Day 3 - #roadtrip 2013 - New Mexico to OKC

Monday, March 4th was a long day of driving.  We started off touring a bit of Santa Fe.  (The evening before we ate at a yummy restaurant called with the word "Cowgirl" in it.  It had all kinds of Cowgirl ambiance, plus live music.  The cuisine was pretty good - Tex/Mex if I remember correctly.)  In the morning we visited the historic plaza of Santa Fe and got to tour the La Fonda Hotel.  I would dare to say this is the cutest hotel in America.  The decor seems like a great representation of elegant Mexican-American style with old world flavor.  I wish I had a picture of this, but Christina might. (EDITOR'S NOTE [ok, ok, it's just me, I've just always wanted to write that]: CSR came through, see the pic of one of La Fonda's lovely rooms.) Along with the La Fonda, the Santa Fe plaza featured artisans selling their handcrafted jewelery and goods, small boutiques, art galleries, and a beautiful old church.  We left feeling that we got a pretty good flavor of the city.  Definitely a place to visit again, especially if one can stay at the La Fonda.

In the afternoon we were on the road again, this time off to Oklahoma City.  (I didn't realize their nickname was OKC, which I will use from now on.)  This was a looooooong drive.  Yikes.  One of my friends made a great analogy about this road trip.  It's very analogous to what we try to accomplish in our lives.  You set out with your goal in mind, excited to go after it.  The first one or two legs are fine, energy is pumping, adrenaline is high.  But by the third or 4th leg you realize - this is going to be a long journey, not always glamorous, with lots and lots of hard work, in fact more hard work than highlights.  BUT, the highlights are great.  They are worth the sweat and long hours.  AND along the way you learn to laugh with your friends, make up games (1dct anyone?), take breaks so as to not go crazy, and remember to look up and take in the scenery lest you miss it being focused solely on the goal.  I know, I know -- I promised not to get too deep on you, my bad.  I remembered gathering this thought while on the road and I had to share.
 

Ok, so where was I?  On the road to OKC!  We decided to stop in Amarillo, TX, another famed city on the historic Route 66.  (When we crossed over into Texas I saw my first tumbleweed!  I thought it was hilarious that as soon as we get to Texas the tumbleweeds come a' tumblin.  TWEET: "I just saw my first tumbleweed.  Yes, my first. Yay #roadtrip!")  Well, we got there as the sun was setting and we had every intention of figuring out something cool to do.  But when you're tired & hungry, with still MANY miles to go, you lose the steam necessary to explore.  Thankfully we found a BBQ spot and decided we'd begin our BBQ tour of the Southeast.  I asked FB and Twitter peeps for some advice - TWEET: "We begin our BBQ tour in Amarillo, TX!  If you know of great bbq in Memphis or Nashville, hit me up."  We were FLOODED with ideas, thanks pals! 

And bonus, our waiter told us we made it in time for happy hour.  $3 margarita's anyone??!  Yes please. TWEET: "Um, so yeah, America is kinda big...are we there yet?!?"








And here's the last place where we got gas.  I thought this was the funniest name, had to capture it: