tp:  We woke up with the realization that we would be crossing into mountain time, and therefore gaining an extra hour.  What we didn’t learn until much later in the day is that Arizona doesn’t observe daylight savings, so we actually gained 2 hours today!  After a further 2 hours of driving west in Texas (passing a rest stop with wireless internet) we finally left the lone star state and entered New Mexico.  Apparently, there is a (somewhat) chain of rest stops that sell a collection of kitsch, candy, gas, and fireworks.  Immediately after entering NM, we drove past a sequence of 20 or so billboards talking about the first one, and we decided to stop.  We were hoping for some real weird purchasing opportunities but it was universal tourist trap fare.  We bought some postcards and headed out.  Of note, immediately after leaving, we saw billboards for The Thing?, destination, 150 miles.  These lasted well until we got into Arizona and finally passed the actual place.  We were hoping for something awesome but it was again one of these lame rest areas, so we didn’t stop.  Today’s drive consisted primarily of seeing changes of scenery.  We started in the low hills of Texas, got into larger plateau country in NM, and the more desert/mountainous country in Arizona.  Also, we crossed the Continental Divide (totally awesome) and saw a ghost town (boring) and saw a flash flood on the highway (raditude).  The extra hours we gained meant that we got in to our hotel around 6pm, with the whole night ahead of us.  Priceline wins again, and we had extremely comfortable accommodations for only $40.  After swimming in the pool (high 80’s, at least) we went out to dinner with Amanda Barones from Skidmore and her room mate Misty.  The food was great, both in taste and quantity.  We caught up on old times and then went over their apartment to meet Riley the dog, an 8-month old g. retriever.  Tomorrow we will be near the Grand Canyon.  The plan is to make it to see sunset. over the canyon, and then hike on Sunday.  Depending on our internet, we might not be able to post until next week sometime, so ttyl!

ef: tim forgot to mention amanda’s cat, blaze. i don’t have much to add other than to say it was a long day of driving, and i’m glad we won’t be doing one of those for a few more days. tomorrow we’re meeting with a childhood friend of mine, dave belden, for some lunch before heading out. also of note, we’ve got some awesome panoramic photos (check out “austin4” the photo page), and many more on the way thanks to a great photo stitching program. ok, that’s it, goodbye.