I'm just going to throw this out there right away. That thing looks tiny on the map, but do not be fooled, It lasts forever. Leaving, we were feeling a little bit sluggish needless to say. At this point we still haven't found a way to heat up water to make coffee so we had to wait until around noon to get back on the road after fixing the windshield, drying our tent and Mattress, and rearranging are very unorganized and disheveled car. So when we go back on the road, the first stop was Walmart and a gas station for coffee.
Walmart is an extremely different beast in Oklahoma. Everything on the shelves is arranged perfectly. I mean everything. It was organized, it was straight, it was immaculate. It is very unlike the Philly Walmart that I am so used to at this point. It was nice going in there and using their bathroom as if it were my house. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, gave myself a sponge bath in a stall and came out feeling like a brand new person. We got some groceries we got ready to eat on the road. My favorite purchase was a special little jar of pickled okra. If you ever see this in Walmart, definitely get it. They are delicious. It's like a mix of sweet gherkins and dill pickles. Absolutely scrumptious. So we got back on the road and made our way to New Mexico.
All across that goddamn Panhandle. It started out pretty, but it very quickly turned into a pain in the ass. This is the longest, flattest road I think I've ever driven on. It was like seeing the end and never being able to reach it. You just keep driving towards it. And the sun is hot and the landscape is pretty much similar and there's a whole lot of I Love Jesus-you're going to burn in hell type of signs.
Another thing about these roads is that there's not really much room to hide and pee on the side of them. So naturally the one and only time that we stopped on the side of the road and I have to pee the cars going by liked to remind me of that with a honk. Wonderful.
Alia hopped in the drivers seat for awhile and it felt less like a demon Road from the passengers side. Especially once you start to get into New Mexico. The landscape starts to change and the rocks start to pop out. We had a 360 view for miles. Able to see things like the impending storm off to the right but the sun off to the left. Rain in the distance and the slight hint of sunset behind you. It's a beautiful thing. We began listening to a book when we left Philly, or maybe it was when we left St Louis, I'm not really sure. It's basically an apocalyptic type book about the end of the world a new kinds of people and crazy landscapes and stuff. In my mind we are in the book as we are driving as we are seeing the different moon like rock all around us this theme has continued the entire trip so far. I'm just waiting to see a racunk or a pigoon wandering the plains.
Passing Santa Fe, the sun was starting to set and we were starting to get more Mountains in our horizon line. The obscene beauty of the sun sets out here are in comparable to those back home. Colors and light just exist differently here. As we were driving, we pushed forward into a fierce pink and purple and blue and orange sky contrasted by the blackness of silhouetted mountain ranges. It's really a sight to see. We headed into Bandelier National historical monument. Our plan was to Camp here for the night at the campground. Finally got a car friendly hotbox, so we were set with coffee in the am.
Once we got the tent set up, I decided it was time to pull around with some of the art ideas that I've had bubbling inside of me before I left. My goal is to take night photos at almost every one of the campsites that we stay in. So I set up the tripod that I am happy that Russell got me for Christmas or my birthday. It's great that he knows the best gifts to get me. Thanks Russy. I set up my tripod and I took some images of the sky and the trees all around us.
It's funny how different it all looked the next morning when we woke up. Chased out of our tent as a little rodent tried to bury it's way underneath us, scratching and shaking the fabric walls until we got our butts up.
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