By Leaving colorful Colorado, my home, for this three or four week adventure is not hard for me. I love living in South West Colorado, I love living out in the sticks where the nearest neighbor is a half mile away. But, I also love hitting the road! Indeed, my love for residing between two white lines started when I was much younger, I’ll give you a little back story. When I was 5 my parents bought a cab-over camper and a big ol Ford dually pick up and we, along with a German Shepherd, hit the road for a year looking for where we wanted to live. I’ll tell you all about the “early years” later, but for now I better get back on track! So, leaving CO on a trip is easy for me…blah blah blah.
Now, Colorado is pretty. We have mountains, and big pine trees, and lovely lush grass, and water, and did I mention mountains? So, the drive through Pagosa Springs and then south through Chromo is always lovely.
And on into New Mexico the terrain gradually changes, a more sandstone color palate if you will. But, pretty country as well! The high desert is a special place, you certainly feel like you’re in the “Wild West” driving through that landscape.
Now, Santa Fe is a cool town. Lots of amazing culture, and especially amazing food. Really, I can’t say enough about the food….Guadalupe Cafe for lunch, or dinner….The Pantry’s Huevos Rancheros for breakfast…you can’t go wrong… But, the coolest part about Santa Fe are the friends we have there! We were only there for one night this trip, but we attended a wonderful dinner party at Bonnie and Norm’s (you’re famous now guys!) and we were also introduced to our now new friend Sara. Had some great food, conversation, “beverages” and I played some tunes after dinner. Their living room has the most AMAZING acoustics, makes my guitar and I sound really big.
The next day we headed for the border, Texas that is. But, a border none the less! Driving from NM in to Texas is fun, easy, FLAT. I don’t know what it is, but having 14,000 ft. peaks around makes me feel nice and safe. It takes some getting used to, looking around and not seeing ANY mountains. West Texas is pretty country, don’t get me wrong. Kinda like driving through the Navajo Res. in NM and AZ, wide open horizons. Just kind of disorienting for me at first. But, like I said, pretty country!
We headed on through Amarillo, stopped at a Dairy Queen for a bite (I absolutely think they have the best DQ’s in Texas). And then trucked on to our final destination of the night, Oklahoma City. We arrived at the hotel and unpacked all our junk, amazing how much stuff people need for a one night stay (even for an eccentric artist family + a German Shepherd). Ha, I just realized that the traveling unit is still a GSD, my parents and me. There’s a Gummersall “Fun Fact” for ya! (that was my attempt at a joke, btw). Below are some photos from that drive, taken by Jenny Gummersall (my mom), who is a fine art photographer (when she’s not documenting the family). You’ll probably never see her in a photo…because she’s taking it.
Now, after we took all the stuff to the room (do we really need to bring the air filter dad?) we moved the “rig” (truck and trailer) to its final resting place of the night. And, I noticed the lights weren’t working on the trailer. Hmmm, this is not an old rickety thang, this is a nice new trailer…so, stuff like the lights not working, that’s not supposed to happen. But, whatever. I can fix it! Right?
