Finally in Cali!!!!!!!!!!

This morning dawned beautiful and HOT. The sunrise colors over the mesa that is the backdrop to the city are just beautiful. We actually have a pretty nice view from the hotel room, if you ignore the highway at our feet. Because of the time change and the fact that we had planned to be on the road early, we were both awake before 7. It was still a nice lie-in, but early anyway…especially considering we weren’t going anywhere for awhile. Mom found coffee in the hotel lobby while I showered. Then we walked to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and bagels. I think we’re going to smell like Dunkin Donuts all day! We walked over to Wal-Mart and shopped a bit. I found some sandals and a robe, mom found a nice polo, and we picked up some cheese and crackers to be our lunch. While we were shopping, Hector from Pep Boys called at about 8:45am. They would have the part we needed in about an hour and would have us on the road by 11:30 or 12 noon. The new cost estimate is approximately $300. So we shopped a little more and headed back to the hotel. We watched TV and mom talked to Matt for a little while. Matt has a new job as Manager at Houlihan’s restaurant. More money, more regular hours and better benefits (including bonuses). It was a hard decision to leave the Porterhouse, but a good career move. We checked out of the hotel at about 10:30am and walked over to Pep Boys – lugging all our stuff. Arrived here around 10:45 and were told that the car should be ready by 11:30. So, we’re sitting in the waiting room, killing time. We should be able to make it to Arizona tonight, and might even push into California. Of course, with the car dilemma, we have had to drop the idea of seeing the Grand Canyon….but that’s OK. I’ll be here in the west for 2 years – I think I can manage to get there! 11:45 loaded stuff back into car and left. Made two left turns and heard noise! Returned to Pep Boys – Hector found that a plastic shield was rubbing on the right front tire when turning to left only. Fixed. Back on road at 12;03. 12:30 finally made it to New Mexico! Missed a drive-through Starbucks! Oh, well. Landscape very open with occasional hills and mesas – very dry. Safety Corridor on road for first 15 miles – double fines for speeding if caught – everyone being careful. After passing through or by Las Cruces (didn’t see much) we entered an area of fairly rapid decreasing speed limits leading to a border patrol station not at the border??? Passed through with a nod from the attendant. Saw a LARGE roadrunner – thought of Dad and Janice (No, it was not real!) Several billboards for “The THING?” Have no idea what that means. But it is at exit 322 in Arizona, so maybe we will find out. Stopped for Gas at Exit 82 in Deming NM. Sign said $199.9 for unleaded regular – steep but only game we saw in town. Started pumping and discovered the price was really $209.9 UGLY but necessary. Had purchased cheese and crackers etc. for lunch – needed a plastic knife – no luck at gas station. Mom got creative and used the edge of her AAA card to slice the cheese. AAA comes through again! Somewhere around mile 70 at 2:15PM we saw a sign informing us we were crossing the Continental Divide. Stopped on the west side of Phoenix for dinner at Applebee’s. This was after driving through rush-hour AND baseball game traffic while headed directly into the sun. Hit the road again after dinner and felt like we were the only car on the road – only saw big-rigs after that. As we crossed into CA, we had to go through ANOTHER border crossing – this time they were checking for Agriculture stuff. Got to Blythe CA around 9pm, got a room at the Super 8 and crashed. Watched CSI and part of the news before going to sleep.