Chasing Tornadoes

I’m surprised we made it to tomorrow! *carefully inspects self for missing organs that may be on the black market by now…*

Seeing as I was the one to pick the place we stayed, I would really love to say that the Roadrunner Motel was a high class establishment. Sadly, it was DEFINITELY not. It was dark and dingy with two sagging beds and a microwave that wouldn’t work. Luckily, we finally figured out that plugging in the machine helps quite a bit! *we are SO smart* Nothing could be done to help the beds though…oh, well. I did get excited at one point because we were promised wireless internet. Even more sadly, I actually thought we would get it. *cries tears of frustration as the wireless continues to search for a signal* At least we didn’t pay for that little extra.

But this is what we DID get. *feeling so blessed, really* We had curtains with such a droop I was tempted to prop them up with a stick. A few of the ceiling tiles in the bathroom were crumbling asbestos-like debris into the bathtub. And we were lulled to sleep by the sound of trains shrieking and wailing as they seemingly stomped on their brakes whilst rumbling by. Ahhh, bliss. Needless to say, we were up pretty darn early this morning and raring to go.

My cell phone had still not officially made the time switch but we were now in Mountain Time! *woohoo!!* And other than a brief comment on the screaming/door pounding upstairs that had interrupted our sleep at 2am, no other remark was made on my poor, POOR choice of accommodations. (Honestly, I think it was a drug deal gone bad. I’m glad we didn’t die! Then I would have felt even worse about picking that stupid motel. And dead…) Feeling hardly enchanted with New Mexico: Land of Enchantment, we left posthaste.

It turned out to a beautiful, gorgeous day with white, puffy clouds frolicking in a dazzling blue sky. The land was flat and stretched out as far as the eye could see and impressive riots of color bloomed in abundance in the median strips. Purples and pinks, yellows and oranges. I was hard pressed to stay hateful towards this particular state although I think I had good reason between the camp of doom and the motel from hell! (Or was it the camp from hell and the motel of doom…) We whizzed by the Continental Divide and decided to take make a stop at Santa Rosa Lake for lunch.

It was absolutely wonderful. There were little picnic shelters where we ate before tossing around a Frisbee. *annoyingly sweaty but still having fun* The water looked so crisp and inviting…until a bug jumped at me from the rushes! *convinced it was a tick while running away like a madwoman* Almost too soon, we were ensconced in our little mobile home and headed into Texas. Ah, yes. A state that likes to claim itself as the “Proud Home of George”. Blech… WHY?!? And with that, Mountain Time switched over to Central Time and we headed into the dark clouds of doom.

That wasn’t just a metaphor. The cheerful little weather forecaster announced rain, possible thunderstorms along with hail and a tornado. YES!! Just what I’ve always wanted. To die in a tornado. IN TEXAS. Woot. Ice cream was definitely in order. A gas station provided us with an interesting array of flavors; namely, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and bunny tracks. I opted for a safe choice and went with strawberry while Matt went wild and crazy for his bunny tracks. *just imagine it the way I write it, it’s more fun that way*

After being caller “partner” more times than my tiny mind could handle, we cruised in to a Comfort Suites in Amarillo, TX. Thank god, it was CLEAN! I was so glad to take a shower!! (Please keep in mind that I chose to pass on that option at the Roadrunner Motel. In my mind, mold and ceiling crumble do not make for good showering companions.) Between crying for joy over crisp sheets and hysterical delight over access to the internet, we put off making plans until morning. *please note: Matt was not participating in the crying, hysteria and other such nonsense only indulged by me*

Mileage: 425