Happy New year! Thought I'd take a moment to update you on my new focus for 2012. I have accepted a permanent job in Albuquerque, New Mexico - working for a private practice. So on December 30th, with the help of my niece and nephew-in-law, I packed a Uhaul truck with my belongings, hitched the soul to a tow dolly and headed out.
Here are a few brief highlights from the trip:
Apparently, Memphis, TN has a pyramid. I saw it driving by... WTF? Wikipedia reports that it is the Pyramid Arena, by some measures the 6th largest pyramid. Apparently they built it because there is a Memphis, Egypt where some pyramids exist. Who knew? Also: Tennessee's slogan for New Year's Eve was "Booze it & Lose it".
My impressions of Arkansas during the drive through on I-40: Arkansas smells bad. Just over the Tennessee line, it smells like fertilizer/manure. Further in, it smells swampy. They have "Suck Toad Park"! Cool name! And they have some of the worst paved roads I have ever driven over. Gravel roads would have been smoother! Seriously. Arkansas' slogan for NYE was "Drive Sober or It's Over."
Oklahoma was mostly flat. Really bad roads for the first part. And lots and lots of casinos - like one every 20 miles it seemed like. Didn't see any NYE slogans there - so apparently they aren't concerned about drunk driving. Maybe they're afraid it would limit traffic to the casinos?!
Texas: Flat. Interesting scenery. Cadillac ranch - almost missed it. Back ends of cadillacs sticking out of the dirt. Couldn't get a picture - it went by too fast. No signs for it - but I knew it was in Amarillo - which, by the way, was not a very big place either. Didn't notice any slogans here either.
New Mexico: When I hit the NM border, I started grinning. Feels like home already! Their slogan was, "You Drink. You Drive. You lose." Not very catchy. But self explanatory. Did see a lot of snow by the road in some areas, but none once I hit ABQ.
The worst part of the trip were the problems that I had with the tow dolly and the safety chains on it. Had to get very creative in solving those problems. Carabiner clips from Arkansas keychains (from the truck stop tourist shop) held for a bit, until I hit more horrible road conditions that bounced the trailer all over. I finally managed to fix it using steel shank key locks.
At any rate, I'm here now. Very happy to be in my new home town, and I'm off to start house hunting. More later!
Here are a few brief highlights from the trip:
Apparently, Memphis, TN has a pyramid. I saw it driving by... WTF? Wikipedia reports that it is the Pyramid Arena, by some measures the 6th largest pyramid. Apparently they built it because there is a Memphis, Egypt where some pyramids exist. Who knew? Also: Tennessee's slogan for New Year's Eve was "Booze it & Lose it".
My impressions of Arkansas during the drive through on I-40: Arkansas smells bad. Just over the Tennessee line, it smells like fertilizer/manure. Further in, it smells swampy. They have "Suck Toad Park"! Cool name! And they have some of the worst paved roads I have ever driven over. Gravel roads would have been smoother! Seriously. Arkansas' slogan for NYE was "Drive Sober or It's Over."
Oklahoma was mostly flat. Really bad roads for the first part. And lots and lots of casinos - like one every 20 miles it seemed like. Didn't see any NYE slogans there - so apparently they aren't concerned about drunk driving. Maybe they're afraid it would limit traffic to the casinos?!
Texas: Flat. Interesting scenery. Cadillac ranch - almost missed it. Back ends of cadillacs sticking out of the dirt. Couldn't get a picture - it went by too fast. No signs for it - but I knew it was in Amarillo - which, by the way, was not a very big place either. Didn't notice any slogans here either.
New Mexico: When I hit the NM border, I started grinning. Feels like home already! Their slogan was, "You Drink. You Drive. You lose." Not very catchy. But self explanatory. Did see a lot of snow by the road in some areas, but none once I hit ABQ.
The worst part of the trip were the problems that I had with the tow dolly and the safety chains on it. Had to get very creative in solving those problems. Carabiner clips from Arkansas keychains (from the truck stop tourist shop) held for a bit, until I hit more horrible road conditions that bounced the trailer all over. I finally managed to fix it using steel shank key locks.
At any rate, I'm here now. Very happy to be in my new home town, and I'm off to start house hunting. More later!
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