The Road Goes On…

Category: Texas

Southern US Trip Summary

This morning at home we feel as though we are living between two worlds. Before we enter back into our everyday life with all its responsibilities we look back on six and a half weeks of excitement and adventure. We’re happy we did write the blog so that we don’t forget all the things we saw and experienced. It definitely is a trip to remember and does rival our Route 66 trip from two years ago.

What worked well:

WIND Mobile’s Unlimited US Roaming. We’ve been WIND Mobile customers for a number of years now and their price just can’t be beat. For $15 a month we had unlimited voice calling, texting and 1GB of data while in the US. This allowed us to keep in touch and look up things on the road.

Good Sam Membership: This RV club membership cost $25 a year and give you 10% discount at member campsites. It definitely paid for itself.

America the Beautiful Pass: This $80/year pass gives you free entrance to US Parks and other recreation sites. It paid for itself as well.

Garmin GPS: We love our Garmin GPS system. At the start of the trip we had the RV/Trucking dezl 760 model but it was stolen in Albuquerque so we bought a nuvi 2689LMT to replace it. These GPS units have campground locations pre-installed and provide lots of information on arrival times, traffic conditions, etc.

Allstays Camp and RV App: We use this app on our iPads all the time to look for campgrounds. It shows the location of campgrounds and gives information about their rating, facilities and distance from your current location.

NOAA Weather Pro App: This app for the iPad and iPhone shows a map with weather conditions. It also has the ability to send alerts to your phone when severe weather is nearby.

Visitor Centres, Park Rangers and Bureau of Land Management offices: These are always a source of great information and have invaluable knowledge of local conditions and opportunities.

Frugal RV Travel Guides: These guides have great route information as well as tips on inexpensive places to stay overnight.

Here’s a map of the entire trip. This is an image grab from Google Maps as it wasn’t possible to use the entire GPS track on a live map, probably because of its size.

August 26, 2015
Las Cruses, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

Walmart’s auto centre seemed such a logical place to get an oil change done on our generator. Our generator is getting lots of use this year as we run it when parked to produce the electricity needed to run the air conditioner that keeps Pepsi cool when we aren’t at a campsite. It took about an hour to get the answer that Walmart couldn’t do this. Luckily there was a Camping World in El Paso (about 50kms from us) and they said they’d squeeze us in in the afternoon. So, off we went and arrived at about 11AM. Everyone was very friendly at the store, Pepsi was welcomed with a treat and Ruth with a coffee. We explored the store and after having gone through all the aisles, we settled into the canteen area which has some tables, chairs and most importantly, free (slow) internet to write the last two days of blog entries.

The hours rolled by and finally we saw our van come back into the parking lot. Unfortunately, bad news. The service tech had changed the oil in the vehicle engine and not the generator. Off it went into the service bay again. By this time, 6 hours had elapsed and we were starving and bored.

Finally, the van came out again for the second time and we said goodbye to Jami, the wonderful receptionist who had made friends with Pepsi and was the source of many doggie treats.

Happy that everything was finally done, we climbed back into the van and decided to just “test” everything before we left. The generator started just fine, but the air-conditioner now showed an error message. Only another 15 minutes later, the system was reset and we were on our way. Another receptionist had recommended a fabulous Mexican restaurant nearby called The Rose Garden. We went there for lunch/dinner at 5:30pm and were not disappointed.

Our plan for the evening was to stay at a hot springs resort in Truth or Consequences (yes, the town is really called that). Back on I-25, there is a border services checkpoint where all vehicles must stop and our conversation with the officer went like this:

Border Agent: Canadians?
Us: Yup.
Border Agent: Where are you heading?
Us: Truth or Consequences
Border Agent: Have fun!

We made it to the Riverbend Hot Springs just in time to see the sunset make the mountain across the Rio Grande glow. As darkness fell, we sat in the hot springs and could forget about the hours at Camping World and enjoy a soothing evening.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

August 3, 2015
Junction, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico

Today was supposed to be a driving day. Would we make it to New Mexico?

We woke up to the squawking of geese swimming down our river. It really was a beautiful campground and we were sad we didn’t have a chance to use the smoker that was provided at each site.

I-10 was not as boring as we had thought. It showed us the changing landscape from ranches to desert. Seeing this, Martin was adamant that it was time for Mexican food again. According to the exit sign at Ozona, there was a Mexican restaurant to be visited. We drove through Ozona, but weren’t able to find the advertised Mexican restaurant and were about to head back to I-10 when we spotted a bright blue canopy with a number of young women selling food to a long lineup of people. The sign said “Taquitos” and we immediately stopped and lined up and waited for original home cooked Mexican food, in support of a youth group trip to San Antonio.

After leaving Ozona, we entered an area of Texas that has a lot of oil and gas development. The other drivers drove fast and often aggressively and there was a lot of dust.

We made it safely to New Mexico and selected the Carlsbad KOA to camp at. There are bunnies everywhere and we have to keep Pepsi on a short leash. There is a dog run near our site and Pepsi learned to crawl through tunnels and was coaxed to try the seesaw. She is a motivated and fast learner.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 30, 2015
Luling, Texas to Junction, Texas

San Antonio was our main focus of the day.

We found a good shaded parking lot but decided to take Pepsi along for our tour of the city. This was definitely a problem for our Alamo visit. A very nice security guard, escorted Ruth and Pepsi off the park area premises and across the street. Martin had a brief visit but then we decided to do a quick walk around the city. An agent for one of the double decker tour bus companies told us that Pepsi was very welcome to take a bus tour with us and that’s exactly what we did.

We learned a lot about San Antonio, its Spanish heritage, the great number of German immigrants that moved into the area in the 1920s, the beautiful architecture and that it had been the capital of Texas before Austin. Unfortunately, the upper level of the bus was too hot and it wasn’t possible to take (good) pictures from the lower level.

After the tour we decided against a visit to the famous Mexican market but to do the riverwalk instead. A young architect created a plan of channeling the river with walkways on the left and right. Today there are beautiful bridges and great restaurants and bars on either side of the river. We saw a Bavarian biergarten serving Hofbräu beer and had lunch at the pet-friendly Lone Star Cafe.

After lunch we walked along the river some more.

Tired and thirsty we walked back to the van in 43C heat, gulped lots of water and then left for Junction, a small town about 200km northwest of San Antonio where we are staying at the Morgan Shady RV Park, right next to a river.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 29, 2015
Houston, Texas to Luling, Texas

It’s not rocket science (Oh wait, yes it is…)

The Houston Space Centre is the location where most manned space missions were controlled. We took a tour of the Mission Control Centre that handled 10 Gemini, 10 Apollo and 21 Shuttle missions.

“Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” and “Houston, we’ve had a problem” were received here. The configuration of the room is as it was for Apollo 11.

Also on the tour was rocket park where the main attraction was the HUGE Saturn V rocket that took men to the moon.

Time for lunch at the main building. It really had a space-like atmosphere. The food, thank God, wasn’t de-hydrated astronaut food.

After lunch we visited several more exhibits and presentations, including a shuttle mockup, a history of rockets and the various manned missions up to the present day.

Pepsi didn’t want to visit the space centre so she checked herself into the Tailwaggers Pet Resort for the day. When we picked her up in the afternoon and asked how her day was, she said “What happens at Tailwaggers, stays at Tailwaggers…”. She gave the owner a quick good-bye and dashed to the door.

It was time to go and get some more miles under our tires. We had picked up a Texas BBQ Trail brochure at the Welcome Centre and Luling, one of the towns on the trail, was on our route so we were excited to be able to have dinner there and look for a campground in the vicinity. Unfortunately, it was closed by 6:30PM as was most of the rest of the town with the exception of the Dairy Queen.

We decided to have Ruth’s delicious rice-tuna-pea salad for dinner at the Riverbed RV Park and Campground and called it an early night.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 28, 2015
New Iberia, Louisiana to Houston, Texas

It was a hot and spicy morning…

This morning we visited the Tabasco pepper sauce factory on Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco brand sauce has been manufactured by the McIlhenny family since its invention by Edmund McIlhenny 1868.

To get on the island, one needs to pay a toll of $1.00. This is collected by a gentleman in a small toll booth with a wooden stick which he uses to collect the $1.00 from your vehicle and then to hand you your receipt.

We paid our toll but couldn’t get the van over the speed bumps because we bottomed-out. We left the van by the toll-house and a friendly staff drove us the 1/4 mile to the factory.

The tour consists of free-samples, a video, a walk by the production lines and some displays with further information.

Following the tour, we visited the Country Store, sampled everything there was to sample, and bought several varieties of sauces, dips and jellies.

Just outside of the store there is a small food wagon where we bought some Tabasco inspired lunch.

Soon we were on our way, heading for Texas. We had our usual afternoon torrential rain which made it almost impossible to drive. The good news is it rapidly brings the temperature down from 37C to 27C. The bad news is that the temperature goes right back up as soon as you drive past the downpour area.

We stopped at the Texas Welcome Centre and received plenty of tips of what to see and eat while in Texas. There is a BBQ route which we needs to be tested in detail. The other food that needs sampling is the Mexican variety and we started with that right away by visting Elena’s in Beaumont, Texas.

Martin, with his yellow shirt, fit right in with the decor.

Our home for the evening is the Palms RV Park in Houston which is near the Johnston Space Centre which we plan to visit tomorrow.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

July 27, 2015
Amarillo, TX to Tucumcari, NM

It was a dark and stormy night….

The thunderstorm that started at around midnight and lasted until about 1:30AM was so strong that it shook our 4 ton truck. Fortunately no damage done. Needless to say, everything started a bit later this morning. Add to that the discussion about whether to take the Santa Fe loop or not.

Our first stop of interest was Vega. We stopped, not for a museum, but for a visit to the Boot Hill Saloon and Grill. Two ice teas were our ticket to have a closer look inside.

The words of wisdom for today: “Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or a fool from any direction.”

After seeing a couple more abandoned gas stations and motels we arrived at the Midpoint Cafe which is coincidentally located at the midpoint of Route 66. Dennis is the current owner, having bought it two years ago to fulfill his dream of owning a cafe on Route 66.

The burgers were the best on the trip so far, but the “Midpoint ugly pies” which he makes himself were the highlight.

The story behind the name is that the recipe was that of the former owner’s baker’s grandmother. The granddaughter, while learning to bake as a child, wasn’t able to make as nice a crust as her grandmother, so they got the name “Ugly Crust Pies” which became “Midpoint Ugly Pies” with the current owner.

A little further down the road is the virtual ghost town of Glenrio, Texas. We stopped to take some pictures of a completely deserted four lane road (part of Route 66), which our GPS cheerfully announced as I-40 Business Loop.

A fine opportunity to give the tilt-shift lens a go.

We said goodbye to Texas and the Central timezone and headed into New Mexico, headed back to Texas after missing the visitor center and then back to New Mexico and its visitor center. Loads of brochures and great plans to visit Santa Fe and Los Alamos only to have our plans altered because of forest fires in that region. We slowly feel that we’re constantly weaving our way through natural disasters on this trip!

Near Endee, at the Russell service center we stopped to visit a vintage car museum and Ruth again feel in love with a turquoise Bel-Air. There just happened to be one for sale at a good price in the miniature edition.

Our last stop was in Tucumcari (Two-Come-Cari) where we spent some time talking to Kevin and Nancy, the owners of the beautiful Blue Swallow Motel. The motel was built in 1939 and Kevin and Nancy have lovingly restored it in a 1950s style, with original furniture and decor. It may be the only motel that still has garages for the guests next to their rooms. Unfortunately they were all booked for the night.

On the side of the motel are beautiful murals of Route 66 which we will leave you with tonight.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 4, 2013
Shamrock, TX to Amarillo, TX

Today was a very exciting sightseeing day starting with the Art Deco U-Drop Inn building in Shamrock.

Next stop was the Devil’s Rope Museum in McLean which made us aware of the importance of all kinds of barbed wire, particularly for cattle containment but also for its military purposes. “Barbed wire gave us control of the land and windmills make the land habitable”. The was also a great photo and first hand account of the dust bowl in the 1930s.

Just east of Amarillo was a Peace installation designed by Richard Baker. Fascinating.

At point it was 3PM and our small breakfast had long worn off. Time to hit the Big Texan, home of the Free 72 oz Steak Dinner if you can eat it and three sides including a fully baked potato in 60 minutes. The current record holder accomplished this in just under 9 minutes! And yes, one brave soul attempted the feat but ultimately wasn’t successful. They even have a live webcam where you can watch the action as customers attempt the feat – http://www.bigtexan.com

Everything truly is bigger in Texas.

Free limo service to the restaurant is available in these fine vehicles:

On the menu – Mountain Oysters – “If you think it’s seafood, go with the shrimp” and “He was a bold man that ate the first Mountain Oyster”. And no, we weren’t that bold.

Last, but definitely not least was the trip the Cadillac Ranch just west of town. Several hours were spent here waiting for the tourists to finally go home so we could photograph the cars (and cows) in peace.

Tonight we’re staying at a campground near the site as it was dark when we finished the photo shoot.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 3, 2013
Guthrie, OK to Shamrock, TX

We cheated a bit today! But first we had a great breakfast as guests of our new camp site friends Wanda and Andy which was a lot of fun! Yes, and then we had to leave and still couldn’t go through Guthrie because of the flooding, which was sad because we had decided to visit this town because of its Victorian architecture and the drive-in movie theatre, both we were not able to enjoy, even today. Nevertheless we had a day full of new impressions. It began by cheating! We couldn’t take Route 66 as planned but had to take two faster highways to Oklahoma City, in a way a nice treat since we average only about 70km per hour on Route 66. Route 66 in Oklahoma City did not lead us into the modern city centre but even the outskirts were modern, impressive and cheerful. In some areas however neglect was predominant. We left Oklahoma City via 39th Street Expressway and came to Lake Overholser, named after mayor Ed Overholser, crossed the beautiful Overholser Bridge and drove along the shore of the lake.

Beautiful scenery and not much flooding there. In Yukon we caught sight of the very self assured statement “Yukon’s Best Flour – No finer or more modern mills in America” by Yukon MIlls & Grains Co. and fortunately we didn’t find any evidence of the Tornado that came down in the area on Friday.

Passing through El Reno however should a different picture. On a small section of our route through El Reno we could get a glimpse in the magnitude of destruction this section of the city has to deal with now.

Martin’s brother asked whether our tour gives us more the feeling of the old glory of Route 66 or rather a dreary look at harsh realities. Martin and I both see that the glory of Route 66 is in the past. However, off and on there are examples that give way to hope, that highway travel in the fast lane will still have an alternative in the future and will find people who will appreciate a way of travel that lets you get to know places and people of the area you drive through. One example of the attempt to recreate an icon of the past is Lucille’s Roadhouse. Lucille Hamons had her Gas Station and small restaurant in Hydro and was famous for sharing road stories with her customers.

After she passed away, her gas station and eatery were closed since her location on Route 66 was by-passed for a long time. However, a brand new Lucille’s Roadhouse opened in Weatherford. The architecture is similar and on the menu in the restaurant are some of Lucille’s dishes.

Another example are the Drive-Ins which could be found everywhere on Route 66, some old ones are still in business and a new chain is doing good business.

In Clinton we visited the Route 66 Museum – definitely a Must-Visit if you do this route. It shows the history of Route 66 starting from its planning through to its decommissioning.

The outside collection of buildings at the Old Town Museum at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City was a nice additional treat.

We then crossed into Texas and stayed at the West 40 RV Campground in Shamrock, Texas.

© OpenStreetMap contributors

June 2, 2013