Day 4

On day four we left from Oklahoma City to travel through Amarillo, TX, Albuquerque, NM and stay the night in Gallup, NM. The morning part of the drive was pretty much the same as the day before, lots of flat land and not very much to look at. We did stop in Amarillo for lunch. We had been talking about going to a Sonic since we always see the commercials but have never actually eaten at one. I can say that their advertisements are better than their food. I don’t have high expectations for fast food, but Sonic fell short of even my low expectations. They don’t even have restrooms for customers to use, makes a terrible rest stop. It was during this stop we made two other discoveries; there are still gas pumps that do not take credit cards and Amarillo smells like a big cow pie. I am sorry to anyone who may be from Amarillo maybe it was just the wind…
While in Texas we also stopped to see the World Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. And yes, it is a really big cross. We were a little hesitant stopping by thinking a bunch of people would come out of hiding and try to save us, but it turns out the only people we saw were construction workers. It was a very nice display considering the cross is surrounded by statues of Jesus going through the 13 stages (correct me if I am wrong on that number) of his death. Disappointingly this was the only roadside attraction we came across. The route is very long, anyone living along 40 should totally make a roadside attraction, charge $1 for entrance, and sell sodas. We would have hit them all!We also stopped at a Cherokee Trading Post. It is a little diner and gift shop chain. Not sure if they are actually owned by any Cherokee Indians or not. Anyway at the trading post I bought some buffalo jerky. I have been told buffalo meat is good so I wanted to try. Turns out in jerky form it tastes exactly like cow, very disappointing. When we got into New Mexico we found a sign in the back of a car window. We liked it so we took a picture…
It says, "CAUTION!!! I'm a first time truck driver! Please drive CAREFULLY!!!"

The first portion of New Mexico is still pretty flat and not much to look at, however once you get to Albuquerque that all changes. Hands down New Mexico was the most beautiful state along the trip.