Towards Albuquerque

Wednesday and Thursday, October 23rd & 24th.

Wednesday morning we ran a few errands in Wal-Mart, and then decided to take a quick tour around Pueblo to see if it had anything to offer. We had just about decided to head out of town when we stumbled upon a Goodwill store. We naturally couldn't resist that temptation, so we checked it out and of course bought a few things. Even worse, though, was that we thereby found adresses to all the other thrift stores in Pueblo. So we ended up spending most of the day in Pueblo and by the time we headed out of there the contents of the van had grown with several more shirts, shoes, ties and books, a set of 10 plastic dinner plates -- and a mailbox! :) At the same time, though, the van's contents were also diminished -- by three golf clubs. Jens recently bought an old golf bag and 6 golf clubs in a Salvation Army store, all for $3. Today he managed to sell three of the golf clubs in a pawn shop at a dollar a piece, which means that he actually got a bag (on wheels) and 3 golf clubs for free! :)

So after that alternative tour of Pueblo we hit the road again and drove south into New Mexico. We spent the night in another Wal-Mart parking lot, this time in Santa Fe.

Once again Wal-Mart had chosen an excellent location for a shopping center; the one in Santa Fe was right down the street from a Goodwill store! :) So naturally we started our day there. For once, though, we settled for the one store and then headed back on the road to drive the hour south to get to Albuquerque. Just north of Albuquerque we found a KOA campground and checked in there just past noon. We decided that we deserved the luxury of a shower and the opportunity to straighten out the van and check email and upload a few updates to the webpage. The weather in Albuquerque was a luxury in itself, though; for the first time in a long time we were able to walk around in t-shirts outside -- in the sunshine! -- without freezing.

We ended our day of relaxation by going out for really good Mexican food for dinner. We found a really good restaurant & cantina along the highway and filled ourselves to the brim with nachos, burritos, enchiladas and tamales, all compliments of Carol & Brent's friends Bruce & Nita who we'd met in North Carolina and who had given us money for a good dinner somewhere along our way. This was it, we decided, and it definitely was a good dinner.