Texas to New Mexico

Short post:  left Texas today at 5:00 am, rolled into Albuquerque, at 4:30 this afternoon.  (Well, 3:30 New Mexico time.)  We wasted 30 minutes early this morning missing an exit, but even erasing that, 11 hours.  A long drive.  Cooper actually slept part of the time, which was much easier on him.  Nothing great about the drive, except north-west Texas is so flat and so unappealing.  Buildings near the road, flattened  because of disuse and neglect.  No color.  The highway goes through some small towns that are almost empty, storefronts vacant, broken and ugly.  But New Mexico's land formations are much more interesting and it makes the drive at least pleasant and less depressing.

Tomorrow we are aiming for Las Vegas.  I realized that in addition to seeing the new Hoover Dam Bridge and the Bellagio fountains, I want to see the pawn shop that is on the History channel.  It's called the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop and it's about three miles from the Paris Hotel, where I am staying.  If you haven't seen the show, check it out, people come in with everything from original art work to bizarre history relics to old cars to things found at the bottom of the ocean.  And everything in between. The guys who own the shop are characters ("just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character") and it would be cool to visit the place.

That's all for now...... more tomorrow.  Sin City, here I come!

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