Day 13 - Challah! Holla!

On Tuesday morning, I bade goodbye to Dani and Jess -- but only after I made my awesomely besheeted guest bed.

How could I not have sweet dreams?

And only after we got a rotating series of pictures of us pointing to a cactus.

Dani and Jess
(Taken by me -- check out the synchronization!)

Dani and me
(Taken by Jess -- check out Dani's waning enthusiasm)

Jess and me
(Taken by Dani -- check out Dani's finger)

And the really realest goodbye came after Dani took me to one last yummy food place. She lives just blocks from Nadines Bakery which is all kinds of delicious. And not only are they tasty, they are also ultra kosher. They have their blessing certifications on the wall, they don't cut challah on Fridays, and they close down during Pesach.  I don't think I've been anywhere to an eatery this Jewish since Brenner's in Seattle

They don't advertise the card shoppe part as much now

And while there is some question as to whether Nadine was a person or a dog, there is no question that the produce some tasty, tasty pastries. Dani pointed out her favorites and I picked a variety of treats to try -- a coconut brownie, an oatmeal/butterscotch cookie, and a cheese danish. As the clerk was wrapping them up, she convinced me that I also wanted a macaroon.

When I noticed the challah on the shelves, I asked if she would tell me a little about it. She asked if I knew what it was and after confessing to being a member of the tribe, she assured me that it was very good.

So, armed with my five scrumptious noshes, I got ready to beam down in Roswell, NM.

This was the first of several long days of driving. Along the way, I passed many an interesting sight.

This area of rocks, rocks, and more rocks was interesting enough for me to stop and take some pictures.

I passed several of these signs and chuckled every time -- contemplating the existentialism of it all.

Luckily, I saw nothing worthy of caution, but I did see a little dust tornado:

In the background: dust storm
In the foreground: hippo

I stopped to refuel in Las Cruses, NM. I was excited about stopping there because I remembered it's reference from Christine Lavin's song "Planet X" about everybody's favorite ex-major-planet Pluto (right Dani and Jess?). Although the song I know is from before the demotion. She's now updated it to reflect the latest developments.

Looking at the lyrics again, I realize that the majority of the Pluto drama originated in Arizona. Dani and Jess pointed out one of the current astronomical hotspots in downtown Tucson.

I also passed through Alamogordo, NM -- home of the world's largest pistachio nut.

Although I'm not sure it's real

At one point, the lanes merged down to one and slowed to a crawl. As we inched forward, we passed by this sign:

It indicated that we were about to be stopped by Homeland Security. Soon, it was my turn to stop in front of the man in uniform. But before it was my turn, I saw a car ahead of me pull off to the right rather than taking the ramp back to the road on the left.

The man stopped me and asked me if I was an American citizen. I said yes and he sent me on my way. That was it.

As I took the ramp back to the road on the left, I passed by the car on the right which was now being opened and unloaded by the driver who was decidedly not a pale hue.

Something about the whole incident felt not so fourth amendment compatible, but I'm not sure what I could have done differently.

New Mexico is still America, right?

When I got to Roswell, I discovered that even though the whole damn town is covered in little, green, big eyed, long faced aliens, their official motto is "Roswell, NM: Dairy Capital of the Southwest."

(Later I passed through Portales, NM.)

New Mexico is also the home to one great and one good television show: Breaking Bad (so great at being bad) and In Plain Sight (which was great before Joshua Malina left and they wrote in the whole stupid pregnancy story line).

Thankfully, during my time there, I neither found myself involved in a meth making operation nor witnessed a crime and joined the witness protection program. (I was, however, wary of every single chicken place I passed.)

Tomorrow I'm off to Oklahoma. Okay?


Odometer Start: 36441
Odometer End: 36923
Miles Driven Today: 482
Miles Driven Total: 3103
Today In/Around: Roswell, NM
Tomorrow: Cushing, OK
States Visited: 6 (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico)
Baked Items Keeping Me Company: 5
People I Met with a Connection to Portland: 1 (she was there for 12 years before moving to NM)
Alien Themed Whatnot in Roswell: Countless