Epic Fortnight: Day 8 and Day 9

Miles Traveled: 672/643

States Covered: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas

Trains Spotted: 5/1

Radio Stations Playing Christmas Music: 1

Number of Rules Broken: 4

Routes: I-40, I-17, I-10, US 180, I-20

I've fallen so far behind!  I'm sorry, my faithful blog readers, I know you've been waiting breathlessly for these past two days.  It's just that we put in so many miles the last two days, and we had to look around for suitable places to sleep, that by the time we got into a room with beds I just wanted to sleep.  I love sleep.

But I also love the blog, so here it is.

Day 8:
We broke ALL the rules on Monday.  Well, almost all of them.  Still no Country music, because we don't hate ourselves.  But we did use major highways, used GPS, ate at a fast-food establishment, and stayed in a chain motel Monday evening.  Totally worth it, though, so no shame. Only glory.

The reason we stopped for a drive-through burger was because we finally came upon the part of the country where these exist:

Give it to me.

If you can believe it, I've never had an In-N-Out burger before.  Not during all my travels, and not during the year I lived on the West Coast.  And that had to be rectified.  So after a talk with our meal consultant (Zac Fritsch, brother/son of the travelers, who will be making a special appearance in a few days), Dad and I both ordered a Double Double, Animal Style.  I'm still not sure what that means, but how could it go wrong?  It couldn't, and it didn't.  It was delicious, and definitely worth breaking a rule for.  And what are rules for, if you don't break them every once in a while?

Just look at it glowing in the sun.

This is the epitome of satisfaction.

So that was rule one.  Rule two was no GPS.  Well.  Even though I had navigated flawlessly THE ENTIRE TRIP, FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES AND COUNTLESS STATES, Dad still doesn't trust me, which is ironic, considering what was going to happen on Day 9.  As we were heading to the Titan Missile Museum, Dad was convinced that I had no idea what I was doing and that we had somehow managed to pass this national historic landmark, with nary a sign of its location.  He was ready to pull off the freeway and turn around, even though I told him to keep going.  So I had to pull up our location on the phone and show him that, yes, our little blue dot was still APPROACHING our intended destination, and had not yet passed it.  

Let the record show, I was right. 

Shocking. 

But we made it, and it was super cool.  Even though I missed the Walt Disney Hometown Museum AND the Polar Express, at least I got to see where someone had the capability to wipe part of the (former) Soviet Union off the map.

Pretty cool/historical/TERRIFYING. 

FUN FACT!  This missile silo was a filming location for Star Trek: First Contact.  

The other rules that were broken Monday were "No super interstates" (we had a lot of desert to cover) and "No chain motels" (it's hard to find independents when you're on the interstate).  Such is life.

The rest of the day was spent trying to get to La Cruces, NM.  And then we got there and decided we didn't want to stay there, so we went on to El Paso, TX.  

Day 9:

Full day of driving.  Even I drove for a bit.  Here's proof.

Apparently I mouth breath when I drive. 

Here's the thing.  Remember what I said about being a FANTASTIC navigator?  I hope so, it was literally a few minutes ago.  Great.  It turns out that even though Dad is truly a road warrior when it comes to driving, his skills are lacking when he has to be in charge of the map.  Within the first thirty minutes of me being behind the wheel Dad had to turn us around.  Twice.  

I was... less than pleased.

I've also been hankering for some alone time.  This much continuous human contact makes me want to kill people.

Luckily, last night we made it to the Texas Fritsches!  Huzzah!  Fritsches everywhere!  And they have a beautiful ENORMOUS house in Frisco, so I got my own room last night.  It's glorious.  I even got to make my own breakfast this morning, something that makes me happy. 

So, as you've probably guessed, we're moving back east, for the first time this trip, and we've officially crossed the halfway point.  

Today, we explore the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and have some quality Fritsch time.  Stay tuned.