Day 2 traveling....518 miles traveled. Traveled through TX, NM, and entered AZ. No toll booths.
We left Amarillo, TX a little later than we planned because we were tired from the day before. We slept in, took our time getting ready, and then headed down for breakfast. The hotel had a great continental hot breakfast. The staff served you. No one could serve themselves due to Covid-19. The offerings were scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, muffins, and fruit. You had the option of eating in your room or sitting at the limited seating section.
Once we were ready to leave, the waiting began because only one family traveling together was allowed in the elevator. With two elevators and five floors it took a while. We also had to wait for a cart to carry all of our items.
This was the first day of traveling on the interstate the whole way. No more highways, which meant no more delays by farmers moving machinery or speed limits of 55 mph. We thought we would make good time, but that didn't happen. As we left Amarillo, we drove through construction, this was the first of three construction zones we passed through. This was by far the quickest and easiest to get through.
At our first stop in New Mexico, we were surprised by how cool it was when we got out. The gas station had a little pet play area in it, so we let the dog run for a bit. Inside the gas station, the employee told people that starting the next day, face covering would be mandatory as set out by the governor. As we pulled out of our first stop, we discovered the Garmin wouldn't turn on. I knew that I could get directions on my phone, but I wouldn't be able to do that and drive. We decided to continue down I-40 and figure out a solution at our next stop in Santa Rosa.
In Santa Rosa, NM, we stopped at a Flying J truck stop, we were positive we would have to purchase a new Garmin. We were positive this one was toast. It turned out to be that the Garmin had reset itself. An unknown man was super kind, he told us to hold the button down and it came back on, we were relieved. While we were in Santa Rosa, we stopped at Subway for lunch. We ate in the car because it was the only safe option. No, the dog didn't get a bite. She begged, but it didn't work. The dog was taken out of her carrier at lunch and was able to remain out until we stopped for the night.
Outside of Albuquerque ( I swear this is the most difficult US city name to spell.) we decided to stop and get gas because I didn't want to stop in Albuquerque. As we approached Albuquerque, the elevation changed and we started to go up and down through the mountains. Fortunately, there wasn't a lot of traffic. I was able to follow a Lexus who was also driving like a snail. Fortunately, I didn't have to drive through all of Albuquerque. I -40 curves to the left (I don't remember whether it was N, S, E, or W) and you head out of town. It was a relief not to have to drive in the big city with crazy drivers.
We traveled right along down 1-40 until we were stopped outside of Grants, NM in a construction zone. It was down to one lane and as always people don't get over till the last minute and it causes a traffic jam. We lost about 15 -20 minutes.
As we traveled down I-40, the signs on the interstate read that masks were required and fines would be assessed. In addition, some cities were closed due to Convid-19. One village we drove past read that services were closed expected for fuel and food. There was one place about 30 miles outside of Gallup, NM that was advertising, toys, native american products, and DQ. We had to stop because it was DQ. The place was actually very small. The dog and I shared a dish of ice cream. I used a spoon and gave her some in a dish. She liked it very much. After we finished our ice cream, we headed back to I-40 and we were not prepared for the wait that would be next.
About 20 miles outside of Gallup, NM both lanes on I-40 came to a stop. A sign read that construction the next 25 miles. We never did figure out exactly what caused I-40 to turn into a parking lot. I Googled the area, but never found anything. During our one and half hour wait, we saw a sheriff and a tow truck drive on the shoulder around us. The old man (He had white hair, lots of wrinkles, and looked old.) behind us honked at me when I was taking pictures of the view. I don't know why he got cranky because no one was going anywhere. Once traffic began to move, we saw that the right lane was closed, we were in the left lane. We drove down through the construction zone and only saw a State Police vehicle and a Sheriff's car.
After leaving Gallup, NM we still had another hour and a half to go to our hotel. Well, we thought it was a hotel. When we called to make the reservation, we were told it was a hotel. We got there and it was a motel. I am terrified of motels. Anyway, we ended up staying there because the clerk told us there weren't any hotels in the town. I found later this was not true. It was clean, it was a little small, and dated. The decor was from the 70's. We had the internet, but the connection was super duper slow. I think it was a family owned motel, who was doing the best they could. The dog didn't like that there was no grass, she had to potty in the dirt. They had some plants, but the plants had stickers and it wouldn't have been safe for the dog or us to walk in the area.
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