Home Again, Finnegan (my mom used to say this)

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Bill and I have made the road trip between Denver and Mesa, AZ, many, many times. We have it down to a science. We stay at the same hotel. We eat at the same restaurants. We get gas at the same gas stations. If we were in the age of the Jetsons, we could program in our destination and take a nap. Our hover car would do the rest. Alas, the Jetsons prophecy has not come to pass and we still need to steer the car. I’m a little bitter about that.

There are things to see along the way, but one must get off the beaten path to do so. As with interstate highways throughout the country, the scenery isn’t the best. To see pretty or interesting things, one must take an exit and hit a two-lane highway. We always mean to, but we never do.

This trip, I was determined that we would get off the interstate and see a few sights. Petrified Forest National Park is in northern Arizona. The Battlefield of Glorieta Pass (a little-known Civil War battle site) is in northern New Mexico. Let’s see one or both, I said to my husband and he agreed.

Alas, the government shutdown, which heretofore has not impacted me a whit, hit me smack in the middle of my face. Not only were both of those sites closed, but rest stops along the way were closed as well. And when you’re almost 60, well…..

We used to have to stop the car every couple of hours or so to get gas. A year-and-a-half ago, we bought a new car that gets terrific gas mileage, so we can make each leg of our trip without having to stop for gas. That increases the importance of rest stops. Our car can make it 460 miles without having to stop, but our bladders cannot. And let me just tell you that along I-25 in New Mexico, you don’t have a lot of options besides rest areas. If you miss Santa Fe, you are going to have to wait until Las Vegas, NM, or get off and drive three or four miles to a nearby town. With iffy bathrooms.

Shortly outside of Santa Fe heading north, I knew a bathroom stop was going to be a necessity very soon. We drove for a bit, and it became obvious that the rest stops were closed and Las Vegas was still 70 miles away. We got off at the exit for Pecos National Historical Park, which is the same exit as that of Glorieta Pass Battlefield. However, both conference centers were closed, and the nearest gas station was in the village of Pecos, NM, a three-mile drive. Which we made. At a pretty fast clip.

I won’t go into a great deal about the status of the restroom in the gas station except to say there are some restrooms where it seems more sanitary to forego washing your hands. What I will go into some detail about, however, is just how much we enjoyed the scenery we saw during our little detour, particularly post-bathroom visit. The fall colors are starting to become apparent, and in a semi-deserty area like that part of New Mexico, the colors of the sagebrush and the bushes are simply stunning.

Later on in the day, again in need of a bathroom break, we stopped in the little town of Cimarron, NM, at a gas station right off the road. Remarkably, the station had an awesome display of antique cars and a nice little gift shop with old-fashioned toys such as Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, and a plethora of Betty Boop paraphernalia.

Had the rest stops been opened, we would have missed all of these things. So I guess I’m grateful in a funky way for the ineptitude of our government officials. Now that I’m settled back in Denver, they can get off their butts and fix things.

One more thing. As we were eating breakfast at our hotel in Albuquerque, I glanced up at the television which was playing the Today Show. It notified me that yesterday was National Grouch Day. I was so relieved that I had a day in my honor that I immediately pointed it out to Bill. His response: “And no one even sent me a f*****g card."

No recipe today. I’m too tired to cook.