"Hey Dad, I just saw a pink lake." The dirt in Oklahoma is a reddish hue, and this one pond we passed had a distinct pinkish hue.
As we drove from Oklahoma into North Texas, the warning indicator lights came on again. Hmmm, two days in a row. That's a bit concerning, particularly as we would be driving through the middle of nowhere in New Mexico and Arizona. My wife looked up a Toyota dealer in the next city we would be driving through, Amarillo Texas, and we decided to stop there to get the car checked out.
Just like the day before at the Toyota dealer in Oklahoma City, the guy who ran the diagnostics told us that it didn't seem anything serious, but if we wanted them to check out the engine further it would take until the next day. He said if it was him, he would keep going. I had him reset the indicators and we went on our way. Wish us luck that nothing more serious will pop up!
Kai was happy once we crossed the border from Texas into New Mexico. He had considered Oklahoma and north Texas to be danger zones due to greater likelihood of tornadoes, so when he saw the Welcome to New Mexico sign, he announced that we were now in the clear.
Our destination for the evening was the small town of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We lost some time getting our car checked out, so it was about 6:00 PM when we checked into our motel.
Rather than use the motel pool, I told Kai that there was a swimming/diving hole in town called The Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is an artesian well. The surface is only about 80 feet wide and the pool is about that deep as well. Kai was interested in checking it out.
I stayed ashore to snap some pictures before I planned to join my wife and Kai in the water.
But they only took a couple of steps before coming out, saying that the water was too cold. Kai had been in very cold water in Lake Michigan and other places, so I found it difficult to believe that the water here was too cold for Kai. But I didn't feel like entering it to find out for myself.
On the way to the Blue Hole, we had passed a small lake that had inflatable bounces and slides. Kai wanted to go there instead.
Kai loved it!
It was actually kind of tough to pull yourself out of the water onto the inflatables, and then to climb up to the top before sliding down. My wife went back to shore after a few slides, but I stayed out with Kai for as long as he wanted. I was happy that he was enjoying himself, and getting some exercise in the process.
When he finally had enough, we went by to the motel, showered, and went out to dinner.
There wasn't many choices in this small town, but we found a family-run Mexican restaurant that had been on old Route 66 for over 90 years.
It wasn't the best Mexican food we ever had, but it was tasty and we enjoyed it.
Next, we're on to Arizona.
You know, that is strange. I had some phantom car trouble on our trip. I hate that diagnosticians are no longer trained mechanics. Most have no idea what is going on unless it says it on the computer. Most problems are simply unserviceable at any places other than a major dealer.
ReplyDeleteThat water recreation area looked like fun. I hate being disappointed by restaurants. I just love food so much, I look forwards to a great meal all day long. I hate small towns for mainly this reason. So many restaurants and stores have the attitude that they know they are the only game in town...so, you just have to accept them as they are. The shopping I do mostly online anyways...but the food. I simply must have some good food establishments somewhat near me. I will gladly drive an hour to reach one if necessary. I have found some real gems in small towns though. Some very unique and memorable tastes. Don't forget to get Navajo bread with creamed butter and jam when you get to Arizona.
The two diagnosticians were very nice and helpful, but it would have taken much longer to inspect the engine and they wouldn't have been able to get to that until the following day. We just didn't want to take that time as we have an appointment to meet.
DeleteThe Mexican restaurant was pretty good for a small town.
Thanks for the reminder about the Navajo bread... all of the motels/hotels we're staying in have breakfast included but we'll have to see if we can have it for a snack somewhere.