Road Trip Day 1--Canyon Country, CA to Santa Rosa, NM

The tally for today's mileage is 889 miles. It was a long haul today but I am more than half way to Idabel, OK where I hope to arrive tomorrow. This is the second time that I have traveled I-40. This morning I left my apartment at about 4:30 and arrived here in New Mexico at 6:30 Mountain Time.
I made brief stops in ???Springs,Needles, Flagstaff and Grants. I passed the time by listening to Conception by Kalisha Buckhanon. I like to listen to audio books that are outside my usual genre selections. Conception was interesting. The story follows the soul of the fetus and the life of the her 15 year old inner-city Chicago mother. Although this is the 4th conception of the soul, she has never been successfully birthed. The concept was very interesting and intriguing.
I began to feel fairly loopey at the end of the day so I pulled in to Santa Rosa and got a motel for the night. I was pretty hungry after I checked in. While I was updating my mom, I scoped out what was available. About 50 feet up the street was Long John Silvers and KFC. Across the 4 lane road was the Route 66 Cafe, down the road about 300 feet was McDonald's. At first I decided on KFC because it was the closest and they have a low calorie pulled chicken BBQ sandwich. I ordered the sandwich but when they made it I realized that it was fried chicken pieces soaked in BBQ sauce. Huh? The option was no longer low calorie so I asked for a refund. I decided to jog across the street to the cafe. I chose the red chili with tortilla without much hope. After my first bite, I was so glad that the KFC sandwich turned out to be a dud. This chili was fantastic, the heat caught me off guard at first but in the end, I was sold. I told the waitress that I loved the chili. She said that she would tell Grandma that I like the chili. Grandma? I asked. Yes, Grandma that I saw crocheting a lace doily when I arrived is the chili cook. Grandma worked magic with her chili as certainly only grandmas can! If you are ever in Santa Rosa, New Mexico I recommend Grandma's chili but be prepared for a decent bite.