Eastward Ho!

We got to visit with Matt and Michele and Leila for a good long time after Matt and Leila went out for a walk with the dog. Leila helped Michele make breakfast while we talked about John (has a retirement plan, bought himself an RV, practiced living in it for six weeks to make sure it was the right idea, and liked it) and Scott (who died about a year ago, at 61, of complications from esophageal cancer and treatment choices that increased his risk...but he was at peace with the possibility of dying) plus we talked some about politics without getting each other riled up. He thinks of Joanne as pretty far on the left end of the political spectrum because her kid went to Wellesley (that hotbed of communism) and he thinks of Uncle Babe as a moderate conservative.  Talking to Matt is so entertaining because he is funny and likes to laugh, he is opinionated but not a proselytizer, and he is a loving dad/family guy. He sees everything through the eyes of an accountant -- and yet he loves it that the farm is right where it is, and we keep doing what we do. He thinks that's a public service. And I admire Michele for being a forthright, confident woman who can't understand what Leila means when she says that her sister Donna says she got a "jail pass" to go on a trip with her sisters.  Michele can't imagine having a husband tell her what to do. When we first met her as a college kid, I wasn't so sure she was strong enough to be a match for Matt. She is.

We dropped Leila off to catch the FlixBus back to LA and we headed east for real. Our path from LA to Scottsdale to Las Vegas was not geographically sensible, but we had to wait until yesterday for Matt to come home from a business trip. It was worth it.

It was a relaxing 8 1/2 hour trip through desert. So scenic. Yesterday I couldn't help thinking about Spike, Snoopy's brother who lives in Needles. So many cacti that look just like the ones in the comics. Today was a high elevation day, lots of mountains all around, not much growing, big big sky. Sometimes there would be a mountain that was quarried, cut down and we could see how red the rocks were underneath all that scrub. We crossed the Continental Divide at 6 PM at about 6900 feet elevation.

Crossing the Hoover Dam in the daylight with Lake Mead on the left.

 

 

Sign on right reads Poisonous Snakes and Insects Inhabit the Area.

It turns out that Jon misread the information about this motel in downtown Albuquerque. There is a pool but it is definitely not heated. If we were polar plungers, we would go in. Oh well. We went to dinner at a big, long established restaurant where you order at the counter, 9000 reviews with a total rating of 4.5. Michele told us to go there because she remembered it from a trip, years ago. Green chile on burritos and lots of other options. Not as good as the Tortilla Factory, but certainly worthy of a stop.

Lucky for Jon, this motel room is the most upscale, nicely appointed, clean and comfortable of all the motels on this trip.  It's our last motel. I could live here for a while, no problem. There is plenty to eat within walking distance.