Six hours to Amarillo, which Corinne insists on calling Armadillo. Big thunder and lightening as we start out.
Black-Eyed Susans line the highway. Very dramatic.
I'll bet all that brown grass is grateful for the rain. We're told it's unusual for rain in OK in July. That's usually when the farmers make hay.
Tent caterpillars freak me out. They are gross and scary, for some reason, like an alien force taking over a tree and consuming it.
We see an oil well, but it is not pumping.
Oklahoma City is called Rocktown or Bricktown, yet the roads on I-40 are in terrible shape.
There is a controlled burn of a field on Mile 117. The soil is very red all of a sudden.
In Weatherford, OK, we see a wind farm with over 100 windmills. It is a beautiful sight, but very other-worldly.
A cattle truck from Amarillo rides alongside us for several miles.
THINGS THAT SURPRISE US: In TX, the signs say: Share the Road with Motorcycles.
There are no slowdowns around construction sights.
We see the largest cross in the Western hemisphere.
There is a water tower about to topple over. We call it "The Leaning Tower of Water" (this is how we entertain ourselves on the road!)
SPECIAL EVENT: We go to dinner at The Big Texas. Great food. Three elderly cowboys, fully decked out, playing fiddle, guitar, and bass, serenade the guests.
Five people are trying to get a free 72 oz. steak by eating it, along with a baked potato, 3 shrimp, salad and a roll within one hour. Everyone gathers around to photograph the contest and watch.
None of them make it. We hear one young man "losing it" in the bathroom shortly thereafter. The third woman in 3 years is among today's contestants. If they don't eat it all, they have to pay $1/oz. for the steak.
Going uphill over a bump, our RV engine kicks out of Cruise Control and stalls.
Showing posts with label TX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TX. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Day 16 - Sunday, 7/5/09 - ON THE ROAD
Heading back to Dallas. We stop at the Historic Farnthorpe Inn, a stagecoach inn from the 1880's, in Anderson, TX. The stagecoach is not running today, but the Ranger gives us a guided tour of the Inn, which includes all the furnishings and acoutrements that a traveler would have needed in those days.
We climb up in the stagecoach. Before we leave, the Ranger gives us a simulated demonstration of how it would have felt to be inside the stagecoach on a bumpy road. Cool! A step back in time.
There is a short-lived dramatic thunderstorm as we are driving, with booming thunder and huge lightening. The temperature drops in a matter of moments from 103 to 76 degrees. What a relief. There are huge thunderheads and frightening winds, though.
We pass lots of cattle ranches which have very interesting and unique entry gates. Each one tries to be more ornate or artistic than the next.
We climb up in the stagecoach. Before we leave, the Ranger gives us a simulated demonstration of how it would have felt to be inside the stagecoach on a bumpy road. Cool! A step back in time.
There is a short-lived dramatic thunderstorm as we are driving, with booming thunder and huge lightening. The temperature drops in a matter of moments from 103 to 76 degrees. What a relief. There are huge thunderheads and frightening winds, though.
We pass lots of cattle ranches which have very interesting and unique entry gates. Each one tries to be more ornate or artistic than the next.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Day 15 - Saturday, 7/4/09 - SETTLED
More smoothies! This time Corinne gets one. Delish!
We've been on the road more than two weeks now! We miss all our friends and family.
In the evening we meet Bob's friend from the Air Force, Johnnie Warner. He has not seen him since 1965. Johnnie brings his wife Elizabeth, who is very personable. Johnnie is just the same, with his characteristic expression: "Gollee!"
They treat us to a Tex-Mex dinner and then to the Texas Opry in Magnolia, TX. They are regulars once a month and this is the Fourth of July Special Celebration. All is decked out in flags and most of the patrons as well as the singers are wearing red, white and blue.
The Opry is very cool. A DVD is filmed and Johnnie will be mailing it to us. All patriotic songs, or songs about the states. Very moving, actually. Bob jokes: "I'll make a conservative out of you yet!" Yeah, right!
We are treated to home-made apple pie at the Opry. We get one of the last remaining pieces.
There were very limited fireworks here last night because the area is in a drought and overhead fireworks were forbidden, although a few snuck through.
Good show, good times, and good friends that Bob hasn't seen in 44 years.
Tomorrow we head back to Dallas for an overnight to help my mother-in-law Ruth Stern with some more paperwork and have dinner with Uncle Arthur and Aunt Helen Stern.
We've been on the road more than two weeks now! We miss all our friends and family.
In the evening we meet Bob's friend from the Air Force, Johnnie Warner. He has not seen him since 1965. Johnnie brings his wife Elizabeth, who is very personable. Johnnie is just the same, with his characteristic expression: "Gollee!"
They treat us to a Tex-Mex dinner and then to the Texas Opry in Magnolia, TX. They are regulars once a month and this is the Fourth of July Special Celebration. All is decked out in flags and most of the patrons as well as the singers are wearing red, white and blue.
The Opry is very cool. A DVD is filmed and Johnnie will be mailing it to us. All patriotic songs, or songs about the states. Very moving, actually. Bob jokes: "I'll make a conservative out of you yet!" Yeah, right!
We are treated to home-made apple pie at the Opry. We get one of the last remaining pieces.
There were very limited fireworks here last night because the area is in a drought and overhead fireworks were forbidden, although a few snuck through.
Good show, good times, and good friends that Bob hasn't seen in 44 years.
Tomorrow we head back to Dallas for an overnight to help my mother-in-law Ruth Stern with some more paperwork and have dinner with Uncle Arthur and Aunt Helen Stern.
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