Day 5...Amarillo, Texas ~ Santa Fe, New Mexico

Posted: Mark

Today was a fairly casual day of driving and site seeing. We left Amarillo Texas heading toward Oklahoma City, OK. (Yes, that's the wrong way)...Thankfully, Jen remembered that the sun rises in the East and it was shining bright at 9 a.m.

Our first stop was at the Cadillac Ranch between miles 60-62 heading west out of Amarillo. I had actually been looking forward to this stop. I had heard about the Cadillac Ranch for several years and had great expectations. As we pulled up on the "art exhibit", it looked small. The "painting" against the "canvas" of miles and miles of Texas ranch land, just looked dwarfed. As we approached the Cadillacs through a gate, the "project" came alive. It really was very cheeky, quirky and fun. There were spray cans littered everywhere - and they were all empty. So, we pulled out the trusty, Sharpie! Here is a panoramic picture of the Cadillac Ranch...

From the Ranch we started our four hour drive toward Santa Rosa and Santa Fe.

Our first stop was at the Mid-Point Cafe. This place inspired the Disney movie "Cars". When we went into the restaurant, we were pretty awe struck, but that faded quickly. We sat at a table..............for about 15 minutes before we got water and menus. Then when we looked at the menu, it was way over priced. A cheeseburger was about $8 each. That did not even include fries. They gave you a bag of chips to go with the sandwich. Jen and Bailee ordered "homemade chicken noodle soup". It was most definitely Campbell's Chicken noodle soup. Their "can" of soup was about $4 per bowl. The neat thing was meeting "Mator". There is an actual pick-up truck that inspired the character in "Cars".

Mator

From Mid-Point we headed toward Santa Rosa, New Mexico. In Santa Rosa, we went to the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is an 81 foot deep, 60 foot diameter, natural crater. The crater is totally filled with naturally fed spring water. It is amazingly clear and blue. All around the perimeter wall, sat teenagers and families, who just jumped in and out of the pool. There were a couple brave guys who were climbing about 12-15 feet above the water and jumping into the pool. I said to Jennifer, wouldn't it be cool to live next to water like this where you can just get off work or school and run and jump in the water?She looked at me and said, "We do, it's called Lake Michigan." Oh yea....duh...

I'm going to hand the baton to Jen and she is going to share the second half of today's adventures.

...As we left Texas and entered New Mexico, the landscape began to drastically change. Texas was mainly flat, dry plains. In New Mexico we began to see a gradual increase in hills, and ultimately mountains. I call them "speckled mountains", because of the small clusters of grass spread throughout the otherwise brown/red soil. The further west we drove, the more speckles and the higher the mountains. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive. What a majestic and awesome Creator God we have!

Our destination tonight was Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not for any other reason than to find a specific Pizza joint. Brekyn saw an episode of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" which aired in Santa Fe about a year ago. They highlighted a Pizza place here called "Back Road Pizza", where they serve Green Chili Pizza. Brekyn has been waiting for a year to eat this Pizza. She (and We) were not disappointed. It was very Yummy! Surprisingly Spicy-hot, though. I (Jen) could not take much of it, but Brekyn had no problem with it!

As we ready ourselves for bed, we listen to the rolling thunder of an approaching storm. We are experiencing the remnants of Hurricane Alex. Good night, Santa Fe.