Day 1 Part 2 "Would it Have Been Faster to Drive Here?"

We had rain overnight and it continued this morning. It poured the entire way to the airport, I mean the wipers were really going fast. If you have ever driven anywhere with me you would know that I tend to view speed limits and suggestions. I drove well under the speed limit. On our way to the airport we saw one car in the ditch and one accident. Good reminder to drive slowly. We get to the parking facility. They tell us what row to use and we drive and drive and drive. I am beginning to wonder if we are going to cross back into Ohio soon. Aha, we find a parking place, there was not a lot left to this row. We struggle to get the sun shade up, not easy, it is not big enough for my van. I pop the hatch for Rob and start to get myself pulled together. I go to the back of the van and only see our "personal" bags, not the rolling suitcases. Momentary panic! Did we leave them at home? Oh, the shuttle driver took them out of the van for us. OK, blood pressure should drop by noon. We get to TSA Pre Check. Yes, one person ahead of us and the regular line is looooong. I use my phone, yes, we managed to take screen shots of our boarding passes. Do not laugh, this is big time for us. I hand him my license and he asks me to drop my mask.He looks at the license and back and me and back at my license. OK, my hair is different and I have lost weight. He then asks if Rob and I are traveling together. He asks Rob to drop his mask. For some reason Rob gives him this weird smile. Think the Joker in a Batman movie. The TSA agent shrugs and lets us go through. We put our stuff on the belt and I head for the metal detector. I have my "artificial joint" card with me. I tell the agent that I have an artificial joint. I cannot go through the metal detector. She puts a strap up to block it off and I go through the body scanner. Stand on the feet, hands above your head not touching. Yup I know the drill. She tells me that I can come out and she is going to have to do a patdown of my right shoulder. Okaaaay, it is my knee that was replaced but I play along. She asks me if I have any soreness, no, and she is very gentle. I am free to go. Rob almost missed the belt blocking the metal detector, caught it just in time. They go back to putting people through the metal detector. Still not sure why she felt my shoulder but, meh, I got through. I take the train and Rob walks to the gate. When I get near our gate I head for Gold Star Chili to see if they will give me a cup of ice. I have learned, do not ask for a cup of ice, ask how much a cup of ice will cost. Only once have I been charged for ice. The line was slooooow. Oh come on, what is taking so long? They give me my ice and I head for our gate. I do have to ask if there is something in the FAA or TSA or whatever alphabet soup does these things that we must have the furthest gate, no matter where we start out? Oh good, our flight is now at 12:13. If we get there in time we will have 90 minutes to change gates at DFW. They load people on the flight, it is a two seat/ rows, two rows type of plane so not that many people. Oh good, that screaming child from the gate is on our flight. Thank you for noise canceling headphones. Rob and I are across the aisle from each other, this works well for us. The flight attendant counts the passengers then goes back to the front. They he counts again and goes back to the front. I am getting ready to ask if we should count off so that he knows how many people there are. After 5 times counting we are good to take off. We are well past 12:13 when we left the gate. The flight was a little bumpy but not that bad. They did warn us that since it was so hot in Dallas/Fort Worth we would have a bumpy landing. Rob explains the thermals and I figure that I have been through worse. We land, with a bit of a bump and they get to the gate. The woman next to me was already late for something since she was supposed to be on the 6:05 flight so I let her out. Then they announce that everyone needs to return to their seats, they are getting a vehicle to tow us into the proper position at the gate. Wait, the pilot did not know how to get the plane to the gate properly? Isn't that like in lesson 5 of flying? Our 90 minutes to change gates is getting shorter and shorter. We finally get off of the plane at gate B48 and check our departing gate, B5. Really, I swear that this is a conspiracy. We hustle and hustle and it appears that no one is looking where they are going and keep running into us. I try to dodge and get my toes run over by an SUV sized stroller. This is a long walk. I keep thinking that I will see a Dallas Cowboys store so that I can get something for my sister Maggie. No such luck. By the time that we reach our gate they are just about to start boarding. We have been assigned seats that are not next to each other. I am actually fine with that, Rob has a middle and I have an aisle. He asks about gettting us switched. No such luck, but we could ask the aisle person next to him if they want to switch with me. We board, this is a new plane. I am not certain if it is a Max 737, but I really do not want to know if it is. They have diagrams telling you to put your suitcase in wheels first on its side so that more suitcases can fit. Do you know how many people put them in on the back or even better sideways. I am joking with the flight attendant about people and following directions. This plane does have one of those cool device holders on the back of the seat so if you want to watch something on your phone you can. The flight goes well, comeing into Albuquerque it gets pretty rough. Now I do not get motion sickness. I have been on some pretty rough cruises and have logged a lot of miles in a car with no problem. I am getting sick on this approach. It could be that breakfast was a long time ago and the two bags of pretzels are just not doing it or it is that rough. I was so happy when we landed, even if we did bounce. We get off of the plane and zip through the airport. I have not been here for over 12 years and I still remember how to get throug it. There used to be some beautiful woven wall hangings here but they are gone. Out to the sidewalk for the car rental shuttle. It is hot, but dry, but still hot. The shuttle eventually comes and we get on, they have to wait a certain amount of time or until the shuttle is full. Come on, we are already behind schedule. We get to the car rental facility and everyone gets into the same line, where there is one person working the counter. OK, so this might take us 30 min. not horrible. Rob tells me to sit down. I am having to adjust to the altitude and he is being careful. I count the people in line there are 7 ahead of Rob so maybe 40 minutes to get us out of here. They have the slowest procedure imaginable I do not know how it takes that long for people who have a reservation to rent a car. Oh, a few people do not have reservations, sigh. Twice someone from outside will take the next person in line but that does not seem to speed the process along. It takes us One hour and 20 minutes to get our car. Rob has stood this entire time on a brick floor, his back is going to be unhappy with him. Off we go to El Modelo. If you are ever in Albuquerque go there for Mexican food. It is wonderful. We make a couple of wrong turns but find it. It is in a run down industrial area, kind of scarey and they have added a chain link fence since the last time that we were there. They are closed for cleaning but you can place your order by phone. Rob wants to put it on a credit card. Um, there is a truck with people in it sitting right next to the entrance. Um, no. The lady comes out to get the card so that we do not have to say the numbers out loud. Thank you. We are starved so we get two of the Mexican dinners. The kid comes out with two bags of food. We are the only ones eating on their picnic tables and we are in the shade. There was a LOT of food. In addition to the food in this photo we had two tostados and some sopapillas. I could not even finish this food. We will take the rest home and head for Santa Fe.

We are driving through Albuquerque, very glad that it is a Saturday evening. As we are clearing the city I see lightening up ahead in the mountains. Rob did not see it so it did not happen. Then it starts to rain, I mean really rain. I started my day this way, why is it raining now? We are seeing steam rise from the pavement and the temp drops from 104 to 68. It rained the last time that we were here. Rob is telling me that they are going to build a monument to me for my ability to bring rain. We reach Santa Fe and after a few wrong turns we reach our location. We are staying at the Worldmark near the square. After getting signed in we find our unit. This involves missing it then trying to turn around which results in an 18 point turn. We get a spot near our unit and get moved it. It is very nice and I am parked nearby. After unpacking a few things we decide that we are too tired to go to the store. We have coffee and tea and will be fine until tomorrow. I go back to the office to get ice and tell the nice woman how much we like the unit. I said something about my husband on his computer, but since we do not have wifi he will not be on that much. Oh, you are owners, you get wifi for free. Wow, ice and free wifi. If I have ever stayed with you and exhausted your ice maker you get the ice thing. The wifi will help me get the posts up. It is late, I took a shower and it is time to go to bed. Stay tuned for more adventures.