, with the most detailed information, reported blowing snow, icy and snowpacked roads from basically Albuquerque to the Texas border.
I created a new route (the one above) that would steer us completely clear of the weather. It would also turn our 7-hour travel day into a 13-hour travel day. We decided that it would be better to take longer and travel on dry roads than to risk bad weather and bad roads, so we packed up early and set out on an adventure through the small towns of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
But first, we had to get coffee…
Oklahoma’s Starbucks Problem
While I was getting ready, Clint’s research project was to find the nearest Starbucks. In the entirety of Oklahoma City there are FOUR Starbucks, none of which are downtown (where we were). The weather situation won and we blew town hoping to avoid any bad weather. Somewhere along the way, we ran across a Burger King, whose coffee hit the spot.
The Texas Highway Issue
Texas roads are in great condition…when they don’t suddenly end. Just outside of Witchita Falls, our four-lane highway suddenly ended. Odd. We were routed onto a frontage road where I noticed that the highway we were just on ended at an embankment. It was clear that an overpass needed to be built and it was equally clear that the area had been prepped for the road, but the road was never completed. Once was weird. Twice was bizarre. The third time our highway just randomly ended, we decided it must be a “Texas Thing” and were anxious to get to Lubbock. (Where, not surprisingly, the highway just ended.)
By the way, for any of you that have seen the Broadway musical Avenue Q, we found the street in Lubbock, TX. Seriously.
‘Peace on Earth, Y’all’
At one point when the highway randomly ended, we drove through a small town. Small towns are amazing places. People are nicer and more willing to express themselves. Clint about blew a lung he was laughing so hard when we drove by the house in the picture. I think the holiday sign was hand-made.
Shallowater, Farwell, TX, and Texico, NM
On arriving in Lubbock, we found a Starbucks (near Texas Tech) and decided to check the roads between Lubbock and Albuquerque. I’m glad we did. We ended up shaving at least 2 hours off our trip that day. Road conditions on I-40 in New Mexico had improved, so we decided to cut from Lubbock up to Santa Rosa, NM and head in to Albuquerque.
Along the way, we went through countless small Texas and New Mexico towns:
- Shallowater, TX
- Muleshoe, TX (where a high school friend of mine had moved from to ABQ)
- Farwell, TX (ironically on the Texas-New Mexico border)
- Texico, NM (it just sounds funny when you say it out loud)
- Clovis, NM (home of Canon Air Force Base)
- Ft. Sumner, NM (home of my friend Lynden)
Santa Rosa, NM and Home
By the time we drove into Santa Rosa, we needed two things:
- Dinner
- Gas
Dinner won. We stopped at this very local and very authentic New Mexico diner where we both inhaled some delicious, homemade green chile stew and some warm tortillas. I was so excited, it was my first green chile of the season and man was it good!
After our quick bite, we gassed up the car and made the mad dash to Albuquerque. I was at my parent’s by 8 p.m. and glad to be home.