Albuquerque

We've made our first stop on our 1400 mile journey to St. Louis- Albuquerque.

Yesterday was a very long day. A very very long day. I'll write about it later and spare you the details here, but suffice it to say we got to mom's house around 8pm filthy, exhausted, stressed out, and still in possession of the apartment on Monte Vista. We just got so behind there was no way we could do a final walkthrough, so that got added to today's plate of events.

 I had a hard time sleeping last night, after going to bed around midnight. Then, I got up at 6 AM and drove back from Awhatukee for the final cleaning and walkthrough at 7 AM. The apartment rep was nice, slightly early, and said we were good to go. Next stop was Tempe, where I picked up my old roommate Sal, who is also an architecture graduate student at ASU. We drove back to Ahwatukee, and mom made us all breakfast before we took off. Also, before we took off was the challenge of tranquilizing the cat. Our vet gave us some pills and told us to give her a quarter pill, up to twice a day, each one effective for 12 hours.

Once I got it down her, it was like we'd hit her with an elephant dart. Her eyes got really confused and sleepy, she staggered around, and rested frequently. I'd prepared a little "cat zone" in the back of the Prius with her big pillow, fresh water and food, and even her kitty litter box, but we were not even out of Phoenix before she somehow managed to jump out of the completely covered area and start making her way towards the front of the car, stumbling and sliding over the other baggage I'd stored in the backseat. She really wanted to sit in my lap, but Grandma Perkins grabbed her and held her in her lap for awhile. Finally Suki wandered into the backseat and attempted to climb into her kitty carrier, so we stopped for gas in Payson, I put her in the kitty carrier in the back seat with the door open and she quietly rested in there for the remainder of the trip. So much for the kitty class seating.

It was a beautiful drive out of Phoenix, up into Payson, but soon after we left the town, with Grandma behind the wheel, it started absolutely pouring like it does in AZ and visibility plummeted. We kept driving on slowly, keeping an eye out for cars ahead of us, and keeping a sharp eye out for our turn. When Saori and Sal came to the turn, the visibility was so poor they completely missed the sign and didn't realize after they had far passed it, so they had to detour by way of Show Low, which put them about an hour behind us.

We grabbed a bite at A&W in Holbrook, where we jointed I-40, and kept driving all the way to Albuquerque. Hit more downpours along the way, almost always the most severe weather while grandma was driving. Checked into our motel, and now I'm just waiting for Saori and Sal to arrive.

Tomorrow night: Oklahoma city.