Day 1: Cadillac Ranch and a Night in New Mexico
Today was our first day on the road, and after a slightly earlier start than planned, we finally headed west.
We ended up leaving home around 10:00 a.m. after realizing the truck needed an oil change before tackling a 2,500 mile drive. It's one of those things that's much better to discover in the driveway than halfway across the Texas Panhandle.
Once that was taken care of, we pointed the truck toward Arizona or Texas anyway.
The drive itself was pretty uneventful, which honestly isn't a bad thing. We spent most of the day following Highway 54 through a string of small towns as the landscape gradually became more interesting the further west we went. There were areas even in Kansas I had not been to before and seeing the country makes road trips enjoyable.
One town that stood out was Kiowa, Kansas. With a population of only a few hundred people, it's the kind of place you could easily drive through without noticing if you blinked at the wrong moment. But it has a surprisingly impressive sculpture downtown that caught my attention enough to make me take a second look. Small towns often end up being some of my favorite parts of a road trip because they have character that you don't find along the interstate.
My husband drove the entire day, which was a nice change for me. Usually I'm alone so behind the wheel, but this time I got to sit back and watch the scenery roll by enjoying the trip without worrying about traffic or navigation.
Our main stop for the day was Cadillac Ranch outside Amarillo.
Alex, my husband, had never been there before, so it was fun getting to share one of those classic roadside attractions with him. We took photos, added a little spray paint to the ever changing artwork, and wandered around for a while. It had started a very light sprinkle by then, but that didn't seem to discourage anyone. Even with the weather, there were probably a hundred people cycling through during the half hour we were there. I had hoped to be here at sunset and we were a little to early but the sunset wasn't that dramatic tonight so I’m fin with missing is. Also re found out my vintage polaroids flash doesn't work so a little disappointing but it’s fine. I do really wish Herington the town I live in now would have something like this where people could spray paint an old train or something as public art.
Afterward we headed into Amarillo for dinner. Unfortunately, every place we specifically wanted to try seemed to be closed by the time we got there. We briefly considered stopping at The Big Texan, but the hour long wait without reservations convinced us otherwise. Several people have told us it's something everyone should do at least once, and maybe someday we will. But after a long day on the road, standing around waiting for a table wasn't very appealing. I did, however, get a photo of a giant Godzilla wearing cowboy boots, which feels like a perfectly reasonable thing to encounter in Texas.
From Amarillo we kept driving west until we reached Moriarty, New Mexico. Rather than getting a hotel, we set up in the back of the truck for the night. We have a mattress back there, and I have to admit it was surprisingly comfortable. Sometimes simple solutions work better than expected.
The final memorable moment of the day came at a gas station near the rest area where we stopped for the night. As I walked inside, an alien themed fortune machine lit up and announced, "This is the face I make when I probe you." I was not prepared for that sentence. I’m sure the grin I had when I told Alex about it was ear to ear. It was such a bizarre and perfectly New Mexico moment that I ended up filming some of its other saying to send to friends. Sadly the prob quote didn't come up again in the short time I was willing to stand there.
And with that, Day 1 has come to a close.
About 600 miles down, a lot more to go, and Arizona getting a little closer with every mile.
MERC