ACU Graduation

The impetus for this trip was to attend Penny's Graduation from ACU in Abilene TX and bring her and her stuff back to Georgia. I did research other methods of getting her back to the island but the cheapest was driving - (rental car 'drop off fees' are way over the top). Since I was in the area - (just a 7 hr drive) I figured I would slip in a visit to my sister Barb,  who lives in Corrales NM, before I loaded Penny up.  For some crazy reason Margie actually volunteered to go with me and share expenses and driving.  She turned this chore into a fun ('Thelma-Mar & Katie-Louise') adventure.  (I owe her big time!) As you have probably seen, we added some unusual stops on the way that provided us with lots of laughs, discussions, and tacky memorabilia.

Penny's Honor Program and Graduation were wonderful and we are so proud of her accomplishments and personal growth that she had made during her years here. Now - if she can just find a career here in the next year before she is required to return to China.

Penny Has Her Masters!

It took some of Margie's expert arranging to get all the boxes, baggage and shoes manipulated into the car but we did it.  Good thing Penny is so little - she was able to squeeze in between all the stuff. When we arrived at my house and opened the back hatch for the first time it was like "Fibber McGee's Closet" -shoes and boxes came tumbling out.

We stopped at Jason, Brooke and Ayla's house close to Pensacola FL on the way home, but we forgot to take photos. Their house is beautiful and Ayla is so cute! Margie and I were so lucky to have Jason as a 'student assistant' when he was at BHS- many many years ago. Jason is one of those kids that we KNOW we had a positive impact on, which is sort of rare for a teacher to feel. Thank you Jason!

Not Texas Oil - Texas Wind

We saw thousands of these wind machines in Texas - No exaggeration - thousands - 7,772 according to the state of Texas statistics.  The majority of them are located close to Sweetwater TX - which was in the middle of our route to Abilene.

They aren't the prettiest - but the area around it is so boring and flat anyway that they add interest to the scenery. The land is doing double duty because the area around them is being farmed. When compared to other forms of generating electricity - this one wins or winds.

Changing Sunsets

The mountain by Barb's house changes color during sunsets and it is not because we were drinking heavily while watching it - I took photos to prove ...

Albuquerque and Taos

We are crashing in my sister Barb's house with the great sunset views while making a few side trips. We toured old town and had a great lunch in the restaurant High Noon with a little mandatory shopping thrown in.

After a yummy waffle breakfast we left for Taos. It was a two hour drive thru some pretty scenery. Things are extra green here because it is 'monsoon' season in NM. Not sure I would call the little bit of rain they get here a 'monsoon' but it is enough to turn the grounds into many different shades of green.

Barb made overnight reservations at the Historic Taos Inn and their Doc Martens Restaurant. We did the obligatory shopping around the square and then had dinner and played a strange trivia type of game. Margie and I won both times - it probably was because Margie has a Dr. in front of her name. Next day we went to the Taos Pueblo and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

Last Day at my sisters was a slug day with a little packing thrown in. 

Day 3 Funky Rt 66 Stops

We decided to stop in some of the more unusual places that are along Rt 66. I-40 parallels historic Rt 66 from Oklahoma City west till California, so it was no big deal hopping off and on to give us a break from the monotony of the 78 MPH straight driving. First place was the Rt 66 Museum in Clinton OK. It described how the road developed and how important it was for our country. Lots of old memorabilia like 30's license plates, old trucks, 70's flower power VW's as well as the dust bowl stories and photos. Definitely very instructional and worth the hour spent. The neat tacky gift shop got some of our vacation money.

Next unusual stop was the "Devils Snare Museum" in McClean TX, which is really a museum about barbed wire. It showed how barbed wire was made and the many different types and how important barb wire was to the cattle industry and military. I know it sounds really lame but it was very interesting and informative, plus the caretaker told us of a good place to eat in McClean (which turned out to be the only place to eat). It was packed with locals and we were real easy to spot as tourists because we were the only people with flip flops on. 

Last detour off of I-40 was the Cadillac Ranch. The 10 buried Cadillacs are angled nose down and covered with thousands of layers of spray paint. Really wish we had brought a spray can to add our marks to the graffiti. 

Day 2 - Graceland Continued

A couple of teaser photos-- I will add the rest of the pictures when I get some time in between all this adventure fun.
The one below is from the front hallway - just the beginning of all the mirrors, white rugs and other sparkling things.

This is taken of his parents bedroom. They do not let people upstairs into Elvis's bedroom and bathroom. 

Even though the rooms were not decorated in my style - It was nice and fit his style. He really didn't go too over the top in his home ..... but with his cars he did. So many....