Baltimore Bound - Amarillo, TX

We discovered a couple things today:

1. iPhone 4's don't tell time so well

2. Texans don't care where they go to the bathroom

We set my phone alarm to go off at 5:15 a.m.  but it decided to go off at 4:15 a.m.  I didn't realize it until after I got out of the shower and saw the hotel alarm clock read 4:30.  Aurora woke up too, and therefore refused to go back to bed.  Fortunately, it worked out; we were able to get out of the hotel by 6:30 and were on the road.  Note: this is the first instance of poor iPhone time telling.

First, we took a slight detour to Petrified Forest National Park.  The 28 mile drive through the park lasted about an hour.  Both the Painted Desert overlook at Pintado Point and the Route 66 stop off were our favorite parts of the park.  When we stopped for gas at the Visitor Center, the attendant told me that some of the older maintenance men at the park still remember Route 66 when it went through the park and in fact would deliver soda and cigarettes to the same gas station at which we stopped.  She also told me that the gas station used to be a full service station and that the original garage doors were behind the refrigerators, and one of the lifts was under the candy counter.  "They'll be there forever," she said.

Pintado Point

We then continued our trip on I-40.  We stopped just past Albuquerque, NM because I finally wore myself out from driving.  Erica took the steering wheel and drove for the next two and a half hours while I caught a much needed nap.  Aurora also slept quite a bit today since she had been up at 4:30.  When I woke up, we were having a time zone discussion in the car.  New Mexico is on Mountain Time and my phone was still displaying Pacific time (iPhone 4 fail #2).  We stopped soon thereafter, switched out drivers, had a quick snack, and continued.  

God's Promise

We made it to Texas within the hour, and we lost another hour due to the time zone change (now in Central Time).  So far we have seen some interesting things in Texas:

1. We saw a cowboy riding his horse along the side of the Interstate.

2. We saw a cowboy taking a leak at a picnic area on a fence post - no restroom at the area.  When you gotta go, you gotta go...

3. The good Lord provided a full rainbow for us, as we drove into some rain.

4. We drove past the Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch

During dinner at Cracker Barrel, I checked the time on my phone again.  It had, at least, switched to Mountain Time (iPhone 4 fail #3).

We are still plugging along, and are looking forward to spending some time with Erica's friends in Arkansas.