Rain, Rain, and More Rain

DAY 3: Decatur, TX to Albuquerque, NM
DISTANCE: 614 miles

I'm already tracking a day behind on updates - but I'm going to try to catch up with a brief update now.

After a good night of sleep in Decatur, we came out to load the cars and saw heavy cloud cover and misting rain. A glance at the radar showed we'd be driving in rain for a while. We had no idea how long "a while" would be. We ended up driving in rain pretty much the entire day.

The biggest surprise, though, was the temperature: The longer we drove, the colder it got. I started the day in shorts and a T-shirt. We watched with dismay as the temperature dropped from the 80s into the 70s, and continued to drop until we found ourselves driving with temperatures in the 30s. Yikes! A gusty wind made this unexpected weather even more uncomfortable when we stopped for fuel and lunch. I'm a Louisiana / Florida boy. I don't like cold. And I didn't pack appropriately for this. But we'll drive on.

To break up the drive, we planned some stops along historic Route 66. Dubbed The Mother Road, this thoroughfare used to take travelers from Chicago to the west coast. Much of the road has been replaced by new highways and even interstate, but some parts of the road have been preserved. Rain put a damper on our visits to some of the sights, but we were not to be deterred from at least some of the historic sights.

Lunch was great. We stopped at a place call the Big Texan Steak Ranch. I guess it used to be located on Route 66. Located just off I-40 now, it's a popular destination for travelers. We enjoyed our visit and found the lesson on mountain oysters fascinating. We did not partake of this western delicacy.

Somewhere along the way west on I-40, my day turned took on a tone of sadness. Annette called to let me know her flight was delayed, then delayed again due to weather in Orlando. The second delay meant she would miss her connection with the last flight of the day to Albuquerque. After a lot of searching for flights and working solutions, she ended up flying to Dallas. With no flights available that would get her here early enough to meet us before we needed to drive, we decided she would fly to Moab, Utah and meet us there. Our reunion is delayed by about 18 hours. Papa was sad.

On a good note, I was able to call friends in Dallas who agreed to pick Annette up at the airport and take her home so she wouldn't have to spend a night alone in a hotel. I know she's enjoying a wonderful visit with the Moody family. She'll try to travel again today.

Dinner at Munroe's offered us a taste of New Mexican food. Once again, the reviews were right on target, and the food was quite good.

We're off soon to ride the Million Dollar Highway on the San Juan Scenic Byway today and then make our way in to Utah, where we'll start our tour of national parks.

It's 44 degrees outside. Feels like 37. And we drive on.