This image popped up on my coloring app, and I knew I had to color it, and report the memory it inspired.
Jim and I took a trip out west in April 1986. We flew to Albuquerque, spent a couple of days there and in other parts of New Mexico and Utah, drove to Gallup and stayed overnight, and then hit the road to Flagstaff. We were taking I-40 across, which is the old U.S. Route 66.
Growing up in Ohio, my world was always green, unless it was winter, and then it was white. After a few days out west, the amount of brown totally displaced me. There was so little green, and the large, vast landscapes were beautiful, but foreign. I felt out of sorts and sad. I realized I was homesick.
At that time I recalled that when our family traveled, my dad never wanted to go into random restaurants. We had to go to trusted chains where we knew what we were getting. I realized that while in New Mexico we had tried a lot of different cuisine, and I was ready for something familiar. I knew that could set me right.
In some unknown Arizona town we found a Denny’s. I have no idea what I ate there, but I do know it set me right. We continued our trip to the Petrified Forest and beyond, and the rest of the trip was full of amazing discoveries and delicious local food.
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| Feeling fine in the Petrified Forest, April 1986 |
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