May We Recommend The Lake City Diner?

Our current location is Albuquerque, New Mexico, relaxing at the Days Inn. I'm feeling quite a bit less sick that I was when our trip began six days ago...antibiotics are a wonderful thing. Pixel and I are still friends, despite a few of our habits occasionally annoying each other: he tends to chew with his mouth open, and I tend to have the radio turned too loud.

Still, we're having quite a bit of fun.

Missouri was nice, and Oklahoma was very scenic, but what we were both really looking forward to and enjoying the most is the desert scenery of the southwestern United States. We've both seen open fields and forests before, so going into an arid environment where tall trees are a rarity and cacti are the most common form of flora was a real treat. The vistas of New Mexico are breathtakingly open and beautiful - we spend the better part of our afternoon exploring a very old, defunct section of Route 66 - originally it climbed a rather large mountain in a series of rather perilous hairpin curves. The road had been completely decimated over time - it's now more loose boulders and and old pieces of wood than actual "road". The VUE wasn't up to the task of going to far, so we got out and hoofed it about halfway up the mountain to take pictures. The pictures we got from the top don't do the view justice...it was truly a gorgeous sight of uncultivated pulchritude.

Searching for a good place to eat in Santa Rosa last night, we stumbled across the Lake City Diner, an unexpectedly wonderful place to eat in town. The building was originally constructed in 1901 and was the home of the First National Bank of Santa Rosa until the 1950's. Our waiter was a very nice, perky lady named Lexi, who served us a delicious meal while offering mirthfully irreverent conversation. If you're ever in Santa Rosa and looking for a place to eat, it's an awesome experience.

As we left the city the next day, we stopped at a site recommended by several residents of the city, the "Blue Hole", an 80-foot deep natural sinkhole with a fresh water spring at the bottom, used as a swimming hole by the local populous. The water is an alluring azure color, and just begs you to dive in. Thing is, it's cold. 61 degrees Fahrenheit year round. We snapped a few photos of the area surrounding the pool, while I contemplated what swimming in such a pool would be like. Pixel didn't want to jump in, but I grabbed my suit and went off the high dive.

Two thoughts ran through my mind as I fell towards the water. 1) I really dislike the sensation of falling. Two: It would be most unfortunate to get a cramp while in the middle of a 60 foot pool, 80 feet deep.

Turns out, I needn't have worried about cramps, although the shock of diving into 61-degree water is something that has to be experienced to be believed. My breath was immediately sucked out of my lungs as I forced myself to tread water over an 80-foot water-filled sinkhole. It took like five minutes to get used to the temperature of the water, though it wasn't so bad after that. The water is so clear that it distorts your view of the bottom in a rather startling way...what looks like maybe five feet below you is actually eighteen feet below you - good to know if you're trying to touch the bottom.

Anyways, tomorrow we're setting out for the last leg of the New Mexico trip, and we'll be heading in Arizona, or at least close to the border, by the end of the day.

Exit, stage left.
Sparks