new mexico

4:30 p.m. We crossed the border and gained an hour. Lots more driving. Naps and first DVD. A pretty sunset.

Albuquerque for dinner at Chuck E. Cheese. Papi took an 1 1/2hr nap while the kiddos and Mami played. Helena was audibly terrified of Chuck when he came out to greet the kids. Of course, we were the only ones who stayed late. And immediately left when the EcoLab Man showed up, wearing a mask and spraying inside the game area!!! They didn't mind we were there with 15 minutes til closing. From the parking lot, we saw him tinkering with these little boxes outside, along the building. Oh, you know Rat Traps!! And I ate at the open salad bar!! I kept telling myself "just DON'T THINK about it...."We got gas @$3.55/gal and we hit the road.

Max & Helena fell asleep at about 11:30 p.m. with the assurance that they'd wake up in TX and nothing exciting would be happening before then.
Ha! @ 2 a.m. upon exiting I-40 in Santa Rosa, on the off ramp cross street was a semi. So as any CA driver would, we slowed down at the stop sign and courteously allowed it to pass. As we pulled in behind, on the right side on a random dirt path was a NM state police with all its lights off. Ummm yes a minute later.

Good thing it wasn't CA where everything cost an arm & a leg plus tax. $71, a reprimand for a burned out headlight and told to drive back to the Travelers Advantage and fix it.
Yes, I grew up in the ghetto but this little spot made me quite nervous. The oddest, creepy looking people just walking around smoking or sitting in parked vehicles. Until we left TA, I carried a knife everywhere. I couldn't wait to get to TX!
Not soon enough, we were on the road. And my spooked, over active imagination was acting up. What am I supposed to think....when in the vast dark flatness we see vehicle lights 2 miles behind us. And they are coming VERY rapidly. Quite the unpleasant feeling. Eyes glued on the rearview, it feels like we're stuck in place and it's gaining on us.. Such a relief when they just speed on by... I am wide awake, it is 3 a.m.!!

*and anyone with digestive issues can relate with the havoc any degree of stress can create! Running out of the car at predawn hours while your hubby is standing next to a cop getting a ticket just would not flow....
NM: 11 freight trains, 1 "super cool" coal train and teepees