My first task was to get out of Madison, which proved harder than I thought it should have been. My "shortcut" to the Interstate turned into a fiasco, but I finally made it, albeit almost 30 minutes later. Don't ask. I'm rolling my eyes, too, believe me. I did make it to Milwaukee, but again, had problems. I intended to park at the far parking lot and take the shuttle to the terminal, but somehow missed it. I drove around the airport twice before I finally found parking in the ramp. Remember, I'm parked on level Red 2 D-E! Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. For some reason I looked at the departure board and was confused when I couldn't find Albuquerque (hereinafter "ABQ", I'm not typing that all night). Duh, I was flying to Minneapolis first. I know, I have no idea what I was thinking.
After getting water and a book (Tina Fey's "Bossypants") I settled in at the gate. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but I did meet a couple of women at the gate in Minneapolis who figured out I was hip after they found me reading the Tina Fey book. In ABQ they were giving me a hard time (I was pretending to ignore them :o) ) at the car rental counter.
After signing my life away at the car rental counter, a lovely woman named Sharon at the Alamo lot saw that I had an economy car and told me she was upgrading me (score!) and to pick out any car in one of the rows. I chose a Chevy HHR (it was one of the cars I was considering purchasing and now know not to); I love the feeling of being in a bigger vehicle. When I finally had to gas up in Arizona, I couldn't figure out how to open the gas tank. I looked all over the dash, accidentally opened the hood and finally called Alamo. Duh, you have to push on the tank and it "springs" open. Problem solved, or so I thought. I had to call back a few minutes later because the gas cap said "E85". Found out I can put regular gas in the tank. Whew! And, since I had been drinking a lot of water (it was 93 degrees in ABQ) I had to pee this whole time. Doh! Now, before you laugh or roll your eyes, take a look at the picture below and tell me you would have figured out how to open the gas tank! :0)
The dinosaurs were also at this gas station/truck stop. These guys are heading out to nab that semi truck on the highway. :0)
I didn't make too many stops on the way to Flagstaff, but I have enclosed a few pictures below. An interesting story behind the white church. This was actually a scenic wayside and the lady there in one of the huts was selling beautiful jewelry she'd made. She told me the church was over 300 years old! I just thought it was a cool settlement and saw lots of cliff dwellings and beautiful mesas along the way, but didn't have an opportunity to stop along the highway unless it was a pit stop or wayside as they were infrequent. At the first stop where I shot the picture of the church, I met an adorable chuhuahua named Gus. Boy did he have energy! I wanted to get a picture of Gus, but he was way too fast for me and my camera.
