This post brought to you by the Ladies' Temperance Society

I've been asked to clarify that Jen and Ann did not consume an entire bottle of wine on the train from Ottumwa to Chicago. When they arrived at Rick's, there was enough wine in the bottle for each of the five of us to enjoy a glass. So any concerned parents should rest assured that they were not drunkenly carousing their way across Illinois. Promise!

I have also been asked to clarify that the reason we did not know that stations of the cross is not because we are godless heathens, but because we are all born-and-raised Baptists and RCA-ers.

If you can't tell, Jen, Ann and Sherrie crowded around the laptop on the hotel bed tonight and gave their feedback. :-)

This morning I hopped into the Montana with my laptop and cruised a little ways down the street so I could glom onto the Park Inn wireless connection. Desperate times call for desperate measures! We are so pleased to see we've been linked from the Route 66 news Web site and from a blog detailing the road trip of one of our college professors and a student who are on a Flannery O'Connor quest.

After taking an unexpected (but pleasant) "Whoops, missed that turn!" scenic tour of Santa Fe, we headed for Albuquerque and joined up with the post-1937 alignment of the route. We dropped in at the Route 66 Malt Shop for lunch, where Sherrie and I enjoyed our first egg creams. New! Different! Tasty! The food was equally enjoyable - the B.A.L.T. (a little avocado in there) and the Frito Pie (had to try it once) were delicious.



We had a bit of a Joad moment today. The "change oil" light and the "low oil pressure" light both came on in the van. It only has 7,000 miles on it, so we're wondering if the oil has been changed at all. Sherrie checked and we were quite low, so we dumped in a quart of oil and called Budget. We may take it to the Flagstaff airport on our way by tomorrow and exchange the beloved Montana for another vehicle. We're not sure how concerned we should be as we approach the Mojave section of the road. The van hasn't been overheating at all - the temp has stayed consistently smack in the middle of C and H. But we'd hate to be those people who wander out into the desert and are never heard from again!



Heading out of Albuquerque, we stopped at the Rio Puerco bridge for a photo opp. We successfully navigated another Dead Man's Curve and made our way across New Mexico. There were tons of beautiful photo opps along this road, but we stuck to the posted reservation rules about cameras and just tried to burn the memories into our brains. At one point there was a freight train running along the tracks near us, hugging the side of a mesa. I'm not sure why it struck me as such a pretty site, but I hope it's one I can remember.

We made our way past the malpais, which Sherrie had read about in Louis L'Amour books and was more than happy to tell us about. When we reached San Fidel, we stopped at the 66 Gallery and met today's new friend, Mary. She was pleased and surprised to learn that she is mentioned in the EZ66 Guide. We stayed for a while, chatting about art and picking out a few pieces to take home with us. For some frustrating reason the picture I took of the girls and Mary in front of her shop doesn't seem to be on my camera's memory stick.

I have to confess, since we're travelling through the West I have used this trip as an excuse to eat as much beef jerky as possible, including this mouth-watering slab I found at a gas station along the route today. Sherrie says I'd make a good cowboy, but I think she's overlooking the fact that I am a) a big sissy and b) really opposed to being hot.



It wasn't long before we reached the Continental Divide. We had the brilliant idea that Jen and I would pose divided in front of the sign, and then we'd drive a short distance down the road to the New Mexico Route 66/Dead End sign to take the required state road sign picture. Since yesterday's key incident, I'm charged with keeping the extra van key in my purse and making sure I have my purse with me at all times. So we pulled up to the Route 66 sign, I opened the van door, reached down to get my purse and...and...nothing. I whipped around in my seat and saw that my little purse was still hanging out back at the continental divide. Talk about your heart attack moments. If we hadn't stopped at the road sign, I'm not sure when I would have noticed that I didn't have it with me! We whipped around and I grabbed it, but I'm pretty sure the incident got my heart rate up enough that I don't need to exercise for at least six months.




We had a bit of geeky Dutch excitement when we pulled into Gallup and saw a huuuuge "Christian Reformed Churches of Gallup welcome you!" billboard. We think the RCA needs to invest a little more money in outdoor advertising and give the CRC a run for its money!

At the Arizona border, we pulled over to take our picture next to a fake buffalo. What can I say, we're easily amused! We have a system wherein we pull up the van perpendicular to the scene we are photographing, we roll down the window and I set up the digital camera in the window ledge while everyone poses, then hit the timer and run like heck. There was a bit of a flaw in the system today. We parked too far from the darned buffalo and running through the sand only exacerbated my turtle-esque running pace. So we ended up with this shot, where it appears that I am charging the buffalo.



Notice that I am carrying my purse!



Once in Arizona, we decided to depart from the route and check out the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest - a good decision despite the gusty winds. The Painted Desert was especially beautiful and the two Route 66 references inside the park made for good photo opps. (The one with the car required setting the timer and then clamboring over a wall, with Jen assisting to make sure I didn't break my neck.) In the gift shop they were selling some Route 66 books I haven't read yet. I suppose that's a good way to keep the blog going when we're done with the trip - just keep reading all the books and posting reviews and, of course, start doing some daydreaming about the next trip down the route.





From there it was a short 19 miles to Holbrook, where we are now happily ensconced in our Wigwam. Honestly, we were giddily squealing when we pulled the Montana into the parking lot. Could it possibly get any better than this? (Apparently we're not the only ones who love the Wigwam - John said Oprah was here a couple weeks ago!)

Tomorrow it's a jaunt across Arizona to Kingman. We're getting ambitious - we may try to hit the road by 8:30!