Day Two Was a Shorter Travel Day.

Thursday, April 20, 2023

As I mentioned in our last post we had a slight delay to our day while Tom changed a latch on one of our compartment doors. Luckily he carries a couple of spares and he was able to get it changed out in no time. So after about a 100 minute delay we were on our way heading East on US-54. For the most part the wind was not to bad but from what you will see in the pictures below today's ride was along wide open spaces and as the song from the Musical  Oklahoma says, "where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain". After 144 miles, short day today, we are at a Walmart in Guymon, OK and I had to get at least part of the lyrics in the blog...lol As always I took way to many pictures and after deleting several times this is what is left. Today's route was entirely on US-54 going East. 

Our stop for tonight.

This is where we spent last night. A decent one night stop.
It really has the potential to be more than it is. All the sights
are pull throughs with cement slabs and full hookups. It just
 needs some tender loving care and it is to bad it is not getting it.

We are finally moving after our slight delay.

I saw several windmills today.
I always enjoy seeing these as we travel along.

I started taking pictures of trees.
I do love all the different shapes and sizes.
No I am not going to make you look at all of them.

I have mentioned before in the blog we very seldom pass

anyone and if we do I take a picture of the event.

Today we passed a train.

There was not much left of Nara Visa, NM.

The dark stripe is a green field in the distance.

I just liked how the road curved in front of us.

We have crossed into Texas

and look at the beautiful road ahead of us. 
There were passing lanes every four miles.

Another train going west

and it seemed to stretch out forever.

What can I say but I needed to include a Texas tree
and I really liked this one.

More fields including a  green one in the distance.

We saw a lot of these today and again even though I 
took a picture of every  one we saw they are not all here.

Passing through Dalhart, TX

Then there they were, several Longhorns, and I almost missed
them. The ranch had several grazing near the road for us
tourist to take pictures of. Now that may not be true but it is
my belief and I am sticking to it....lol 😊

Just liked the look ahead.

We did see several trains today...:)

This cowboy looked like he had been 
protecting his land for awhile.

We are driving through Stratford, TX

Wind turbines and green fields.

Texhoma, TX

We crossed into Oklahoma and the roads changed from 

smooth to rough but the scenery did not.

One last train picture for today and some Oklahoma trees.
There had to be an Oklahoma tree...lol

A quick look at Oklahoma's part of US-54.
Though we are on four lanes and there were some smooth areas.

This is the sign for Oklahoma Panhandle University. I wanted
the picture because of the cowboy on top and then the truck
went by and messed it up. I still think the little cowboy is cute.

So that was today's ride through rural America. We touched three states today and Texas had the best road and I was excited to see the longhorns. The wind was with us for the whole ride but the gusts only started hitting the drivers side the last hour or so. Once we were on the road it was an uneventful travel day and those are the ones we really like. We will be leaving Walmart here in Guymon, OK shortly and in not that many miles we will be in Kansas. We are missing the warmth it is only 42 degrees but we will be pulling out under blue skies.

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.

Three Days, Three States, and We are in Sayre, Oklahoma

After three days of Tom driving in the wind, at least part of each day, we have stopped at the Sayre City RV Park in Sayre, OK. We have stayed here several times over the years and for $12.00 a night for electric and water it is the right price. The sites are long and fairly level and it is located not far off I-40. Plus, there is a dump station. The park itself is a wonderful city park for this community. It is well maintained and there is a lovely playground area with mini golf, plus a pool, tennis, 9 hole golf course, fishing pond, walking trails and more. I am sure this is all well used during the summer months by this community.

The first thing I saw when I stepped out of the Stinger "B"
were these lovely sunshine filled dandelions!

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

After two nights we left the Mountain Meadows RV Park near Alamagordo, New Mexico at 11:00AM. We were not in a real hurry as today's ride would take us about 212 miles to a Rest Area about 50 miles East of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We knew it would be windy but little did we know just how windy it would get. Not long before we reached Vaughn it really started to gust and we could hear what sounded like something had let loose on the roof. Have you ever noticed when you need to pull over there is no place to do so not even a wide enough road shoulder for miles? We finally found a place wide enough with no parking signs and pulled over. Tom got the ladder out so he could look on top to see what was going on. He checked what he could from the ladder and found nothing loose. Though our antennae moved so he figured that was the noise we were hearing. So after putting everything back away that "fun" on the side of the road was done. Back on the highway and no more noise so with any luck that was it and a gust had just lifted the antennae. Though we did wonder since it sounded like something rolling...to be continued tomorrow.  Once we could see Santa Rosa in the distance the wind did calm down quite a bit and the last 60 miles or so it was calm. After a long day we reached the Pajarito Rest Area on I-40. It had been a longer then planned day by about 2 hours and it felt good to park and shut down for the evening.

Mountain Meadows RV Park

This is a small Passport America Park, 20 total sites, it is pretty much a no frills park but they do have laundry, and all the normal amenities since they do have tent sites. We had a 50 amp pull through site and we were happy with it for $20 plus a $2 electricity fee. The owners were welcoming and the park is kept clean.  It suited our needs for the two nights we were there. The road in was decent; going out was a little rougher as the edge is disintegrating. Would we stay there again? The answer would be yes for short term but no for long term.

At our first stop of the day for diesel in Tularosa I spotted
this semi. I thought it was beautifully done with a great message.

We are headed North on US-54 

and the mountains as we look east and west are beautiful.

As we traveled these three days I saw more windmills 
then I think I have seen in the last six months.

We, also, drove by a lot of these wind turbines. 
Just not as pretty as the windmills.

This is the name given to honor the Virgin Mary in Hispanic
Cultures. Titled Our Lady of Guadalupe. 
Spanish origin that means River of the Wolf.
I always know we have reached the southwest when we see pictures
and statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the churches we attend.
I do love the name of this county.

Train station in Vaughn, NM

The highway is now a series of rolling hills.

There is a vastness in the western desert that we never 
experience back where we call home. 

A bird enjoying the wind.

Seriously, how cute is this?

Santa Rosa, NM in the distance.

Pecos River

We are now on I-40

and soon we will reach

tonight's destination.

As I mentioned, it was a long day especially for Tom driving with the wind hitting the drivers side of the motorhome the majority of the day. Yet we are now tucked in, so to speak, at a decent rest area and it is time for dinner.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Today began under a sunny sky and some wind but not anything like yesterday. We did get a late start the same as Wednesday but again we only have about 200 miles to reach our next planned stop, the Donley County Rest Area. The key word in the last sentence is "planned".

Our Wednesday night stop.

We are back on I-40

and the road ahead is filled with traffic.

There was a sign just before here that warned about falling rocks.
Here's hoping they stay up there because looking up as we 
passed by I am not really sure what is holding them in place.

There truly is beauty all around us in this county.

Good Bye New Mexico and Hello Texas!
Plus, good bye to an hour of time...lol

Today's lunch view.

More wind turbines; three tries and this set
 was lined up pretty straight when I clicked.

A quick stop, a walk in the wind, and we ✔
the Cadillac Ranch off our bucket list. 

Actually, this was Tom's second time visiting here.
We stopped once before I had the knees to walk it.
So double ✔✔ for Tom.

The Stinger "B" waiting patiently for our return.

There is a Cadillac Ranch RV Park just down the road.

We are now driving through Amarillo.

Always need to include the Big Texan.
Can you eat a 72oz steak with all the trimmings in an hour?
Then this is the place to stop.
Your name can be in the Hall of Fame.
We ate here several years ago and the meal was good.
We watched three who accepted the challenge that evening.
Sadly, none of them succeeded. 

Blurry picture but not only does this say Texas but gives you
an idea of just how much the wind had picked up at this point.

Not one of these was moving.

Peek-a-boo is what I see.

It was just about here that we heard that noise again in the wind which had now picked up with what felt like some good size gusts. It actually sounded like something rolling across the roof just above Tom's head. You may ask what is up there and the answer would be one of our solar panels. So we took the next exit and there was a small empty parking lot between a closed forever Dairy Queen, that is right no ice cream when needed...lol, and a Philips 66 station with a convenience store. Tom went in for ice as we did have adult beverages available and they said we would be fine there for the night. The wind continued until it was to dark for Tom to go up on the roof. So we just decided to make the best of it and enjoy the rest of our evening. Sometimes that is all you can do.

 

As the sun was going down there was a large flock of birds
that kept flying back and forth between this tree and the
wires overhead. This is the color the camera picked up. 

"A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking,
Always believe in yourself." 
                                                                             ~unknown     

There is a bird in the picture above just a little right of the center at the top of a branch.

Friday, April 8, 2022

This morning we were up before the sun and there was barely any wind. We sat and had our coffee while we waited for the first light. Looking at the weather Thursday night there was no wind predicted where we were until 10:00AM. We then made the decision to make our next stop the Sayre City RV park as it is not that far ahead, 86 miles to be exact. Checking their weather it said the same thing no wind until 10 o'clock. We decided the park would be our best bet to wait out the wind until Tom can get on the roof. Decision made we were on the road as soon as the sun came up.

The sun rising over I-40 and we are on our way.

One of the first thing I saw ahead was 
the Britten leaning water tower.

Just a note about this morning's pictures. First most of these pictures were taken into the sun and secondly the windshield is dirty with some smudges. Even though I did my best to remove spots there still may be some.  A side note for us, this morning we came to the conclusion when traveling east the best time to take off is about 2 hours after sunrise.

Will we drive right in to the wind turbines ahead?

The views to the north were filled with shadows.

I just like the look of how everything seemed to glisten in the sun.

Texas is now behind us and we have crossed into Oklahoma.

Not long after we crossed into Oklahoma we decided to stop and top off our diesel. Forty minutes later we pulled out onto I-40 into the wind. We were about 8 miles from our destination so not to bad. 

Sayre City Park

As of right now we will be here until Monday morning. It was windy until dark on Friday then again today, Saturday, but the prediction is for no wind on Sunday. They weather predictors have been right about the wind so we are hoping they will be right about no or very little wind so Tom can go up on the roof. Then our fingers are crossed that whatever is loose up there is an easy fix and he has what he needs to fix it on board. We are really hoping for this to all work out; because if we can get out of here on Monday we have a day of no predicted wind on our route. Then by Monday evening we will be past any more wind predictions for the rest of our trip to Indiana.

It is a lifestyle like any other you take the good with the bad. Things happen to our rigs and weather does not always co-operate. We have friends who have experienced problems this year they had not expected. We have had problems in the past we did not expect. It is not always smooth going but it still is a wonderful lifestyle, in our opinion.  Every morning we get up and are happy to still be enjoying this retirement dream. 

We are glad you stopped by!

If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.