Summer road trip
A few highlights from the cross-country sojourn (Seattle to San Antonio) in no particular order:
- Most surreal sign seen in several states: "High winds may exist" (tres existential)
- City along the route in which I'd most like to live: Seattle (duh)
- Surprisingly pleasant town despite horrific white power graffiti (misspelled, of course): Idaho Falls, ID
- Grimmest stretch of highway: I-10 between El Paso and San Antonio
- Worst hotel along the way: A very sketchy Red Lion in Post Falls, ID (courtesy of Priceline)
- Best hotel along the way: The El Dorado in Santa Fe, NM (courtesy of Priceline)
- Worst waiter in a chain or hotel restaurant: Tied between the jerk at the Cracker Barrel outside SLC who kept interrupting while we were having a "serious conversation" and the server at the Holiday Inn restaurant in El Paso who managed to mess up my order, forget our Tabasco sauce, and keep us waiting 20+ minutes for a replacement for my breakfast without really apologizing
- Longest day: Idaho Falls, ID to Cortez, CO
- Shortest day: Cortez, CO to Santa Fe, NM
- City whose adherence to adobe-looking structures is very cute at first but quickly grows on one's nerves: Santa Fe, NM
- Best food: The Shed in Santa Fe (OMG - the red sauce is amazing)
- Easiest way to distinguish between southern NM and western Texas: The preponderance of Texas state flags on cars, businesses, houses, etc.
- Most beautiful part of the country in which I'd prefer not to live: SE Utah
- Most surreal moment of the trip: Witnessing a margarita making class at the Holiday Inn Airport in El Paso, in which guests donned sombreros, danced around making their drinks, and then received certificates for their accomplishment