Albuquerque to Dallas.

Awesome drive from Albuquerque to Dallas. Yesterday was a long haul so we could stop early and relax on Easter. Yesterday Joey and I left Albuquerque, NM and drove to Dallas, TX. Heck of a drive but very scenic. The drive from Amarillo to Dallas was especially beautiful. Joey and I agree, we need to come back to Texas with a week or two just to see the sights. Here are some pics from our drive from Abq to Dallas.

Through some very poor preparation on my part we ran out of charged batteries for the camera after the Cadillac Ranch, west of Amarillo. After CR we visited the Big Texan Steak Ranch, normally I don't buy into hype, but this place does serve some awesome steak in our humble opinion. Joey had a brisket sandwich and I had the 21 ounce top sirloin. It is one of the best steaks I've ever had. We are definitely going back. We were so entranced with the food we forgot to take pictures. The staff was very courteous and the singing cowboy was a great addition.

After gorging ourselves in Amarillo we still had a drive to Dallas, only a few hundred miles southeast of Amarillo. Beautiful country out that way. Our only complaint is that it seemed as though at every rest area we stopped the restrooms were locked. Not so great for travelers without discipline. I drove through gently rolling greenery and trees while Joey slept most of the afternoon, he would wake long enough to see a new town or toss his Angry Bird at me.

By the time we reached our turn onto 380 at Decatur it was dark. Taking 380 was a huge mistake. I know it would have been longer going into Ft. Worth but the road construction caused us to become very close to oncoming traffic. The road way is usually 2 lanes in each direction with a nice median but with the construction 380 became a two lance highway with very narrow lanes, not so fun to navigate in the dark your first time in the area. Once we hit I-35 in Denton we headed south towards our hotel. It was several miles of awesome driving, It felt like I was in the bay area commuting again. Apparently 2030 is NOT the right time to be driving from Denton to Dallas on a Saturday night. I love the exit and on-ramp scheme in Texas. for the most part it is nice and easy even in crazy traffic. I notice that the further east we go the traffic is a wholly different type of crazy that we are used to out in the west. I flew right past the hotel it was literally right off the exit. I had to circle around to get back to it but it was a breeze after all that crazy.

Flat out Texas is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The stretch from Amarillo to Dallas is from dreams, I understand why Texans love this state so much.