We were on the road early, about 7:30, and drove through miles of empty New Mexico.  Not quite empty:  there were a number of Indian reservations and Indian casinos.  We reached Albequerque about 10:30, parked near the central square, and Lydia poked around the shops while Sunny and I read the newspaper.

It was too early for lunch, so we drove farther, to Grants.  Lydia had picked a New Mexican restaurant with take out from the book, and we ordered stuffed sopapillas and chips and guacamole to go.  The map showed a nearby park, but it was not much:  the overgrown and apparently unused baseball park.  We just parked the car and ate in the car; then on the way out of town saw a far better park NOT on the map.

As we approached the state border we went through a series of storms:  at one point the rain was coming down so hard I could not see at all.  That was, fortunately, only a few seconds, although terrifying.  The rain more or less stopped when we got to the first Arizona rest area, a beautiful spot in a dramatic colored canyon.  We stopped, used the facilities, regrouped a bit.

We had originally planned to stop at Flagstaff but, with the time change, that seemed a little short so we went on to Williams.  For the first time, we were told that a motel was full.  We called another nearby motel, the Holiday Inn,and found a room.  For dinner we went to the Pine Country Inn, justly famous for its pie.  Lydia had a creamy Key Lime pie, and I had peach-apple-cherry.  Lydia made the better choice, but mine was also very good, and welcome at the end of a long day.