This was probably the most exhausting day of the road
trip. We started out in Oklahoma
City. The main thing to see here was the
federal building, the site of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. Our GPS took us to the rebuilt federal
building, where we were eyed suspiciously by the security guard until we
realized that the memorial was across the street.
A reflecting pool sits between two large archways, one
inscribed with the time 9:01 and the other 9:03, the minutes flanking the 9:02
blast.
Empty chairs, with their heights
corresponding to the ages of those killed, border the pool. 19 of them are small, representing the
children who attended a day care at the federal building.
A wall of ceramic tiles painted by Oklahoma
City children pays homage to the peace that was disturbed 19 years ago.
After leaving this poignant display we got back on the
road.
We crossed the border into Texas , the land where everything is bigger, including the speed limit.
Shortly thereafter we stopped at the next Route 66 attraction in Groom Texas – the supposed largest cross in the world. (As later research would find, it is not in fact the world’s largest cross though it may have been at one point.)
At 190 feet tall, it could be seen from 20 miles away.
We thought it was one of the most ridiculous
things we had ever seen, likely built by some crazy Texan trying to prove his
state’s superiority. However upon our arrival, we found that at the foot of
this obelisk was a religious shrine, adorned with beautiful statues of the
Stations of the Cross, the Last Supper, and the Crucifixion.
A
religious gift shop sold Divine Mercy
medals, rosaries, and books on Pope Francis, indicating
that this was monument
was Catholic. I didn’t know whether to
be proud or ashamed. Walking around the
grounds, I would be moved by a particular statue or grotto, only to burst into
a fit of giggles at the ridiculous structure luring in unsuspecting
travellers. But hey, whatever
works.
Once we reached Amarillo, Texas, we took a detour to the
Palo Duro Canyon.
We hiked for 3 miles, halfway down a short hiking trail in order to get
a good view of the canyon.
I also saw my
first tumbleweed.
After all this travelling and hiking, we had worked up an
appetite worthy of a Texan, and we knew exactly where to go.
We had seen dozens of signs along Route 66
for the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, home of the 72 oz steak, free if you
eat it and all its fixings (roll, salad, and shrimp cocktail) in a hour.
This fine establishment was recently featured
on the popular TV Show, Man vs. Food.
Just
a few weeks prior to our arrival, the record for this feat was broken by Molly
Schuyler, (who also recently won the Philadelphia Wing Bowl). She finished her steak in 4 minutes and 58 seconds, and proceeded to
eat a second in 9:59.
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| The challenge area |
Even with my appetite, I didn’t dare try to do the full
challenge. I ordered the 1/4 version of
the challenge, an 18 oz steak with fixings, which took me well over an hour to
eat. The meal was delicious, and
definitely worth the experience.
Our stomachs full, we got back on the road.
We almost missed our next attraction, the
Cadillac Ranch.
Someone buried ten
Cadillacs face down in the dirt, for the sake of art.
Graffiti on these structures is actually
encouraged.
We did not leave our mark on
this structure, and in fact kept our distance to stay out of the puddle of mud
surrounding the cars.
Storm clouds were on the horizon as we left the ranch. After
a little ways of driving we hit a very severe patch of rain and a bit of
hail. It didn’t last more than 10 minutes,
but was a bit perturbing. The skies
started to clear as we neared the New Mexcio border. My phone proceeded to give me a Tornado
Warning alert, advising us to take shelter immediately, which did not calm my
nerves. However, with the skies clear ahead
we proceeded into New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, where there was an
abundance of clear weather. A look at Doppler radar showed us that we were in
fact very lucky, to have passed through a small break in an otherwise massive
storm hitting Texas.
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| The worst of the storm |
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| Clear New Mexican skies |
About an hour past the border, we stopped in Santa Rosa, New
Mexico, site of Blue Hole, a clear, natural pool that remains at a constant
temperature of 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
It
is a great body of water to dive into apparently, which Chris and Jeff
confirmed while I took pictures of the attraction at sunset.
After my friends dried off, we got back in the car for the
last 2.5 hours of our journey to Los Alamos. It was here that I realized I was
starting to feel a bit homesick since we had crossed the New Mexico border,
arriving in the state that would be my home for the next two months. We drove for miles along a deserted highway
with no lights and very sparse traffic, which would have unnerved me had I been
alone. Eventually, we turned off on
another highway, past Santa Fe, through what seemed to be an Indian
reservation, and along a cliff that surely would be beautiful in the daylight. Around 11 pm (now Mountain Time) we arrived
at my apartment in Los Alamos.
