So as a quick up date.

I've told many of you that out here it is Carl Jr.'s not Hardy's

We have Dryers instead of Eddy's

There are Diamond Shamrock gas stations

The traffic lights are horizontal instead of vertical

We have Lowe's, both kinds, food and home repair, please don't confuse the two.

Must Hydrate!

So I'm out here in the desert. Its dry. I need to work on this whole hydration thing. I think that I should be downing about a gallon of water a day. So I will be working on that.
Today was my first day. Lots of paperwork. Lots of running about. Next week I start finding a house. House would be good. I'm still tried. I am just chilling out tonight. It shall be nice. I haven't been getting much sleep between a cold and being nervous.
I like the way they have warning signs in english, german and spanish.
I did explore a bit. I got a bike and plan to go riding tomorrow. Not a whole lot going on, but I figured I'd put up some more pictures.



Get your kicks.... Yes, I was driving west on 66



Old Town Albuquerque. I will be taking people there, I know it.


I'm not fluent in Spanish, but I'm thinking its warning me about snakes


The New Mexico scenery

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth

New Mexico... its a jungle....uhhhh.....desert out there!

So I went to old town Albuquerque today. It was really nice, I can see that I'm gonna have to take people there. Then I drove down to Alamogordo. I was tired. Didn't sleep well for another night. But tonight I have meds for this damn cold.
But I am here at Holloman. Have to go into work tomorrow and figure out what I'm suppose to do. I'm reminded of a Weird Al song....."No one is sure what I do here, and that's just fine with me". Oh wait, that was me at the det.

I saw a dust devil today. And there are lots of bunnies here. I'm thinking of getting a bike. I realize this isn't following and all, but oh well. I'll see about posting something that makes sense this weekend.

Ok, here's the late report. I went up to Sandia Peak. It was one of the first things that I did the very first time that I was in new mexico. Beautiful sunset, Albuquerque at night from up there is beautiful. Only problem is that one top of the mountain it was 41 degrees with 13 mph winds. Ok, lets see if this network will let me load up some pictures.


St. Louis Arch (I did go up it)



The Sandia Peak tramcar



Sandia Peak

Greetings From the Land of Enchantment

I'm a little concerned about what is on the road. I saw two things today but as of right now I can only remember the one. A tractor trailer with radioactive signs all over it. This frightens me a little bit. Because there was no one else around it.
The good news is I'm back in New Mexico and according to the little sign on the side of the road I need to drive safely because NMDOT cares. How nice of them. Also there were signs on the side of the road that said when this light is flashing the highway is closed and you have to exit. Thankfully the lights were not flashing so all is well.
Right now I'm in Albuquerque, yes, I did finally figure out how to spell it. This is in the Mountain time zone, so I'm 2 hours behind the east coast. This time they had a nice sign up so I knew, unlike last time we had time zone switching going on. I'm thinking about getting some food and heading up Sandia Peak and then tomorrow going in to check out old town. Oh, and as a random little note I crossed the Pecos river today.
In case your curious and have never been out west, it does not look like the cartoons. There are desert grasses and shrub bushes and some trees. Drove through a lot of flat territory today and I'm currently in the mountains. I believe these are the Sandia mountains, but I might be wrong.
Well, I think that for now I'm going in search of food. If all goes well and the network doesn't give me issues I'll post some pictures tonight. Also hopefully there will be sleeping going on this evening.

You ever have one of those mornings that you wake up and know today is gonna suck? Thats today. I had a terrible time getting to sleep last night. Head cold and feeling sick to my stomach kept me up way later then I wanted to be. And guess what? 6 and a half hours of driving today. Hopefully I'll get in about 4 and can kick back in the evening. More tonight.

Ok, lots of stuff for today. I started out in St. Louis, well a little to the east and I ended up driving a bit to the west of Oklahoma City. I thought I'd go a bit further, cause tomorrow is gonna be a long day of driving. While driving I did pass through Cuba and Miami.
So in Oklahoma they have signs up along the road, "Do Not Drive into Smoke". Apparently this is a large enough problem that they needed signs. Oh look, an evil looking smoke cloud, I'll just roll through. Also I was behind a sheriff's van that said "Stay back, prisoners on board" It was quite interesting to see that they take prisoners out for an afternoon drive.
I hit a lot of rain today, most of the afternoon was raining. It got kinda heavy at first, but it wasn't too bad overall. Not enough to make me lose signal coverage from the satellite radio or gps. And I have to say that both were wonderful things to have. I can listen to full radio shows, have the music I want without searching through local channels. It has been quiet nice for this drive. The gps is also a great thing. It is quite useful for navigating where you have no clue where to go. And it can find things like food and hotels for me. Though it does make me laugh when it tells me I should continue on a road for 537 miles. Like its gonna check out for a bit and will get back with more directions in a few hours.
Well, I must say that I've been driving for quiet a while today and I'm kinda tired, also a little hungry. But it does look like I can plug in the ps3 and put on a movie. So I'm gonna grab some grub, grab the toys and watch something.
Tomorrow I head out toward Albuquerque. Though I have to admit it does seem odd to be driving out this far. Its like ok, I'm actually gonna be living out west. It isn't a trip that I'll be home from in a few days. And it does get lonely. I wish Stella was with me. I mean, Karen isn't much on conversation (Karen is the name for the voice I have set on my gps). And there do get points on the road that I flip through stations and can't find something to listen too. So yeah, I'm kinda lonely out here. Seeing as how I'm several hundred miles from anyone that I know. And I've basically been traveling since Friday. Plus while I'm excited about starting my job I'm also nervous about it. So yeah, I guess its time to get some grub and chill out for the night.

So today I went into St. Louis. Yes, I did go up the Arch. The ride up was interesting. You get into this tiny little capsule and then you slowly make your way up the leg of the arch. The door has glass pieces in so you can see the giant gapping hole next to you. Pretty much if the tram gets stuck or breaks down you sit in the thing until its running again. But the view from the top is pretty darned cool. Apparently it can sway up to 18 inches in the wind, but I didn't notice much swaying today. But I did get a good view of St. Louis.
I also went on a river boat cruise on the Mississippi. Pretty much just for fun. The name of the boat was the Tom Sawyer. Got to see some good views of the arch and all. Also they pointed out some of the bridges and a power plant that was built for the worlds fair. And then there was the old car in the river. Kinda washed up on shore. But further up on the shore was a large flood wall and no clear way of getting a car there. Must have floated from elsewhere.
Anyhow, tomorrow I head out further west. The plan is to get to Oklahoma City. Not so much to see it (I've already been) but more because it is at a good location. So I'm sure there are some postcards in the mail and all. Look for more to be coming.

Starting today I am active duty. I had to leave Stella this morning which really sucked. I don't ever like to let her go. She is all sorts of amazing.
After leaving I drove through Kentucky, if anyone is planning on doing that the Bert T. Combs
Parkway is a very nice drive. I then drove through Indiana. The part that I went through didn't have much. There were pockets of civilization and then there were stretches of nothing. I started looking for lunch around exit 70. I finally found food at exit 29. While there isn't much there there is at least changes in scenery. Unlike Kansas, which I am happy to say that I will not be passing through on this quest.
I passed into Illinois next. I drove most of the state, I am about 20 miles out of St. Louis. I also happen to be close to Scott AFB, so I can stop by tomorrow and pick up a few supplies. Also tomorrow I am planning to go into St. Louis. Look for some pictures tomorrow, if I figure out how to put pictures on here.
Other then that I think I'm gonna kick back, watch the season premere of the simpsons tonight and then consider an early night in bed. Sleep is my friend, and I think I'm getting a cold. Boo to that.

Alright, so I am into my travels now. Day one went well. About 4 hours up to morgantown to see some buddies. Lunch with Lou, bugged some rotc types and got to see Gracie. About 5 hours south to Kentucky to see Stella. Been seeing rural Kentucky and spending time with Stella, but I'm gonna have to leave in the morning. Tomorrow shall hold about 7 hours of driving and I'll end up in St. Louis, the gateway to the west. Oh, and Let's Go Eers!! We won today. More tomorrow.

Well now, So I am getting closer and closer to leaving. Yesterday the movers came and packed up all my stuff. So now I'm down to just what I'm taking in the truck. Which means that this is my first post put up from the laptop. I am now mobile. Today I went swimming and spent some time with my sister and her family. This evening will be the last time that I see them for a while. I'd like to have a bit of a fire tonight, but I need to load up the truck. I'm gassed and all so I can just start rolling out in the morning. In a week I will be out in Alamogordo. So look for more updates through the week.

Well, things are moving closer to me leaving. I had a goodbye dinner with my inlaws. I saw my little brother for the last time till possibly the wedding. I got the last letter from Stella at this address. Yesterday the walk through guy came for the movers. Tomorrow all of my stuff is getting packed up.
I've been getting the truck fixed up. Patched the hole on the side, been changing out bulbs. Have to pick up a light assembly to put in today. This summer the truck has gotten new tires, actually a new engine, changed the transmission fluid, the coolant. I've gotten the brakes all fixed up. I think I'll run it through the car wash tomorrow. So overall the truck should be in darned good shape. Now I still need to replace the bumper, but that is minor.
My table is all fixed up. Sanded it down, rough and a fine to finish it. Stained it with english chestnut. And 3 coats of gloss so it looks really nice. Well, there are errands to do today, so I must end this post for now.

Well Now

So I have started up a blog here. It seems that in the not too distant future I shall be traveling across country and this is kinda set up as a way to keep in touch with peoples and all. Hopefully I'll be posting from the road and all. I will be traveling from Virginia to New Mexico. Looking at maps it should be around 28 hours of driving time. I'm hoping to have a little bit of fun with it.

As it stands now I'll be leaving here, heading to the rural Kentucky to spend some time with Stella. Leaving there I'll be headed to St. Louis, try to see a little of the gateway to the west and all. I'll then head over to Oklahoma City and then to Albuquerque. Finally I'll head south to Alamogordo, NM, which will be home for a while.

Anyone who is hoping for a postcard should be contacting me with addresses and such. Be watching here for updates as they come.