Day three of the road trip we woke up in Oklahoma and I was especially exhausted. The beds were incredibly comfortable — Hampton Inn — do it.

We left and Dave took on his role as the morning driver. We gassed up and were off! Goodbye Ooooooooklahoma!

The road “Sooner” stood out to me while in Oklahoma City. In fact, I created a Jeff Foxworthy joke for it: “We better go sooner dad is coming!” Read it out loud and you’ll get it… ha!

We switched drivers a little bit before we got into Texas and I can proudly say that I drove us through the entire state of Texas! It was the little part…but still…

After seeing sign after sign of “FREE 72oz” I knew we had to stop in Amarillo for some steak. Granted I could never eat that much steak but who could go through Texas without eating at least an 8oz?? So since I was driving, I made us stop. But just as we got to the exit for the FREE 72oz!! steak place, we had half a second to make the turn. Yes, we missed the turn. And for some crazy reason, the road we were on was a one way road that paralleled the interstate. No turning back! We kept on going, and I was determined to have steak…not Wendy’s.

Then I saw it. The building was glowing a sweet ray of hope. In bright red letters, the sign yelled “Stockman’s!” The numerous pick up trucks outside told me this was the one. We entered this random diner completely naive to its wonders. Smoking or Non? ha yeah right! We sat down as close to the front door as possible. We ordered water and pondered the brochure size menu, afraid to actually touch it with our fingers. Both of us decided on an item on the back page…never actually opening the menu. Steak…YES!

We ordered and soon came our salads…clearly the mix from a bag of salad…and gobs of ranch dressing. The entire case of saltine crackers sitting on the table excited our taste buds of what was to come!

Then the steak. No A1 sauce needed…it was amazing! The baked potato was literally the icing on top. Glorious Texas steak from a glorious Texas diner.


And just as a side note…do NOT make fun of a restaurant loud enough for the people around us to hear…like my innocent travel mate.

Then we were off again. Full bellies…ready for nap time…but we had to drive.

I drove another hour until I saw the religious experience of a lifetime!

A gigantic cross stood 50 or so feet high next to the highway. I did go a little off-roading to get this pic but managed to bring the car back before it was too late.

Shortly after this we smelled quite an odor…then we came upon a huge Beef Farm. Dave yelled out, “That’s it! I’m a vegetarian!” …which lasted til Holbrook, Arizona where we ordered a meat lovers pizza…

My favorite part of Texas by far was the tumbleweeds. They are just so freakin cool! They go flying by and you automatically feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Until then, I had only seen tumbleweeds in those things called the moving pictures. But now I’ve seen one…and hit one…in real life!

We came upon Exit 0 and entered New Mexico. Dave drove the longer part of this route and sadly the most boring. Nothing for as far as you could see. Mountains. Bushes. Some cows. Some cacti. I enjoyed the cacti from the passengers seat. A few hours later I took over and drove us through fabulous Albuquerque where YES I was given the finger!! We were in a construction zone and the speed limit was 45. Traffic was everywhere yet this guy still rode my tail and flicked me off the second he could pass me. Really? I couldn’t help but laugh…I hope he saw my beautfiul smile!

New Mexico is quite hilly. My full little car couldn’t make it up the hills. Therefore we were going 60 in a 75 often. Sorry to all those who got stock behind my little Ford Focus!

When we got about 100 miles from the border of New Mexico and Arizona, it started to snow. We got a bit nervous driving but nothing was too bad. Closer to Arizona the snow stopped but there was clearly snow all around us.


Dave and I changed driving at the Arizona rest stop. I wish I took a picture because literally all of the parking spots were covered in snow. We stopped in a driving path paved for visitors. We played chinese fire drill and switched.

The snow started up again and was much heavier. So we stopped in Holbrook, Arizona…although I will forever call the area New Mexico…and rested our weary bodies. The Pizza Hut down the road provided food and fun placemats — the ones with games for kids. I mean…seriously…how often do you ask yourself…if I could own one exotic animal, what would it be?

We passed out…as the snow continued to fall around us.