About 3 hours into it the road began to look long and narrow, like peeking through a rolled up piece of paper to focus in on something of perceived importance. The eyes grew heavy and all I could do to remain awake was scratch my head and rub my face, wishing I had something to munch on to keep my brain occupied. She offered to drive, but I said I was okay.  I knew that it would be a short while before I’d be back on track and alert as I remembered that there was a bag of sun flower seeds waiting for me. But, without a cup, sun flower seeds get messy, so I set my sights on a cup of coffee. On long road trips sleep begins to manifest at about the 2 hour mark, but a few tools have been put into place to prevent disaster. I don’t know why it happens, but it does. Perhaps it has something to do with the dashes. Dash, dash, dash. Endless painted lines streaming through the center of my way, flashing, dashing, blinking, over and over again. And the power lines, suspended by giant toothpicks that manage to survive the elements for years and years, one after another, all the same…

…New Mexico. Not my idea of one of the most beautiful places on earth, but hey, you can buy fireworks there. Oh, and you can find aliens, so I’ve heard. Hogwash. The better parts of New Mexico are as the better parts of Arizona. High mountain country with pines and cool weather, clouds that wash the heavens and are so close you can reach up and grab them, like fluffy cotton candy. Roads aren’t laid out like they are in Phoenix with perpendicularized intersections and easy to figure addresses. They roll and bend and turn, every once in a while stretching out for a long climb or swiftly swooping up and around the edge of a mountain. Don’t drive off the edge however.  It’s a long way down…

Coffee, food, sun-flower seeds, and good company make for what one would consider an agonizing drive much more pleasant, and upon reflection, rather quick.  Here we are Ruidoso!