Finally we are at the hotel in Albuquerque after another long day on the road. Although at least this time as we sit down and look at the map, there is a real sense of accomplishment. We left Maine about 80 hours ago and we are now half way through New Mexico.

After we crossed into Texas, the thing that struck me the most, was that in Texas you could see much further than you could in Oklahoma, the land was that much flatter! And, even though you could see much further, there was actually less to see. That was until we came across the “Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere”. We initially saw from about six miles away as it was by far the tallest thing on the horizon. After that, it was back to farmland and burning up asphalt on our way to Amarillo for gas and food.

We ate dinner at a Sonic (a surprisingly underwhelming experience given all the hype) and continued on with Brian at the helm. This was where we first met out friend who we then referred to as “Texas” or “Our Friend from Texas”. He was a big red pickup truck that would pass us, then slow way down and drop off the face of the planet only to reappear about 35 minutes later when he blew by us standing still. Mind you for a vast majority of Texas and New Mexico, we had the cruise control on about 82. Well, we played the leapfrog game several times before I finally got sick of him and decided to blow by him once and for all. So channeling my inner Cole Trickle, I dropped the hammer and said, “See ya later, clown!” and all that was left behind was the sound of our laughter as we yelled loudly and repeatedly at the New Mexico night sky – “MOVE IT OR LOOSE IT! THE MAINE TRAIN IS COMING THROUGH! WOOOOOOOO! WOOOOOOO!”

Overall the drive was not too bad. It was mildly disappointing that it was night time because at one point, Hooters indicated that we were over 7000 feet above sea level and to watch scenery as we made that climb would have been pretty cool. To give you some perspective, Mount Washington is almost 6300 feet. We continued on through the New Mexico mountains lead by a crescent moon which helped light the way for us. We played leap frog a few more times with Texas until being forced off the highway unexpectedly when we were in Albuquerque. This is the second major city in the last two days which closed the major interstate that went through the middle of the city. Luckily we had Hooters who helped us to bring it on home. Now… it is time for sleep.

The End of Day Stats for Day Three:

Total Miles: 835.3
Overall Average: 63.5 MPH
Moving Average: 73.3 MPH
Max Speed: 99.3 MPH
Moving Time: 11:24
Stopped Time: 1:45
Total Time: 13:09
Number of Times Pulled Over: 0
Number of other vehicles: 1
# of Suspected HTs: 16