Irvine, CA to Albuquerque, NM

Today was the longest leg of the trip--801 miles (according to my odometer) and about 13 hours on the road (including rest stops). The hardest part was emotionally driving out of California. I've had the good fortune to spend a lot of quality time with good friends over the last few months. Besides packing up my messy house, I've been able to enjoy some good meals, happy hours, movies, coffee, and more with friends at work, scrapping friends, and friends who are parents of my girl's friends. And it really hit me what straight-up good people they all are. I'm missing every one terribly. Passing interstate signs that would route me back to Los Angeles put my heart in my throat as I fought turning the wheel. It didn't help that it felt like I was driving into an endless void of highway:

Or that some rest areas were more arduous than restful:

Or that some restrooms were a crapshoot:

I thought the faces were codes on these keys. I went with restroom A at first but discovered that the toilet didn't flush and looked like about a dozen people before me used it anyway. Went for restroom B. Restroom B wasn't so bad despite the frowny face--at least the toilet flushed. When I advised the non-flushing toilet issue to the lady at the counter where I loaded up on cold soda and water, she looked at me like I told her that I get bummed when I can only find one sock of a pair. She sighed, yeah, that one's a problem.

Crossing the Colorado River into Arizona was the first big milestone, both emotionally and driving-wise:

I was also kicking myself for shipping back some books on CD a friend had lent me a while back in my decluttering frenzy as I was dying for a voice other than the somber one in my head. It was slim pickings at the Travel Center (for some reason a series called The Deathland Series was really popular and plentiful) and I ended up buying a Wonder Woman "movie in my mind".

Umm, it was okay. The opening reminded me of those corny SyFy movies (it opens with a couple who decided to spend their honeymoon scuba-diving in the Bermuda Triangle. Is that even a destination?) but I found it odd that it had an extended internal monologue when Wonder Woman returns to her native island and takes a hot bath and waxes nostalgically on how she had servants who would bathe and dress her (as she was daughter of Queen of the Amazons). I made it through the first CD and then some folks gave me a ring and I was able to chat with live people.

You know what was weird about Arizona and New Mexico? I guess the higher altitude creates pressure like when you fly. Some of the bottles in my trunk were bloated with air and my feet puffed up like my leg flesh had melted and drained into my toes. But you know what was cool about Arizona and New Mexico? Speed limits of 75. Almost made up for the dearth of decent radio stations and Starbucks off the Interstate 40. With the help of a 5 hour energy drink, I perked up a bit for the last 300 miles:

Man I wanted to eat in this "WOW Diner" so bad. But I was just filling up and didn't want to leave the cats alone in the car for so long.

I did get to enjoy my favorite eggs and hash browns once I reached Albuquerque:

Tomorrow is a shorter leg--only about 600 miles to Oklahoma City. And the best part--my sister is flying into OKC and I'll have her for the rest of the road trip. Hooray!