Westward Ho! We're finally started on the second leg of our journey. After a month apart, with Jarrod in Seattle and me in Dallas, we're so glad to be back side-by-side! Jarrod got into Dallas late on Thursday night, and we spent Friday finishing up final details.
Friday night, we had a wonderful party with our families at the neighborhood pool. My parents, Jarrod's parents, and my sister, brother-in-law and their kids were all there. Tony (my bro-in-law) grilled for us, which is his favorite way to entertain, and our favorite way to eat! Jarrod had a great idea while he was in Seattle to pick up some wild-caught king salmon from the famous fish-throwers in Pike Place Market. He had them shipped in Friday morning, and we devoured them Friday night. We had 3 fillets, so Tony made three distinctly different flavors to complement the tender, creamy salmon. Even my sister Alisha, who usually isn't a fan of fish at all, went back for seconds. All the sides were just as delicious, and I ended up too stuffed to swim anymore!
We spent the rest of the evening in the pool, playing around with our nieces and just soaking with all the adults. It was a perfect way to end the visit - relaxing and fun, and very low-key.
Saturday morning dawned entirely too bright and early, but we were on the road by 6:30, only 30 minutes behind our goal. First stop, my brother and sister-in-law's house in Colorado Springs. We punched Josh & Joanna's address into the GPS, and just started driving. What a contrast to the way the drive went the first half of the journey! This time, we have just one car (which is packed to the gills, by the way!). It's so nice for both of us to have a conversation to pass the time. Jarrod and I love to point out funny signs and silly town names and just generally enjoy the scenery. I didn't really realize how much we did that until we were in separate cars and couldn't easily share those things with each other.
The other thing that really struck me about this drive is how different it looked. Dallas really is the dividing line for terrain - east of Dallas is hills and trees, where you have to exit the highway to see what's actually there. West of Dallas is wide open spaces, with roads that line up straight in front of you until they disappear into the horizon. There's not much on the sides of the road, and you can see for miles in every direction. I've driven to West Texas many times, but I've never really realized that DFW really is the portal from East to West.
Our route took us north and west, through Amarillo, cutting across the corner of New Mexico, and straight into Colorado. It was a total of about 12 hours of driving, but didn't feel like it was as long as some of the stretches we did between Connecticut and Dallas. I think having company made all the difference. Jarrod bought the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" book series on his Kindle while he was in Seattle, so we started reading that aloud to each other. It's a kids' series, but it's a well-written story and is a fun, easy way to pass the miles. We traded drivers pretty frequently, since the straight, never-ending highway can induce hypnosis pretty quickly.
A few tips for those of you who decide to follow in our footsteps:
- The rest-stop just before Hedley, TX is the cleanest I've ever seen. It's a pretty view, and enough shade to actually get out of the summer heat for a few minutes. It's a must-stop. It does not, however, have a dog run, no matter what you've been told.
- Gas prices are higher in New Mexico than Texas or Colorado. Fill up before the state line, so you can make it through NM without needing to stop.
- The "deer crossing" signs here feature much more muscular deer than up north. We've decided the signs here are more like markers - "if you're looking to hunt big deer, here's a good place" rather than "be careful, cute little deer might be crossing the road."
- Don't forget - Texas and New Mexico are sparsely populated out this way. When it says "rest stop" or "gas," take the option - you probably won't get it again for another hour at least. And there are no trees to go hide behind if you stop on the side of the road!
We did make it safely to CO Springs, enjoyed a delicious dinner with Josh & Jo, and are now relishing their back patio and cool Colorado weather. We opted to sleep in rather than go to church with them, which I think was a good choice. We'll actually have energy to go out exploring with them later this way!
The great news is, Molly and Ella get along famously with Josh & Jo's dogs. Ella and Cheyenne woke me up with their wrestling this morning, and now they're both napping hard, working up the energy for another round. Molly's already gotten herself stuck in the fence (don't worry, we got her out with minimal trauma), and is loving this back yard that has cool temperatures and sunshine too.
Pictures and more updates coming soon!
