Off to Austin - Second stop, Lubbock, TX

Well, Paisley slept like a champ in her pack & play next to our bed at the La Quinta Hotel in Farmington.  We all woke up well rested, and ready for the road.  Today would be the day we would finally cross the Texas border!

We drove through Albuquerque, which was especially exciting for me as my sister Marisa served her mission in New Mexico.  It was fun to get an idea of where she lived for a year and a half of her life, serving the Lord.  We passed Bernalillo and Gallup where she spent a lot of her time.

A few minutes outside of Albuquerque, we stopped at a Chevron, only to find out they had run out of gas!!  A gas station with no gas??  We chatted briefly with a caucasian Albuquerque woman who recommended a gas station nearby, along with some places to eat.  When she couldn't think of the name of one of the restaurants she had in mind, she exclaimed "leapin' lizards!  Can't think o' the name!"  Really?  People say 'leapin' lizards' in real life?  That made my day.

We ended up eating at Sonic (meh) and sat on the grass to let Paisley walk around.  As we were playing in the grass, I noticed a homeless man making a beeline for my purse a few yards away.  I nonchalantly raced him to my purse, and we left Albuquerque.

David was pretty pumped to cross the Texas border.  He was especially excited for the big Dodge Ram he was sure everyone was handed as they crossed the border.  Well, we didn't receive a Dodge Ram, but we were all very happy to cross into Texas.  Having never been to Texas, I was curious to see this land I envisioned as being one giant sandy plain populated with cacti and tumbleweeds.  To my pleasant surprise, it seemed like Texas welcomed us with green farmlands, bales of hay, giant cow farms, miles and miles of windmills, and even roads lined with wildflowers of red, yellow, purple and blue.  Totally not what I expected.

At the Texas state line, wondering where his truck is.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including their
 welcome sign!

That night we got to Lubbock, TX and walked around the hotel and into a bunch of different restaurants, only to find out that all I felt like eating was Jason's Deli, which was the first place we had gone to.  This was much to David's exasperation, but he was a good sport.  Plus he was rewarded with being able to watch the game on the restaurant t.v.  One day down, one to go.