I wish I could dictate these entries from behind the wheel

The days are long and tiring and it's hard to muster the energy to write once we arrive at our nightly destination.    Marc has us staying at Marriotts (Fairfield Inn/Courtyard) throughout the trip which are very nice, clean and corporate.  They're blending together in my mind so I'm now confused on where I am (wait -- Amarillo, Texas.  I had a burger for dinner.).

I start each day with breakfast and a trip to the fitness room which is followed by hours of driving while munching on leftover odds and ends from my pantry as well as sucking down diet dr. pepper and coffee drinks from various Phillips 66's throughout the Western states.  We actually had a sit-down lunch today in Rio Rancho, NM (A town we selected because of the decade of commercials for the community that flooded the NYC television market during our formative years, causing us both adolescent moments of wanting to move there.).

Thoughts and emotions flow erratically as I drive.  Bruneau Dunes -- why didn't I go back there before I left?  It's been 15 years . . . .  What should I include in my upcoming Judaism and Healing class I'm teaching in Bethesda? . . . . How could I have forgotten to get the cruise control fixed before driving 3000 miles?  Am I a complete idiot or what? . . . . . Hey - on Talk of the Nation he's saying, "Here in D.C. . . . "  That will be me soon! . . . . How could they have stopped teaching cursive in schools?  Kids don't know how to sign their own names?  We're going down the tubes . . . . Kashi's Dark Mocha Almond bars are not as good as they sound. . . . . What am I doing?  What if I never find rabbinic work?  What if my life turns out to be a disaster? . . . . I wish they didn't change the name of the Gear Jammer (Mountain Home) to Pilot Travel Center after it burnt to the ground.  I like saying "Gear Jammer."  . . . . Can I really do this drive without cruise control?  What an idiot. . . . .  and so on. . .  . 

Sudden flashes of grief:

"I'll never use these car radio presets again.  This car will never return to Boise."

"Which podcasts will I listen to on my drive back?  Oh, wait.  I'm not driving back."

PHOTOS:

Farmington, New Mexico

The following were taken in Tucumcari, New Mexico along the old Chicago to Los Angeles Route 66 corridor.  Once a proud 20th century by-way nicknamed "America's Main Street," Rt. 66 now amounts to a very long ghost town.  Officially closed in 1985, it is now a string of decimated gas stations, restaurants and shops.

Our dinner plans foiled by an out-of-business cafe

Adrian, TX

Adrian, TX

Our journey continues tomorrow:  on to Muskogee, Oklahoma!