I know the first question will be, "what does wind have to do with steaks?" The short and to the point answer is: "nothing". It has more to do with driving a RV west of the Mississippi and checking what the driving conditions are. Most RVers have the emergency weather radio, check the internet and tv for weather forecasts, etc. One issue the above options don't cover very well is wind speed.
I ran across a neat internet site that shows the wind speeds and direction for the whole of the United States on one page. You can find the utility at: Wind Check it out, it's neat.
Another neat webpage is Google Maps and is very handy when you arrive in an area you don't know very well and want to look for a place such as restaurants, gas station, churches, movie theaters, stained glass centers, fishing tackle, etc. It knows where you are located by the ISP address your computer is using. Not "Big Brother watching you", but more like "Big Business watching you". Most smartphones can do the same thing, but not everyone has a smartphone. Google Maps Follow the directions and check out the little boxes in the lower right corner of the page.
We have been taking care of little chores around the motorhome today so we will be ready to hit the road running when we get to Tucson. It is only about 3.5 weeks until I go under the knife again to have my right knee joint replaced this time. Then I will have matching knee joints again. Since I know what is ahead for me, I am not really looking forward to it, but I know in the long run it will be best for me. Wish me luck.
The meal at Cattle Baron restaurant was great, except that Gerry had to have her first steak returned since it was too well done. She hesitated, but for the price it should be the way she ordered it. The waiter picked it up and expedited her next steak that was perfect. All is well that ends well.
Once again I ordered a catfish dinner that was very good and the baked potato was also very tasty. The salad bar was superb and had fresh lettuce, cheeses, and all the other fixings were also fresh. I tend to eat a lot of salad and almost filled up on it, but I did leave room for the catfish and dessert.
We both enjoyed our meals and would recommend the Cattle Baron to anyone passing through Las Cruces.
That was our day, how was yours?
"How can I ever thank you?" gushed a woman to Clarence Darrow, after he
had solved her legal troubles."My dear woman," Darrow replied, "ever
since the Phoenicians invented money there has been only one answer to
that question."
Sabillasville, Maryland farm
Clark Travels
Our Geocaches ---
http://www.travbuddy.com/maps/6730401
I have been getting more and more spam from bloggers since I let anyone respond to the blog. One way to stop the spam is to cut off anonymous comments. It is very easy and painless to get a Gmail email account and use it to post on blogs. You don't have to actually use the account, but it gives you a portal into my blog.
NOTE: Double click photos to enlarge them and links will also be shown in red.
http://www.travbuddy.com/maps/6730401
I have been getting more and more spam from bloggers since I let anyone respond to the blog. One way to stop the spam is to cut off anonymous comments. It is very easy and painless to get a Gmail email account and use it to post on blogs. You don't have to actually use the account, but it gives you a portal into my blog.
NOTE: Double click photos to enlarge them and links will also be shown in red.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Destination Las Cruces
We got up early again this morning and were on the road by 10AM. Now that wouldn't be impressive for most people, but for us it's pretty good.
We had great weather for our trip west from Amarillo. We had to make a decision on our route and decided to play it safe with the weather and take I-40 W to Santa Rosa, NM and then catch US 54 south toward Alamogordo and spend the night there. We had a brief stop in Tucumcari, NM for fuel and then back on the road. We made such good time we decided to change our plans and continue on to Las Cruces.
There isn't much to see on US 54 south other than rolling hills and scrub trees. We did see a number of herds of antelopes and enjoyed that.
One of the towns on the way down is Vaughn which was a railroad town. The old railroad station still looks very nice and is in use. Vaughn was established in the early 20th century as a Southern Pacific Railroad town. The town's importance grew when a second railroad, the Eastern Railway of New Mexico (an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line from Belen to Clovis), was completed in 1907 with Vaughn as a division point. A large two-story depot, a roundhouse, and a Harvery House hotel were constructed shortly thereafter.
They do appreciate the snowbirds in the Alamogordo area and even had a welcome sign out for them. You don't see that much in Florida where some places seem to resent snowbirds.
US 70 runs by the White Sand Dunes National Monument and the dunes are close to the road. Gerry managed to get some nice shots of the dunes as we drove by at 65mph.
It was a hazy afternoon as we came down the mountain side heading for Las Cruces on US 70. It is hard to capture the expanse of the valley as you approach it. Yes, the road down was that steep and the other side had a long climb coming out of the White Sand Dunes area.
We will stay here a few days and then move down the road a little closer to Tucson. The Cattle Baron restaurant in Las Cruces has been one of our favorite places to eat for many years and we always take time for a nice meal there.
We managed to get a spot at a Passport America park and it will help offset the price of the park in Amarillo. No cable tv, but full hookups and free wifi for $18.75 a night.
It was a 425 mile drive for us and that is about our limit now. Driving time was little over 7.5 hrs and if we wouldn't have been held up driving 35-45 mph in a 15 mile construction zone, we could have made it in a 7 hour driving time.
Gerry prepared a new recipe for dinner tonight. We had talked about cutting out meats occasionally and eating more fiber and vegetables. Tonight's experiment was Black Bean Salsa Cakes and they were, surprisingly, pretty good. I think the recipe is a keeper.
That was our exciting day, how was yours?
We had great weather for our trip west from Amarillo. We had to make a decision on our route and decided to play it safe with the weather and take I-40 W to Santa Rosa, NM and then catch US 54 south toward Alamogordo and spend the night there. We had a brief stop in Tucumcari, NM for fuel and then back on the road. We made such good time we decided to change our plans and continue on to Las Cruces.
There isn't much to see on US 54 south other than rolling hills and scrub trees. We did see a number of herds of antelopes and enjoyed that.
One of the towns on the way down is Vaughn which was a railroad town. The old railroad station still looks very nice and is in use. Vaughn was established in the early 20th century as a Southern Pacific Railroad town. The town's importance grew when a second railroad, the Eastern Railway of New Mexico (an Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line from Belen to Clovis), was completed in 1907 with Vaughn as a division point. A large two-story depot, a roundhouse, and a Harvery House hotel were constructed shortly thereafter.
They do appreciate the snowbirds in the Alamogordo area and even had a welcome sign out for them. You don't see that much in Florida where some places seem to resent snowbirds.
US 70 runs by the White Sand Dunes National Monument and the dunes are close to the road. Gerry managed to get some nice shots of the dunes as we drove by at 65mph.
It was a hazy afternoon as we came down the mountain side heading for Las Cruces on US 70. It is hard to capture the expanse of the valley as you approach it. Yes, the road down was that steep and the other side had a long climb coming out of the White Sand Dunes area.
We will stay here a few days and then move down the road a little closer to Tucson. The Cattle Baron restaurant in Las Cruces has been one of our favorite places to eat for many years and we always take time for a nice meal there.
We managed to get a spot at a Passport America park and it will help offset the price of the park in Amarillo. No cable tv, but full hookups and free wifi for $18.75 a night.
It was a 425 mile drive for us and that is about our limit now. Driving time was little over 7.5 hrs and if we wouldn't have been held up driving 35-45 mph in a 15 mile construction zone, we could have made it in a 7 hour driving time.
Gerry prepared a new recipe for dinner tonight. We had talked about cutting out meats occasionally and eating more fiber and vegetables. Tonight's experiment was Black Bean Salsa Cakes and they were, surprisingly, pretty good. I think the recipe is a keeper.
That was our exciting day, how was yours?
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Amarillo Geocaches & Cadillac Ranch
Just west of Amarillo is a well known spot called Cadillac Ranch where 10 old Cadillacs are buried nose down. The cars were moved from an earlier location to the present location so it would be out of town and visible from I-40. The cars have been spray painted hundreds of times over the years. Parts, windows and anything not nailed down have been taken from the cars. Now the axles are welded so they can't be removed.
From Wikipedia: Both sites belonged to the local millionaire Stanley Marsh 3, the patron of the project. Marsh was well known in the city for his longtime patronage of artistic endeavors including the “Cadillac Ranch”, Floating Mesa, “Amarillo Ramp” a work of well known land artist Robert Smithson, and a series of fake traffic signs throughout the city known collectively as the “Dynamite Museum”. As the story went, Stanley Marsh 3, quickly disregarding the “III” as too pretentious and using “3″ instead, would buy one Cadillac after another and when it was time to buy a new one, he would have the old one buried nose first on his land. However, the truth is, the Cadillac Ranch was a planned artistic endeavor. As of 2013, Stanley Marsh 3 does not own the Cadillac Ranch since his alleged sexual abuse of underage teenage boys.
There are two geocaches near the Cadillac Ranch and we picked them up today. They had a high difficulty level, but were easy to find. I had downloaded 25 other caches but they were too far away to search for them. I found a number of caches in a row the last time through here and missed two of them due to high water. Maybe I will get a chance to pick them up on our next trip to Amarillo.
Just down the road from the Cadillac Ranch is a RV park. I don't know what the name of the park used to be, but it seems they renamed it to take advantage of the location near the Ranch. What do you think?
The geocaching made us hungry and Gerry had a yearning for some Italian food so we checked the trusty Tom Tom GPS and found an Olive Garden restaurant down the road. We got there a little early and it was a good thing we did. By the time we left there were people waiting to be seated. We ordered from the lunch menu and saved a few bucks and a lot of calories. Both meals were very good and the salad was especially good.
The temperature is dropping like a rock outside and we have the fireplace and heat pumps working. They are calling for freezing temps again tonight and I may have to disconnect the water hose. It is time to head out of Amarillo and we will be on the road Thursday morning for Las Cruces, NM and hopefully warmer weather.
From Wikipedia: Both sites belonged to the local millionaire Stanley Marsh 3, the patron of the project. Marsh was well known in the city for his longtime patronage of artistic endeavors including the “Cadillac Ranch”, Floating Mesa, “Amarillo Ramp” a work of well known land artist Robert Smithson, and a series of fake traffic signs throughout the city known collectively as the “Dynamite Museum”. As the story went, Stanley Marsh 3, quickly disregarding the “III” as too pretentious and using “3″ instead, would buy one Cadillac after another and when it was time to buy a new one, he would have the old one buried nose first on his land. However, the truth is, the Cadillac Ranch was a planned artistic endeavor. As of 2013, Stanley Marsh 3 does not own the Cadillac Ranch since his alleged sexual abuse of underage teenage boys.
There are two geocaches near the Cadillac Ranch and we picked them up today. They had a high difficulty level, but were easy to find. I had downloaded 25 other caches but they were too far away to search for them. I found a number of caches in a row the last time through here and missed two of them due to high water. Maybe I will get a chance to pick them up on our next trip to Amarillo.
Just down the road from the Cadillac Ranch is a RV park. I don't know what the name of the park used to be, but it seems they renamed it to take advantage of the location near the Ranch. What do you think?
The geocaching made us hungry and Gerry had a yearning for some Italian food so we checked the trusty Tom Tom GPS and found an Olive Garden restaurant down the road. We got there a little early and it was a good thing we did. By the time we left there were people waiting to be seated. We ordered from the lunch menu and saved a few bucks and a lot of calories. Both meals were very good and the salad was especially good.
The temperature is dropping like a rock outside and we have the fireplace and heat pumps working. They are calling for freezing temps again tonight and I may have to disconnect the water hose. It is time to head out of Amarillo and we will be on the road Thursday morning for Las Cruces, NM and hopefully warmer weather.
Monday, November 4, 2013
On the road to Amarillo
We've had a number of small earthquakes here in the Oklahoma City area the past few days. None of them have been that large, but we did feel one very slightly on Sunday. Nothing like we used to have when we lived in Costa Rica and earthquakes were very common. If they were less than 4.0 on the Richter scale, they weren't even mentioned. The 7.5 earthquake in 1992 did get our attention.
When I checked the weather forecast for the next couple days in the Oklahoma City area, it didn't look good. We were planning on leaving Tuesday and the forecast was for a windy & rainy day. The decision was made to leave early Monday morning before daylight. We were up at 5am, had coffee, brought in the slides and turned in the parking pass. We fueled up at the casino service station and paid $3.50 gallon for diesel.
One problem with filling this unit with fuel is that the filling tube is constricted and when we use truck fuel pumps, the diesel backs up and splashes out of the filler. That is what happened during the fillup and my coat sleeve was covered with diesel fuel. The jacket has been washed twice, but still smells of diesel. Looks like another washing is in order.
When we hooked up the Saturn it was discovered our tail lights didn't work. The turn signals and brake lights worked so we took a chance and hit the road. We had to drive about an hour without tail lights until it became light enough that we didn't need lights. Since the traffic wasn't that heavy and nobody was tailgaiting us, we made it fine through Oklahoma City before rush hour. I-40 in the downtown area was a mess last year when we went through, but this year it had been repaired and was a smooth ride.
The wind between OK City and Amarillo was pushing us around for most of the trip until we got about 40 miles out of Amarillo when it shifted and was from the rear of the coach. Any push that way is appreciated.
There is a Speedco Oil & Lube station for large trucks off of I-40 and we headed there to get an oil & filter change. They said they could take care of this in 30 minutes so we had them do the job. Their 30 minute estimate was off by about an hour. They didn't have the correct fuel filter and substitued another filter for it. I wasn't happy with this and called Cummins about whether the substitute was acceptable due to the flow rate. Now what? Well, there was a Cummins dealer down the road about 4 miles and they had the correct filter. I picked up the correct one and Speedco staff installed it quickly and we were on our way.
One problem with Speedco was that they didn't have the air cleaner and would not install one if I bought it at Cummins. If this is their policy, then we don't plan on stopping there again. I want the whole job completed at the same time. Guess we will head for a Cummins dealer for the next oil change in 15,000 miles. It was easy to remember this oil change since the motor home turned over 50,000 miles a short distance from Speedco. That is a number I can remember.
We pulled into the Oasis RV Resort west of Amarillo right off exit 60 and were glad to get off the road. The first time we stayed here they had a special where you paid for two days and got the third day free for a total of $40 +tax. Last year it was $29 a night and this year it was $65.70 for two nights. Now our COLA is going up by 1.5% in January, but I think camping is outpacing that. Maybe they can add that to the mix next year. Fat chance of that.
We have a nice campsite with a concrete level lot, full hookups, free wifi and cable tv so I can't complain that much about the rate. We checked out a Passport America park and to say it didn't measure up is an understatement. It was next to I-40, railroad tracks and the sites were so unlevel that a motorhome had one of it's front wheels off the ground.
Tonight we ordered a great pizza from the park office and enjoyed it very much. Nice to walk over and pick up a meal for a reasonable price.
Not that much interesting, but that was our day. How was yours?
When I checked the weather forecast for the next couple days in the Oklahoma City area, it didn't look good. We were planning on leaving Tuesday and the forecast was for a windy & rainy day. The decision was made to leave early Monday morning before daylight. We were up at 5am, had coffee, brought in the slides and turned in the parking pass. We fueled up at the casino service station and paid $3.50 gallon for diesel.
One problem with filling this unit with fuel is that the filling tube is constricted and when we use truck fuel pumps, the diesel backs up and splashes out of the filler. That is what happened during the fillup and my coat sleeve was covered with diesel fuel. The jacket has been washed twice, but still smells of diesel. Looks like another washing is in order.
When we hooked up the Saturn it was discovered our tail lights didn't work. The turn signals and brake lights worked so we took a chance and hit the road. We had to drive about an hour without tail lights until it became light enough that we didn't need lights. Since the traffic wasn't that heavy and nobody was tailgaiting us, we made it fine through Oklahoma City before rush hour. I-40 in the downtown area was a mess last year when we went through, but this year it had been repaired and was a smooth ride.
The wind between OK City and Amarillo was pushing us around for most of the trip until we got about 40 miles out of Amarillo when it shifted and was from the rear of the coach. Any push that way is appreciated.
There is a Speedco Oil & Lube station for large trucks off of I-40 and we headed there to get an oil & filter change. They said they could take care of this in 30 minutes so we had them do the job. Their 30 minute estimate was off by about an hour. They didn't have the correct fuel filter and substitued another filter for it. I wasn't happy with this and called Cummins about whether the substitute was acceptable due to the flow rate. Now what? Well, there was a Cummins dealer down the road about 4 miles and they had the correct filter. I picked up the correct one and Speedco staff installed it quickly and we were on our way.
One problem with Speedco was that they didn't have the air cleaner and would not install one if I bought it at Cummins. If this is their policy, then we don't plan on stopping there again. I want the whole job completed at the same time. Guess we will head for a Cummins dealer for the next oil change in 15,000 miles. It was easy to remember this oil change since the motor home turned over 50,000 miles a short distance from Speedco. That is a number I can remember.
We pulled into the Oasis RV Resort west of Amarillo right off exit 60 and were glad to get off the road. The first time we stayed here they had a special where you paid for two days and got the third day free for a total of $40 +tax. Last year it was $29 a night and this year it was $65.70 for two nights. Now our COLA is going up by 1.5% in January, but I think camping is outpacing that. Maybe they can add that to the mix next year. Fat chance of that.
We have a nice campsite with a concrete level lot, full hookups, free wifi and cable tv so I can't complain that much about the rate. We checked out a Passport America park and to say it didn't measure up is an understatement. It was next to I-40, railroad tracks and the sites were so unlevel that a motorhome had one of it's front wheels off the ground.
Tonight we ordered a great pizza from the park office and enjoyed it very much. Nice to walk over and pick up a meal for a reasonable price.
Not that much interesting, but that was our day. How was yours?
Sunday, November 3, 2013
OOOOk-lahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
Yep, that is right. The wind comes sweepin' down the plain. It's been blowing hard all day and even harder west of here. It looks like if we get an early start in the morning we can get ahead of some bad weather. So, it looks like a 5am wakeup for us and hit the road and make a dash for Amarillo.
We went shopping at Walmart today for some groceries and other odds and ends. As usual we had to walk all over the store to get our 25 items and then the lady in front of me had well over 100 items in her cart. Ooops! Gerry said the other lines were long and slow, so we waited. About that time a clerk opened the counter next to us and said to come over and she would wait on us. We struck up a conversation with her and she was very pleasant to talk to. Nice to see friendly clerks for a change.
I picked up another geocache today and dropped off some travel bugs that we picked up in New York last July. I hate to hold the TBs that long, but it was our first real chance to drop them off. The travel bug hotel was in a front yard and I hesitated to search for it, but it was in plain sight so I went for it. A resident of the house came home about that time and said yes, the cache was there and it was fine to check it out. There were a number of travel bugs in the cache, but I left them there since it is hard to get rid of them sometimes.
We stopped at the Brickyard Brewery in Shawnee for dinner and enjoyed the meal. They had a special on draft beers and we picked a few different ones and enjoyed them a lot. The meal was fine and we managed to see the end of the Ravens-Browns football game which the Ravens lost. Go Browns.
Before we went shopping the Redskins-Chargers game came on tv and was in the final quarter. We watched the game to it's conclusion and were rewarded with an overtime win. It wasn't the best played game, but a win in a bad game is a win. Now on to Minnesota on Thursday night and another win. Go Skins.
We went shopping at Walmart today for some groceries and other odds and ends. As usual we had to walk all over the store to get our 25 items and then the lady in front of me had well over 100 items in her cart. Ooops! Gerry said the other lines were long and slow, so we waited. About that time a clerk opened the counter next to us and said to come over and she would wait on us. We struck up a conversation with her and she was very pleasant to talk to. Nice to see friendly clerks for a change.
I picked up another geocache today and dropped off some travel bugs that we picked up in New York last July. I hate to hold the TBs that long, but it was our first real chance to drop them off. The travel bug hotel was in a front yard and I hesitated to search for it, but it was in plain sight so I went for it. A resident of the house came home about that time and said yes, the cache was there and it was fine to check it out. There were a number of travel bugs in the cache, but I left them there since it is hard to get rid of them sometimes.
We stopped at the Brickyard Brewery in Shawnee for dinner and enjoyed the meal. They had a special on draft beers and we picked a few different ones and enjoyed them a lot. The meal was fine and we managed to see the end of the Ravens-Browns football game which the Ravens lost. Go Browns.
Before we went shopping the Redskins-Chargers game came on tv and was in the final quarter. We watched the game to it's conclusion and were rewarded with an overtime win. It wasn't the best played game, but a win in a bad game is a win. Now on to Minnesota on Thursday night and another win. Go Skins.
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