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MeznG. In the air, on the road, river or sea again
What a beautiful morning. It was a warm night but the morning air is refreshing. It's still dark as we don our sneakers for a morning walk. By the time we are all set to go the sun is beginning to light up the ridge on the opposite side of the canyon. It's so peaceful and quiet. The only other sign of life we see is a young deer in amongst the bushes. We walk for about 40 minutes on the road and through the bush paths and watch as the sun reveals more of itself and the ridges over yonder. Back at camp we prepare breakfast, pretty much it's every man for himself. The boys put the coffee and the kettle on which is most important. Showered and ready to hit the road. Driving out of the canyon we get to take in more of its beauty and once back out onto he straight flat road, its hard to believe that it's there. On the agenda this morning is an RV Museum, the Big Texan Hotel, and as we leave Amarillo, the Cadillac Ranch. The RV museum is a good find. It's behind an RV dealership and in a huge shed there is a collection of a dozen types of caravan or motor home that have been restored to their former glory or in some cases they have been so well cared for, they are in original condition. Once again its fascinating to see what has been included in this collection and to read where it has come from. It was easily over an hour spent there and before we left we looked inside a brand new motor home worth around $400k, it was pure luxury. It was a house on wheels. We then looked in one that was being cleaned ready for sale. It was 7 years old but still in amazing condition. Everything you would need including dishwasher, big flat screen TV, leather seating and a queen size bed. Dream on, Harvey is our champion, we need not look any further. The Big Texan Hotel is next. It's like all things in Texas, its big and not meaning to offend but its somewhat gaudy and over the top. There is accommodation on site that look like old western saloons, especially the swing doors that go through to the bathroom. There are big statues and big signs. Down the back is a horse hotel. You can book lodging for your horse to stay just like you do. There is a lot of horse riding trails in Texas through the canyons and the cowboys do still ride horses on the ranches. In fact just down the road from where we are now there is the Head quarters of the American Quarter Horse Society and a history museum about the quarter horses. We decided earlier in fact yesterday that we would stop in at the Giant Texan to have drink. Because of the time, that has now become lunch......haven't got far today, anyone would think that we are on holidays! The experience at the Giant Texan had to be done, the food was good. The service not the best we have had by far. Heading out of Amarillo we pass the American Quarter Horse Society and take a drive by snap of the statues out the front depicting the horses at work roping the steers. Next is the Cadillac Ranch. There are 10 Cadillacs buried nose first into the ground and they have graffiti all over them.anyone that visits is encouraged to grab a can of paint in town and head on out and spray to your hearts content. All around is just dirt and dust and these brightly painted cars poking out if the ground in the middle of the paddock. We walk out to the cars and take a few photos and Glenn finds a can and starts to spray his name. We have all left our mark at the Cadillac Ranch in Texas. Onward now to Adrian, the midpoint of Route 66. We are half way! We stop for photos and souvenirs at the cafe and then back on the road. Our mission now is to find a laundry as we have accumulated a bit of washing after staying state parks for the last couple of nights and it would be good to wash the towels again. We say farewell to Texas at Glenrio and enter New Mexico. Glenrio actually straddles the border which is weird as here we also change time zones and we gain an hour. Just over the border is the New Mexico Tourist Information Centre. This is a good place to start our NM leg of the journey. Tucumcari is the next town on Route 66 , it has a few RV parks and a laundry so it might be a good place to call it stumps today........ No Way!,!,! We soon change our minds, we do however find a very large very clean laundry and proceed to do the washing. The boys are back in Harvey making coffee and afternoon tea and they bring it in and we enjoy it while watching the dryers go around. For the first time, the sky is looking a little ominous and a few miles down the road and it starts to rain. We are pressing on to Santa Rosa for the night and hopefully another quiet State Park. It's raining quite steadily now and if anything this will certainly freshen things up and settle the red dust. As we approach Santa Rosa, it looks like a very nice town, quite a step up from poor old Tucumcari. Santa Rosa Lake State Park is not far from the town and sounds like a good option provided we can get in. This time there is no Ranger and its pretty much an honesty system. You can chose your campsite as long as it doesn't have a red reserved sign on it and you pay by putting your money in the box at the notice board. We have a nice spot and settle in for a drink or 2 at the sheltered outdoor table before dinner. It's not long until the mossies arrive so we retreat inside. After dinner it's photo time, a bit of planning for tomorrow before bed. Just for something completely different tonight we sleep with the air conditioner on but also the sound of rain on the roof. It makes a very pleasant change. Goodnight Harvey xx
- comments
Deb Clearly untapped artistic talent here!!!
Meredith Hammond Mmmmm, that's debatable Deb