The SOL Tour - June 28-29

After surviving the "Amarillo Flood of 2009" from the previous evening, we set off for Albuquerque, New Mexico. I was excited about this stop as I was interested in viewing the surrounding landscape as well as sampling a bit of the laid-back culture.

As we headed northwest from Amarillo on I-40, the elevation began to rise rapidly into the foothills..and we even started to take pictures!

Somewhere near the Texas/New Mexico border.

!Bienvenidos!

At this point, the mountains started to come into focus.

An early contender for Most Unique Named Town.

As we approached the city, we veered off from I-40 onto Central Avenue also known as part of the iconic Route 66. While on that road, we stopped to take some pictures of the University of New Mexico.

Our home for the night was the Monterey Non-Smokers Motel. It wasn't necessarily the easiest place to find. At one point, we realized we had past it by a couple miles. After making a U-turn, we almost missed it again, until we saw the old-school signage.

Taken later that night.

Cathy looked on with concern as we approached this motel. assuming out loud that I had not yet made a reservation. In fact, I had already paid for the room a few weeks before, on the strength of the high ratings on a travelers' forum and the excellent value. That said, even I was even hesitant as I turned the key to my room... but my lady's faith in me - and my own in my fellow travelers - was well-rewarded.


Although Cathy described the decor as "visiting her Grandma's house", our room was rather accomodating. The bed was comfortable, the TV had a surprisingly high number of channels and the showerhead was the best we had experienced thus far on our cross-country trek. We spent the evening watching the BET Music Awards which had become an impromptu tribute to Michael Jackson.

The next day, we explored Old Town Albuquerque, an intentionally walkable if kitschy plaza of restaurants and gift shops.

From Old Town, we were on our way back onto I-40. We noted an unexpected gathering of Native American-owned casinos along the route.We were even more surprised  when we realized we were passing over the Continental Divide.

Here's some of the better mountain views as we approached the state of our next overnighter: Arizona.

                    

                

States visited:9.