Day one: All nighter/ TX

 Since this is my first entry about my route 66 journey I would like to introduce you to myself and my friend Lea who is my partner in crime along the way. I recently graduated mortuary school and after two years of not having a single day off from work, school,  and my life in general I decided to take a month sabbical and journey out west. My hopes in doing this  is to find somewhere I could potentially move and settle down, and  also to fill my lifelong dream of traveling across the country down route 66, through the desert in the mountains, to the ocean and experience it all with no expectations. Lea is my ride or die, hence the title of the blog. She recently graduated from pharmacy school and before starting her life into adulthood  we decided to rent a Dodge Challenger and live care free.

Yesterday was her first day on the road, and after he picked up our challenger, which we have been calling baby, we drove for 16 hours straight. We werent particularly interested in the Midwest, and as we were driving through we realized we were justified in our decision. After all of the giant crosses and cum and go gas stations I was ready to be out of Oklahoma more than college.  When we finally got to the Panhandle of Texas around 6 AM we pulled in to the most perfect 1950s, side of the road motel off of Route 66.  We're both fans of supernatural and all we could think pulling in was --  we are totally Sam and Dean right now.  Before we got there we decided to drink an energy drink around 4 AM. I was totally slaphappy, and we would just feed off of each other's energy and laugh back-and-forth for literally no reason. It was one of the most childlike moments I've had in a long time. Unfortunately, on the drive up there was a lot of roadkill, we probably saw about seven or eight deer on the side of the road and several other animals. Anyways, I said to Lea at one point when we were in a dense area " I hope we don't hit a deer. "  and as soon as I said that a giant owl swooped down in front of our car as we were going around 80 mph and  she hit the brakes saying " I can't kill Hedwig dude,  that's like 10 years bad luck. " which is absolutely correct.  We ended up listening to a bunch of old 90s jams and I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the lyrics I remembered. I'm really sorry if none of you follow me on Snapchat. You missed out.

 After waking up this morning around 2 PM I felt sound enough to go out into the world and explore, since we are only about a half-mile away from the historical Conoco station we decide to walk down the highway.  When we got there the lady working was so  precious, she had southern hospitality down to a T. She handed us a map from our current location  she had southern hospitality down to a T. She handed us a map from our current location to the end of the route to the end of Texas and offered us free coffee and tea in the old diner area.  So I made myself a cup of tea and sat with Lea  so I made myself a cup of tea and sat with Lea and had the best conversation, we were the only people in the building and it was nice to just absorb all of the 1950s vibes. there was original route 66 memorabilia all around us, there was even an original  menu on display. The tower station was actually an old service station and diner that inspired the Disney movie Cars. The original tow truck  The original tow truck, "Mater" was sitting in the front.

It's been a really awesome and relaxing first day, especially after walking down the highway with no cars coming just enjoying Lea's company and watching the sunset. I can't wait for all of tomorrow's many adventures and sharing them with all of you.