Driving Coast to Coast Again - Pt. 1

When we got the date for my granddaughter Allison’s graduation party in Florida I decided that I would drive again and do other things while on the road. Ken and Kristy have been inviting me to visit when they were at their place in Ruidoso and it worked out that they would be there over Memorial Day Weekend and that would be perfect timing on this trip. Stayed the first night on the road in Flagstaff as I often do and had a breakfast burrito at an Irish pub for dinner. That makes sense right? 😂 

The next day I stopped at a couple of old Route 66 landmarks that I wanted pictures of and then at Holbrook got off I 40 to drive across Arizona and New Mexico on roads I haven’t been on before. I wanted to stop in Pie Town New Mexico and get a New Mexico apple pie to bring to Ruidoso. Apple pie with green chilies and piñon nuts baked into it. 

Then it was a great few days in Ruidoso hanging out with Kristy and Ken and meeting some of their friends. A day on the golf course, a couple of barbecues, buffet at Inn of the Mountain Gods and Taco Tuesday among other things. It was a fun and relaxing time before hitting the road again. 

While in Ruidoso my blood pressure went out of control. Ken and Kristy came home from golfing and noticed my eye was very red. I checked my BP and it was really high. I tracked it the rest of the weekend and decided I’d better go to the VA in Alamogordo on Tuesday. I got put on BP medicine and need to follow up with my doctor back home as well as monitoring it the rest of the trip. 

Next Stop - Athens, Georgia 

Clarence’s 70th

Plans were tentative when I arrived in Athens because Clarence wasn’t sure what his plans for his birthday were. We went to Ted’s and Old Pal and when he went to work the next day I went for a hot humid run. We plannned to go to Charleston South Carolina for a few days before Florida and just hadn’t decided what day yet. 

I knew that I wanted to run a race in Atlanta on Saturday morning and knew we wouldn’t leave until after the race. I made plans to meet Shaniqua Gonzales one of my former runners if her schedule allowed. It did and she and her fiancé showed up and did the race. It was fun reconnecting and hanging out for a while.