Albuquerque or bust

I woke up this morning around 7 a.m. Sam didn't get in until 2:30 a.m., so he was completely out. I washed my hair last night after the water finally starting flowing. I did dry it some, but any time I wash my hair shortly before I go to bed, I wake up resembling the Bride of Frankenstein, minus the white streaks. This morning was no exception. On went the headband and I was ready to go downstairs for coffee.

I grabbed a newspaper and went back to the room to enjoy my mediocre coffee and the pastry I bought last night. I read the paper from front to back. Around 9:15 a.m., I began the process of waking up Sam. I drove over to Wal-Mart to get some last minute things. Then I came back to the hotel and we loaded the car. We gassed up, got Sam a sandwich and we were on the way.

I drove to Flagstaff, then Sam took over. He drove all the way to New Mexico, then I took over again. It was a long day, but it went pretty well. At one point while Sam was driving, we were suddenly startled by a loud banging sound. At first we thought it was coming from the engine, but we realized it was on the roof. It sounded like someone pounding on the roof. Sam pulled over to the side of the highway and I stepped out and looked. There was nothing to see. We started back up and the banging began again. We concluded it was inside the roof and began to speculate what could be in the roof that would come loose. Finally, at the next exit, Sam discovered the problem - the weather stripping across the top of the front windshield was loose and was flapping. We pushed it back into place and did not hear the sound again. Yikes!

After we checked in the La Quinta in Albuquerque, we drove over to a steakhouse and enjoying sirloins. I had a sweet potato with mine. Yummy! We are now back in the room watching Ocean's 11 on HBO.

Joe did okay today. He only meowed for the first three hours and peridocally after that. I think meowing could be used to torture people.

Tomorrow morning we head to Amarillo, Texas.