I was up at Amanda’s firs alarm this morning. She’s always up before me to get ready, but I’m always asleep after her, so I guess it equals out. I was up for her 1st through 10th alarms, well maybe three plus a snooze or two! I’m a two-alarm guy, but my second was set for PM, so it wouldn’t have done much good if I’d needed it today. I set my alarms for randomly times too, like 6:57 and 7:03; this drives Amanda OCD tendencies crazy!
We had a light load of bags for this trip, or we just had much more room than the Subaru we took to Wyoming last year. I think it’s because we didn’t have to pack for snowy weather this time. Even though we still have a bag full of pullovers and jackets this trip!
Just as I was about to turn my car on this morning, I noticed our newly installed fence was torn up. I’d seen one of the back fence posts was pushed over a bit earlier. This isn’t uncommon; deer have gotten in before and jumped into it. This damage was to a welded wire fence, though, think wire that has to be cut with bolt cutters. When I say torn up, I mean the welds completely broken and the fence panel lying flat on the ground! A deer obviously ran into the back fence in the middle of the night, by the tracks, only one. It had to have been a bigger axis to have done this damage. Amanda said she and Zoey heard something in the middle of the night.
It took a minute to fix before we left. That, combined with our tardiness, put us an hour behind. It reminded me of my years living on a ranch. Many times on a ranch, you’ll be going somewhere and need to fix a fence, put a cow or horse up, birth something, fix a flat, you get the idea! I remember once, in kindergarten or first grade, I was significantly late. My excuse being seeing my first baby calf being born.
We stopped by for a quick wash at a car wash we have a subscription at to wash both the rigs. Then Amanda grabbed Starbucks while I grabbed my cheat meal from Whataburger. The sausage biscuit on a jalapeño cheese biscuit was terrific and worth every bite. My coffee, however, was not so good. Amanda said it was my punishment for cheating; I told you she’d shame me!
We hadn’t driven to the Alpine area since before our engagement. We decided to get married on a camping trip to Fort Davis well over 20 years ago, even before I hired on with the railroad. So, I wasn’t able to tell her all the things about my railroad run. She wasn’t happy driving, and I wasn’t pleased to be alone with no one to gabber to after I finished my bad four-shot latte!
We made a quick stop at Sanderson for a bathroom break. The only option is there are two bathrooms, one of which is outside, where you have to get a key tied to an empty milk jug. The other makes a typical truck stop bathroom look and smell good. So we opted for the railroad depot; railroaders aren’t the cleanest bunch, but they are better than those pitiful bathrooms! We were rolling in the maroon duo today, too!
We dropped the car off at the next railroad depot in Alpine for me, then off to Marfa for lunch. I texted a work friend to say I dropped the car off because he’s given me so much crap over the years about not bringing a car. I’ve always said I would bring a “rig” up, but I’ve never delivered over the years. Amanda was tired and was out for a quick power nap before we were even out of the city limits.
It was a quick drive to Marfa, and we settled on a bakery-type place for lunch. It was a meh lunch, especially for the $17 sandwich that Amanda got with crumbly gluten-free bread. I had a simple sandwich, but it had a great sourdough bread. The expensive meal was due to the influx of the hipster crowd of all ages to Marfa. There was a sign in the bakery: “This whole town has gone liberal wacko and it will be a cold day in hell before we ever come back.” That is what would more accurately explain the town! Not too far from town, we snapped a picture at the Marfa Prada.
In El Paso, we stopped for coffee at Ditch Brother, sorry, Dutch Brothers. But the first was about right; neither of us finished our coffees and “ditched” them. It was not so good; all you Dutch Bro fans can fight me!
It’s pretty bad when the deserts of West Texas and New Mexico were greener than back home! It rained almost from Las Cruces to Albuquerque, too.
We are staying at the Sheraton in Albuquerque. I’ve been an avid Marriott customer since racking many points in Iowa. We have plans for a fantastic trip all on points next year. I also have top-tier status with them, which comes with great perks such as lounge access, free suite upgrades, and a personal ambassador to take care of all my Marriott needs.
This suite upgrade was a particularly nice one. It has a living room with a bath, and the bedroom has a bathroom with a jacuzzi tub as well. The TVs are both bigger than ours at home, and I thought we had a large TV. I don’t even need my glasses to watch the bedroom one!
After check-in, we went straight to a Mexican restaurant, well, a New Mexican one! It was great and had a nice veggie section. Amanda had stacked blue corn tortilla veggie enchiladas with green chili sauce. I had veggie green chili tamales and a chile relleno with red sauce. The side was a saute with mushrooms, zucchini, and corn. Sopapillas come with the entrees here, but not sweet ones. I saw them on many menus I’m my Albuquerque restaurant research. Think of a thick fried cross between a flour tortilla and a gordita. We’re accustomed to the sweet dessert ones, which is how we ended up eating them, drenched in honey.
After that, it was back to the hotel to turn in. Amanda asked if our Pagosa condo would be as big as this room. Honestly, I don’t think it will be; this room is huge! We decided to sleep in tomorrow and maybe do some shopping here and in Santa Fe on the way to Pagosa.