Roadtrip Part three: Arkansas to Albequerque??? Brace yourself.

Oh man, We woke up at 4:30 to leave the house at 5 because this was going to be our longest traveling day; 850 miles from Little Rock to Albequerque. For about 100 miles it was as if Poseidon hitched a ride up to the heavens and ripped shit up. This was more rain than i have ever driven through, like the sky split and not only was god crying on us, but he was also spitting and peeing. SO MUCH RAIN! Am i getting this across? I was going about 30 in the dark, trying to keep the car lined up with the white lines and reflectors which was ok, until Arkansas ran out of relectors and all i could do was pray and wait for the sun to rise. Once we got to Oklahoma, it was still raining, but we stopped for gas andbut decided not to switch drivers just yet. In OK, the roads were not to friendly, it was monday in the late morning and there was tons of road work, but no road workers, so we were going pretty slowley through dug up, foggy Oklahoma. The upside came about an hour later when we drove over a bridge and saw a truley awe inspiring site, the fod was low low above the water and on the hills it was very Lord of the Rings (im a nerd, but just wait til i get to NZ). We then decided to stop and switch drivers because I was getting tired. What came next? Rain, fog, fog, rain, rain, fog, rain, fog. Rain. Fog. We also hate Oklahoma, which we renamed F**klahoma. Sorry. Get over it. See, i get all mean just thinking about it. However, when we reached texas, things changed. Not directly over the border but soon enough it was grandiosely (word?) beautiful and flat, and sunny! We were a little distracted by the fear that any law breaking would lead to a shotgun situation, but nonetheless it was a nice treat after a day and a half of frustration. Also, if you were wondering where the largest Cross in the western hemesphere is, its in texas, i saw it. Its at exit 112 off of I-40. Now, comes the change of plans. Kristas dad had been calling us to wanr us of a blizzard that was heading for flagstaff AZ, right where we were headed the next day, 8-24 inches of snow overnight and still falling in the morning. We were concerned about driving through a snowstorm so we considered not stopping in Albequerque and going a bit farther. The snow had already begun to fall in flagstaff and was heading southeast. At one point we even discussed driving all the way to LA that night without stopping. After a bit, we realized it was very unlikely that we could do that. Krista pulled out the navagation system on her computer and started punching in coordinates. We thought about going south from albequerque but after talking to Brians cousin in Phoenix she said we would be directly hit if we went that way. So, after much deliberation the decision was made to brave the possible, rain, snow, sleet and ice and keep on route 40 to flagstaff and then bang a left and go south to Phoenix where Brians cousin, who luckily worked at a marriot there would get us a room for any time that night. wow, that was a long thought, sorry, im trying to remember it and not have heart palpatations. We did stop in Albequerque for about 20 minutes to regas and watch the weather channel. At 10:30pm we were back on the road, Brian driving, me in the passenger seat and krista in the back sleeping til it was her turn to drive. I had already driven through adrenaline pumped conditions so i was going to star as the "awake one" for the stretch to flagstaff. While Krista slept, Brian and I played the movie game for 4 hours. It was pretty clear at points, i was amazed at the stars, i had never seen so many, it was absolutely beautiful. We were about a mile from flagstaff where we stopped to get gas and switch drivers. I would go in the back, Krista would drive and Brian would be awake with her. At this point my nerves really got to take hold of me, there was a possibility to be completely stuck in this enormous blizzard on a route that goes downhill for hundreds of miles from flagstaff. I called Steve(boyfriend) and huddled down in the back seat and braced myself for the worst. I was not planning on looking out the window until we were safe in Phoenix. Well we hit it. There was so much snow flying it took us an hour and a hlaf to go 30 miles. For those of you who dont know, Flagstaff is at a 6000 foot elevation, so once we decended a couple thougsand feet the snow stopped and i fell asleep. We arrived in Mesa Arizona at 4:30am...23 hours since we had first started driving. 23 HOURS! We were tired and very impressed at the fact that we were still living. We got to the hotel and passed out. Tuesday, Phoenix to LA. ugh.


Arkansas to Texas pictures