Day 2.31: Lubbock, TX to Austin, TX

We woke up at 8:15am to begrudgingly head downstairs to work out, taking advantage of the late weekday breakfast until 10am to not have to start so early or take breakfast up to the room. Since we were back in Texas, Abe got to make a Texas-shaped waffle, and he accidentally combined the original batter and the maple cinnamon batter, which proved tasty, inspiring Arielle to make two little mini maple cinnamon waffles. Abe made a peanut butter and banana sandwich to take for lunch, and Arielle toasted an English muffin to have with butter and jam. They also had hot chocolate, which Abe took for the road.

We loaded up the car and hit the road for our last big drive for a while: six or so hours to Austin. We sat on the phone for a very long time talking to Toyota to try to schedule an appointment to get our Bluetooth looked at and replaced in Austin. For those of you keeping score at home, we are still dealing with that. Upon entering the Austin city limits, we drove straight to Coffee Bean, where he was ecstatic to be able to get an ice blended chai (even if they don’t use the app in Texas).

We did hit a lot of traffic getting into the city even though it was well before rush hour should have started, making us wonder if it was worse than LA. We unloaded almost all of our stuff and checked in to the WoodSpring Suites Signature Austin South Central for our eleven-night reservation, finding a relatively basic room that seemed decent enough.

We drove to meet our friends Naomi and Avi at Kerbey Lane Café. We started with their famous queso before Arielle once again got the Huevos Motulenos she had previously tried in Santa Fe (with vegan chorizo subbed in for the pork) and Abe got the fried avocado tacos. We had a nice time and it was good to see these friends.

We stopped at Texas supermarket chain HEB on the way home, purchasing some ice cream and other breakfast and lunch food for the coming week. Back at the hotel, Arielle packed for her impending departure to Los Angeles and we went to sleep.

Approximate number of miles covered: 396

Day 2.30: Albuquerque, NM to Lubbock, TX

We got up in time to go snag a number of breakfast items and precariously carry them back to the room together.

We went to work out only to find the machine Abe used the day before marked “out of order” and the one Arielle used still broken, and so we tried the elliptical (Arielle) and a bike (Abe). The manager at the front desk was very nice and accommodating when we shared our frustration, making us more likely to return to this hotel. We packed up and drove to the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, which we had seen advertised on the way in on Sunday. Arielle and her family have always had a thing for hot air balloons, and they attended the 2010 Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque so she was excited to see what the museum had to offer. The museum was pretty small but offered a comprehensive history of lighter-than-air travel, and Arielle even got to tag along on a children’s tour. We got to simulate taking off in a balloon but couldn’t figure out how to land on the target. We spent about an hour and a half there and Arielle especially loved the gift shop, which had all balloon things.

We drove only about an hour until Abe was puzzled by why some of the trees and bushes on the side of the road looked white, and we realized it was snow. The temperature dropped to 28 degrees but rose back up to 44 as we continued.

Along our drive, we saw a very long train about to cross the road and opted to make a bathroom stop. On our way back to the car, we saw that we were leaving the hilariously-named Texico, New Mexico. Seconds later, we crossed into Texas, though it took about two miles for us to see a grand welcome sign, which we weren’t sure we’d see at all since we weren’t traveling on a major interstate highway. We smelled some strange things and witnessed a beautiful sunset as we drove through rural Texas on the way to Lubbock.

We arrived at the Comfort Suites University Lubbock around 7:30pm (after losing an hour on the road because of the time difference). Arielle described the hotel as a nicer but less modern version of the Hyatt Place, and our room was spacious with a nice living area. We dropped our bags and drove straight to dinner at the top-rated dinner restaurant on TripAdvisor in Lubbock, Italian Garden. Though the air in the town smelled like manure on the street where the restaurant was located, the interior smelled fine and looked a bit like a fancy sports bar. The heat apparently wasn’t working so we kept our coats on and ordered our food. Arielle described the minestrone as tasting like Progresso (meant as a compliment!) and we enjoyed the garlic bread even though it wasn’t garlicky and had cheese in it. Our two entrees, which we shared, were absolutely delicious, the fettucine alfredo and penne alla vodka (hold the bacon). It was a lot of food and a reasonable price – we would definitely recommend this place. It’s number one for a reason!

We left the relatively abandoned area where the restaurant was and drove back about ten minutes to the hotel. We did some work and then went down to experience what may well have been the deepest hot tub we’ve ever been in.

Approximate number of miles covered: 343