Chicago Roadtrip

Wow I had quite an extraordinary morning. First I have to tell about the night though. The wind was back. It seems to follow me. :-) The wind was howling through the room. It even made the door rattle once in a while. There were some strong gusts. I was soooo scared. Some ghost might kidnap me and take me. I had to leave the light on. Should have stayed at Motel 6. Ha Ha Ha. Ok I need to explain this joke as Europeans won’t get it. Motel 6’s slogan in commercials is: “We will leave the light on for you.” Obviously I’m kidding I wasn’t scared, but the wind noise is true. It made me laugh when I thought of that joke. :-)

I think I got up around 7:30ish. It was really 8:30 for me. :-) Wasn’t hungry so I only had some fruit and a yoghurt and a tea. The flavor I chose was wild sweet orange. I tell you it tasted wild… :-)

After that it was time to check out. As lucky as I’m there was also a nice big Starbucks in the ABQ uptown mall. I had to get my coffee. I could not do this again like yesterday. It was so bad. I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I think it’s time though that I sign up with the ASA help group once I’m back home. I think I do have a problem. LOL What’s ASA? Come on everyone knows that! It’s Anonymous Starbucks Addicts. Oh boy I’m having so much fun here.

Everyone knows Jack Little right? Of course not. Eric got to meet Jack Little. Yes it’s his real name. He is actually a talker. Some random person. I got to hear the whole story. This guy talked with everyone and everybody. I saw him hanging out at the frontdesk and who knows what stories he told. The point is he knew Flagstaff and recommended the place to have dinner as well as things you should see.

Yes my day continues. Had to check out: Old Town Albuquerque. (I thought I knew now how to spell it. Had an “argument with Eric”. I thought it’s Alberquerque. He showed me a business card to prove me wrong. Why am I having such a hard time with that?) Anyway it’s a really cool place. Pretty big. You could spend a whole day there exploring the little shops. Lots of art and pottery etc to look at. I went into the first store, because it said Mother’s Day cards. I still needed one. Guess what: This store allowed you to buy stuff. Not just a looking only store. Also found a postcard picture of Red Cloud. After this whole weird event yesterday I had to get one. There were some other funny things in that store which I took pictures of. Yep my video camera is always with me. :-)

Walk around more and feel like I have to go into another store. This store had quite a few mixed media acryllic/oil paintings. I look at some of them. Found an Indian CD and got that one. I keep looking at those paintings. I start to love two of them. Eric was no help either. He loved the exact opposite one and I was more attracted to the other one. So I decide I’ll get the one I love most as I already know the place where it’ll go. While they were wrapping it up, I think ok this other one I really love too. I can’t leave it. Especially as they were rather inexpensive for original one-of-a-kind paintings. And on top of that they give you a discount due to the economy. Didn’t take pictures of them before they got wrapped up. The artists name is: Johnny Yazzie. Here is a link to a biography I found of him:

http://artnativeamerican.com/cart/index.php?cPath=4&main_page=index

Sorry can’t make them clickable links with the phone app.

Ok after that I had to leave. No more looking into other stores which could get me in trouble.

About 4 more hours till Flagstaff. But I’m stopping at the crater.

I guess I had to stay in this town so that I finally master how to spell it. Now I have to write it a 100 times and I should never forget it. I can spell Mississippi in my sleep. Ha Ha Ha.

I don’t know how I managed that, but I picked a hotel which is within walking distance of all kinds of shops and restaurants. So it was really easy to find a place to have a quick dinner. Don’t really want to search for a place to eat after a long drive. Went to Bravo! Cucina Italiana. Never heard of it before, but the woman at the New Mexico Welcome Center recommended it and so why not. I wasn’t really hungry and I knew I’d be a disappointed if I got a pizza. Therefore I decided on Spaghetti Bolognese. It was quite tasty. Spumoni for dessert. I forgot it was Friday night so naturally there was a wait.

Did you know that they have a huge annual Albuquerque Hot-Air Balloon Festival in the fall? Never been in a hot-air balloon. I think it’s romantic. Up in the air, bottle of Champagne, watching the sunset. Oh wait… I’m forgetting something. You need a second person to make the package complete. :-)

It’s still Friday here so tomorrow’s destination will be Flagstaff, AZ. I’m hoping that I will have time to visit the Meteor Crater. Didn’t have time last year. The drive should be only 5 hours, and I will get an hour back going into Arizona. Not too happy with this state right now. Therefore I will simply enjoy the beauty of the land.

Here we go, the pictures from today:

Ok that was funny. Stopped at Clines Corners. It’s a store and gas station. The store had some interesting Indian items. It was pretty warm in there. I wanted to buy a couple things. Find out they are not selling anything. They said the power was out. They wouldn’t even take cash. How weird! The strange part was the lights inside the building were still on. If the power is out why are the lights still on? Oh well nothing I can do about it. So I simply took pictures. There was also an interesting quote from Chief Red Cloud. I’ll post pictures later.

Earlier I saw a billboard which said: 24,000 tons of trash on our roads in 2005. That sign was in New Mexico. I don’t understand why some people have to throw out their trash. It’s really not that hard to keep your trash in the car and then put it in the next available trash bin. There are plenty. Every reststop, restaurant, hotel etc has them.

About one more hour to go until ABQ. Yes the weather has improved. Blue skies again, no winds. But definately not shorts weather. At least for me. I guess if you are from Vail, CO then it would be time to crank up the A/C. :-) It’s 67F (19C).