June 15, 2004

Oklahoma to New Mexico

On Monday, June 14, after catching up on some sleep, I hit the road again. The land gets flatter and drier at that point, the wind more prominent. I stopped in Clinton, OK, toured the Route 66 Museum, then had dinner at a diner that hasn't changed much over the years. In another chance encounter, I met a woman named Retta Alexander who was driving her deep blue 2002 Toyota Prius from California to Missouri and getting fantastic gas mileage with it. She'd parked her car next to mine. Cuz you know what they say: Mpg loves company. ;->

Later in the evening I crossed the border into Texas, and the land grew lonelier still. I stopped briefly in McLean, Texas, a high point on Route 66 back in the old days. A couple of cowboys had some questions about the hybrid.

I spent Monday night in Amarillo. Tuesday morning, June 15, I dropped in on the local ABC affiliate tv station, introduced the car, and landed an evening news story about the clean energy hybrid tours. Then it was on to eastern New Mexico, a flatter, drier, and wilder landscape still. Stopping at Rubee's Diner in Tucumcari, I learned it was 107 degrees--certifiably "hot", y'all! The car was also battling a fierce headwind, and the elevation change was noticeable--from about 1,000 feet in OK City up to 6,000 feet by the time I reached Santa Rosa, NM. Gas mileage did decline under those harsh conditions (I'd been getting 49-51 mpg from St. Louis to Oklahoma City), but still, that reliable fuel-efficient technology racked up an impressive 41.7 miles per gallon from Oklahoma City to Albuquerque. And the car never missed a beat.

I was, nevertheless, happy to see the Sandia Mountains rise up from the desert, signalling Albuquerque on the other side, and the end of my wonderful journey on the Route 66 Hybrid Evolution Tour.

-- Jill