Arizona and New Mexico Travels

Current Location: Gallup, New Mexico; Total Miles Traveled: 5,111 Miles

Yo, from New Mexico!!

:)

Good evening guys!! We "lost" one hour today because of time change, and due to that and the crappy cold weather, we are in New Mexico tonight instead of Texas. Today has certainly been comprised of the worst weather we've had the entire trip.

Before I get to that though, let me tell you about something awesome we did this morning. Arizona - that's where we stayed last night; only about an hour from... none other than the GRAND CANYON! It is so beautiful there, it is unbelievable. There are some amazing views from where we came in. But, honey, lemme tell ya -- it is sort of a rip off to get into the "park." They charge you $25 (yes!) to get in and that is just for your little feet to cross the line. That is a lot, right? I mean, it is a God made structure! Yesterday when we went to the Hoover Dam, it was free and that was not God made! Either way, it was beautiful and I'm glad we went.

We met this hottie (100% sarcasm!) at a truck stop who was the stereotypical truck driver of modern day. He was missing about six of his teeth and the ones that he did still have were going in their own direction and doing their own thing. He looked like he hadn't showered in about eight days; his large beer belly hung over his britches about six inches, and of that, three inches of pure belly was exposed and jiggling with each step. It was rough. Now, I'm not making fun of this fella, I am just trying to give you a very vivid visual image of our buddy, the truck driver. So anyway, we stopped to get postcards (I collect!) and he talked to us for the next fourteen minutes about the most random and silly things I have ever heard. He began telling us about his obsession with candy on the road. Salt water taffy is apparently his favorite! He told us (very slowly, mind you) that we needed to turn around and go BACK to Salt Lake City to get some of the best he had ever had. Skippy there told us that you can purchase 30 pounds (my good gracious!!!!) of taffy at this place in Salt Lake for only (sarcasm!) $73. Now, let me ask you guys this: who in the WORLD has $73 to spend on candy!?!?!?!?! Not me, not me! Seriously, do people actually spend money like that on candy?! I don't know anyone that does. I can barely pay the little bills that I have, much less spend almost $100 on freakin' candy!!! And when he said that it was $73 we were thinking jeez louise, that is high but homeboy claimed that it was very cheap.

The bad weather today was AWFUL!!! Remember a few posts back when we talked about the salt storm?? Yeah, this was way worse. Hail! In May! We were driving along and all of a sudden: these large, icy chunks began to hit us. It was absolutely horrible. Remember when you were eight and your older brother shot you twenty six times in the thighs? That's pretty much what it felt like. It was like bb's all the way around my legs for about fifteen miles in the freezing cold rain. It was terrible. We had to pull over and wait for it to calm down a little bit. I have welps on my right leg, and I'm still numb from the cold weather in Arizona and New Mexico. Someone lied to me when they said this area was all desert! It is cold, cold mountains!!!!!!!

Despite the painful :) weather, and all the other things that have put us off track, we are having a blast!!!!! This has been the most fun journey of my life, and I seriously doubt that I will ever be able to top these nineteen days! Texas, here we come!

Amy & Ricky