Hola from Austin! We are taking a break in Austin. We both are spending quality time with our respective college friends. After a rather heavy lunch of piles of tortilla chips, fajitas and a wonderfully moist tres leches cake, my friend is comatose next to me. I have promised to make chai and wake her up. We totally reverted back to college days with trying on clothes in a store, eating, shopping, talking about life, plans, families etc etc.

On our several road trips back and forth between California and Texas, we always took I-40. We rather liked it, with its stunning views, quaint roadside shops and abundance of rest areas. The streach of I -10 between Arizona and Texas has been rather bland in comparison. The landscape did not change much. El Paso was very interesting. It was a bit bizarre to see Mexico-right there! The shanty slums across the street were Mexico. I couldn't help but wonder what goes through their minds as they watch the freeways and across the freeways the malls, the stores the comsumer glut.

Yesterday we stayed at Demings, New Mexico. A small one street town and that one street was called Motel Drive. We stayed in a Gujarti owned Best Western, with its "barely there" amneties and "could have been better" standards of cleanliness. Could have stayed at the one across the street that declared " American Owned and Operated"...I guess the Potels will have to wisen up if they want to keep business.

After leaving Chandler Arizona we took a short detour to see wild flowers in a national park. Beautiful yellow poppies and purple flowers whose names I forget at this moment growing wild and abundant amidst cactuses that were two stories high!

Tonight we plan to eat yet another heavy mexican dinner, sleep well, do our laundry at the friends place and head out again. We have been travelling eastwards on I-10 mostly all this while, now we will head north to our final destination, New York.