Sept 14, Tuesday Moving day . . . leaving Santa Fe and heading east for the first time! Our destination today is only 275 miles away – Amarillo, Texas. We started on famous Route 66 for about 10 miles! It didn’t take us long to drive out of the mountains and onto high grassland plains, with visions of the peaks diminishing in the rear-view mirror. At some point we realized we were on a tall, flat mesa as we reached the edge and came off a steep, curving, road down into a valley. Today marks the 14th day that we have been away, and we have about 10 days left in our trip! There are still many hot spots that we are excited to visit! At 2:00 we crossed a time zone into the State of Texas. The time zone changes going home take an hour off our day! Off and on we followed along beside US Route 66; it is not a straight-thru route any more and just bits and pieces of it exist out here. But, we did veer off Interstate 40 long enough to get a few pictures of MIDPOINT -- the half-way point of Route 66 from start to end . . . Chicago to LA. The location of this mid-point is pretty desolate. The scenery really flattened out as we approached Amarillo – talk about a “big sky!” We pulled into our campground, The Big Texan RV Ranch, at 3:00. Right beside the highway, basically a graveled campsite with no shade. With temperatures at 92 we knew that it would take hours for the trailer to cool off . . . and there was not even a piece of shade to sit comfortably outside while we waited. We “whined” a bit at the front office and got a full refund, and went to a hotel less than a mile away. Just a few dollars more! Well, the hotel was not an easy alternative – you have to pack up whatever you want to take into the room . . . in plastic bags! Otherwise, the room was comfortable, and we were able to adjust our plans. We had planned to stay in Amarillo two nights, but we only thought we could stand one in a hotel! We looked ahead to our next stop at Red Rock Canyon, and were able to book our same campsite . . . a day early! We settled into the hotel and headed for dinner at The Big Texan. More than just a restaurant, it is just a fun place, and it was already hopping with a 30 minute wait at 6:00! It is most famous for it’s FREE steak dinner . . . if you eat the whole meal and 72oz steak! Tom managed the 12 oz ribeye and I had ribs. Two roving singers came up to our table and asked us for a request. One of them played the fiddle, and I asked for “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” thinking they would have to decline that one! What a treat when they lit into their own arrangement complete with the great fiddle dual with the devill! Back at the hotel we had to make a couple more trips to get everything out of the Silvermine that we needed . . . note to self: pack an empty duffle bag in the Silvermine for times like this! The best thing about the hotel was being able to give Pippa Joy a bath. It has been two weeks, and at the last campground she had accumulated a layer of fine dirt.
1 Comment
Michael Miller
9/16/2021 05:36:16 am
That Texas sun is a beast.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |