This is why we are traveling, searching for places like this. Palo Duro Canyon, about 30 miles from Amarillo, Texas.
Hi everyone! It's been quite a while since our last post. We spent the winter at home, enjoying our family and Rog has started working on his 1956 GMC pickup again! Hope to have that on the road by later this year. Which would be really exciting.
We left Elkhart a week ago Monday. This is a big trip. Over 7000 miles round trip. Very exciting stuff.
Our first stop was Casey, Illinois. Not much there, unless you want to see the world's largest golf tee or wind chime. Sorry, we didn't, so no pics here.
Next was Springfield, Missouri, but we can't forget to mention our drive around St Louis. Oh my! We got caught in that nasty weather that has been plaguing the Midwest. VERY strong thunderstorms. We were on I270 on the far west side, when the freeway traffic actually stopped in the driving lanes. Which we've never experienced before. It was a good thing though, no pile ups, just couldn't see because of the heavy rain, day turned into night. In Springfield, we stayed at a real nice KOA just off I44. This campground will actually cook and deliver pizza to you.
It was great and we enjoyed our evening. We originally planned to stay two nights here. However, we had been watching the weather and we saw some more strong storms were headed in the general direction. So, packed up and headed out the next day for El Reno, just West of Oklahoma City. Have to tell you a funny story though about this day though. We were on the Oklahoma toll road. Stopped at a fuel/rest area to fill up. I went in and paid and ran to the restroom. We were trying to make good time and miss these storms. We were back on the road again and about half hour later we stopped to pay the toll. I looked at my wallet and my credit card wasn't there! I felt my stomach do flip flops. I almost started to cry, because, I was sure I'd left my card at that gas station. And we are on a toll road and you just can't turn around and go back! It was not a good experience,,,then,,,I felt something in the pocket of my shorts,,it was my card! Hallelujah! (note to self, always put away your card). Anyway, El Reno isn't much. But there was a tourist attraction at the exit and we checked it out.
This was a mural commemorating the Trail of Tears.
We avoided some nasty storms that day. Tornadoes hit that night about 40 miles north of El Reno. We felt the nasty wind and got rocked around a bit but nothing more.
Next day we headed to Amarillo, Texas. We were staying at the Amarillo RV ranch. It was great, they had a indoor pool and hot tub, which we used twice. Felt wonderful after spending 3 days sitting in a truck for 8 hours a day. We were there two nights.
First day we went in search of Palo Duro Canyon State Park.
Wouldn't you like to chill out here?
This was called light house rock.
This canyon is the 2nd largest canyon in the United States, next to the Grand Canyon. It's 700 feet deep and 120 miles long.
Visitors center on the rim of the canyon.
See that black hole in the center? We climbed up into that.
There's a really nice campground down in the bottom of the campground. This was truly a beautiful place and we wouldn't mind going back there someday.
That night we decided to splurge and eat out. Just off the I40 is the Big Texan Steak House.
The food was amazing. Don't think I've ever had a steak so good. I didn't eat the peppers, Rog tried one and was feeling the burn for hours.
We were serenaded by two cowboys.
That's the bar, over the top!
These are the other locals in the bar :)
Now, that's a moose.
It was quite a festive place and the food was fabulous. Great day all around.
Next day, it's off to Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. Great location. We were a little anxious though, because this Famcamp doesn't take reservations. So, we kept calling while we were on the road to see if they still had sites left. We made it, but we did watch people circling the campground other nights looking for sites. We were here three nights. First full day there, we were feeling the need for a walk, so we went in search of the Rio Grande nature trail. Wow, what a let down. Other than the walk and we spotted a Great Horned Owl.
Boring Rio Grande River.
Isn't he amazing? He was about 3 foot tall.
Rog got some great shots of the mountains around the family camp and sunsets.
Next day we were off to Old Town Albuquerque. What a great find. Highly recommend this as a stop for anyone in the area. We visited a 300 year old church.
Next we headed over to the town square shops.
We wondered through them and came across one shop that caught our eye.
This is Chimney Butte, full blood Comanche Indian. He's a jewelry artist, mostly turquoise and silver. He also sells native American paintings and pottery. Rog spoiled me and bought me some new earrings and a necklace :)
Some of the shops around the town square.
These three men were playing guitar, and pan flutes. It was beautiful.
After about 2 hours we needed to go move our truck because we were in a 2 hour parking zone. So, Rog moved it across the street, got out and realized he needed to move it back a couple feet. Well,,,guess what, it wouldn't start! He checked the batteries, they were fine, you could tell we had power, because windows worked, etc. Rog was pretty sure it was the key fob. So, here we are, about 15 miles from our rv. No spare key, because we left it in Elkhart. I google a Dodge dealer. Rog talks to the service department, to see if they'll send someone out. I go in search of a police officer to see if they know a local person that can help. The Dodge dealer says the vehicle has to be brought in. They recommend a tow company. We call the tow company and they say our motor club has to put in the request. Now we call Allstate Motor Club. In the meantime. The policeman, and a couple local folks are stopping and making suggestions, trying to be helpful. Rog is talking to the rep from Allstate. She was definitely not from America. We could not understand her. After several minutes I finally was able to get her to tell me slow enough that we would receive a text with an ETA on the tow truck and a phone number for the company. The text comes and says 5 minutes, 10 minutes goes by no tow truck. So I call the number on the text and they say they told Allstate it would be an hour! So, we sit and wait. Right about the time the tow does arrive, one of the local people got the driver of the car that was parked in front of us to move her car so that the tow truck could put down the bed to load our truck up. Otherwise it would have been next of impossible to do so. We were really grateful for him doing that for us. The driver of the tow truck, asks us where we are going with our truck. We tell him and he says, do you know there is a Dodge dealer just outside the AFB and he knows the service dept is good. We were very thankful for Felipe (Freddie) telling us that. He made room for us in his tow truck. We called the different dealer and they said, "Bring it in we will take care of you". On the way there we heard all about Freddie's granddaughters and recommendations on restaurants. Great guy. Once we got to Smith Dodge, we were in and out in an hour! It was the wireless control module, not the key fob, but close. What amazing service. What amazingly nice people!
Today, we headed toward Sedona, we are in Munds Park, Arizona now. Here are some pictures from our drive between NM and Arizona.
Take care everyone!
Nice! Hope you have a good time in Arizona!
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