April 30th 2012

The AC is on in our room at La Quinta.  We are treating ourselves today after a cold night sleeping in Mueller State Park in Divide, CO last night.  It dipped to the low 30s which put our sleeping bags to the test and also made for a very welcomed hot shower today.

From  El Reno we've driven further along Rt.66 through Oklahoma to Amarillo, TX where we spent the night.  Passing by many old Rt.66 motels/gas stations/hot spots/etc., we were surprised how much of the route has been either destroyed or no longer exists now.

We stopped at the Golden Light Cafe when we arrived in Amarillo.  A good burger and great cup of chili and then it was off to Lake Meredith.

Or, so we thought.  On the way there we were passed very quickly by some storm chasers clearly on their way to their next spot...which apparently was where we were headed...It's tough to tell from the picture below, but the vehicle ahead of the black SUV is one of the specialized storm-mobiles (or whatever they call em) that's tank-shaped and looks like a floating pod as it drives around....very fast...

The storm was unavoidable so on our way we actually passed many different storm chaser "teams."  Some where simply speeding by us going the opposite way (a good thing for us, we figured) with their vehicles draped with various equipment on the outside.  Some had even pulled over and were doing video recording.  We stayed in the car... 

After taking about 50 shots trying to catch one of the lightening bolts, the one I finally got was blurry.  But it came out alright...

 After fleeing Lake Meredith (where we planned on staying the night) to get ourselves out of the storm's path, we decided to head back to the city center and stay at a KOA closer in Amarillo instead.  The next morning we set our destination to Clayton, New Mexico.

("Big Texan" in Amarillo)

We found a place called Clayton Lake in Clayton.  Thinking it would be a good place, we wound our way down to the lake.  A crew of antelope were along the side of the road as we approached...

Well, we made a good choice this day.  Clayton Lake was not only a beautiful/quiet place, it also served as a home to one of the best "dinosaur footprint" fossilized track sites in the world (right).  It was incredible to see these as not only were they clearly visible, but paleontologists were able to determine exactly what the dinosaurs were doing at the time of leaving the prints, what the situation was, and the specific dinosaurs involved.  Like a forensic investigation written up on plaques lining the site.  

We then took the short walk back to our campsite, collected some wood for a fire, and watched the vultures fly around us.  We think Henry (the pug) was looking like a nice meal for them...

(Annie pointing them out as they flew over.  At one point we counted 7 all grouped together)

 
Annie really wanted to post this picture of me from that night. She liked my "double plaid" outfit.  I dunno...ha.  It was windy enough that day/night that we also had to tie down the poles with some extra line (can sort of see in picture above).

It was then off to La Junta, CO.  It's worth noting in my opinion the breakfast place we hit on our way out of Clayton.  The Rabbit Ear Cafe.  Easily the best Huevos Rancheros I've ever had.

As just a midpoint between where we were and the beginning of our Colorado destinations, we used the KOA in La Junta to stay the night.

Not much going on at the "One Stop" (right).

During the evening in La Junta we searched around to find ourselves a place to stay for the following night.  Wanting to start our Rockies phase of the trip, we found it difficult locating a park/campground to stay at further north towards Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park.  Most parks around here in Colorado don't really open until after May 1st.  It's still considered "winter camping" at this point.  Mueller State Park in Divide, CO was what we found.  Only partially open (I'd estimate about 1/8 of the total camping sites were open), we increased our elevation to about 9,000ft and found ourselves facing Pike's Peak later that following day.  But before that, we took a short tour through the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

   Then on to Mueller State Park.  Although it was a cold one last night, it was definitely worth it.  We were the only tenters there that night amongst three RVs and a group of guys who were either travelers from Europe or in a band.  We couldn't figure it out.  But they slept in their van.  The views you get from the park are pretty great.  They have a couple look-out spots and paths throughout which can give you some nice shots towards the Rockies and Pike's Peak.

(Henry waiting for the fire to get lit)

 (facing the Rockies)

Now in Golden, CO, we are scanning the maps and internet for places to see and places to go tomorrow.  We were initially going to try and do a Coors brewery tour, but we couldn't find a pet boarder around that could accomodate us in short notice and the brewery doesn't do tours tomorrow or Wednesday.  So I think the plan is to truck further into the Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow and see what we can find.

April 25th 2012

We are in El Reno, OK.  We are hot.  It got up to around 94 towards the end of our drive today.  Currently now a more tolerable 82 but we are still sweating...  

Opting to stay a full day in Hot Springs, AR after our first night, we took the dogs to a local boarder/hospital and decided to check out the town and local area.  First we found our way to the top of a tower which overlooks the city and gives a small history of the use of the surrounding bath houses (which we ended up touring later).

We then took a walk up to Balance Rock which also gave us some pretty cool views and minor bouts of vertigo.

 

The hike up was pretty fun.  There were definitely a population of the locals who used it as their "daily walk" and there were a couple more paths which seemed to wrap around to a few other lookouts.  A "Sunrise" path amongst others...From there we drove down into the city to get some lunch and to also take a tour of one of the last (as it was) remaining bath houses.  Down past the Majestic Hotel (below), we parked the car at the Fordyce Bathhouse.  Doubling-duty as also the National Park Visitors Center, it's now also a museum.  

Fordyce Bathhouse (below)

The amount of relaxing and leisure these bathhouses provided was extremely interesting and almost comical.  Utilizing a machine room in the basement, it pumped the contents from the springs below upward as a healing elixer and fountain of youth of sorts to many.  People would come from all over the world to test it's legend.  Finally going out of business in 1962, it sits now as seen above...

Then we scooped up the dogs, Annie played with the campground's ducks and we toasted up some of our leftover beignets after dinner (which we got at lunch in Hot Springs).  The ducks were a little smelly in my opinion, but all around ok guys so we let them hang for a while.

The next morning we started our drive for Checotah, OK.  Home of Carrie Underwood!  Oh my garsh!  On the way there we stopped at Wild Horse Mountain BBQ (below).  Apparently a hotspot in Sallisaw, OK, it's walls were covered with celebrity food endorsements and portrait signatures.  The beef sandwiches were delicious.       

  Then it was on towards Checotah.  We stayed a night there in a quiet site near lake Eufaula.  Complete with a small farm of cows, bulls, chickens, rabbits, etc., it provided also a cool spot for Harbor to bathe.  

We found our way, for the first time, onto Rt.66 today.  A long grid of E950, S0903, etc. type roads (below) finally delivered us into Chandler, OK were we met Rt.66. 

Lunch was at Jacks BBQ (seeing a patter here? ha).  Annie literally after every bite mumbled "mmm" while eating her brisket sandwich.  

We are both getting eaten alive by mosquitos at our site in El Reno.  We sit right along he highway, where we literally had to pass through a highway gas station parking lot to get to the short road which lead here.  They have a small pen with buffalo along the entrance way, but other than that it's seemingly pretty utilitarian for drivers as they make their way somewhere else.  As we are...

Tomorrow it's on to Amarillo, TX via Rt. 66.   

     

  

April 22nd 2012

It's Day 12 and a breezy day in Hot Springs, AR.  It's been generally cooler than normal, but today it got to around 73 on the drive here which topped (temp wise) the past few days.  A large weather system finally past over us, finally, just yesterday.  One of our tents was just now able to bask in the sun and dry-out.  We started our drive from Birmingham through Talledaga National Forest.  Stopping to take a few pictures at Payne Lake (below), we then began our trek to Toomsuba, MS.

Passing through Alabama that day and specifically Greensboro, the smell in the air required our windows to be down.  Everything that was starting to bloom made a very noticeable change compared to the northern air.

Greensboro town center (below)

 Toomsuba was quiet.  There were not many people in the KOA where we were staying.  In fact, they had just put "a heavy dose of chlorine" in the pool that afternoon to begin their season.  It was burritos that night for us and a half can of black beans for Harbor as he helped with cleanup duty on a spill.  That night we listened to the Celtic's game via the grand world of 3G radio and smartphones...

Harbor's ghost below making an entrance....

The next morning we packed up relatively early and started our way towards the other side of Mississippi.  The Delta region was long and open.  Farms on either side followed us as we headed into Greenville.  Annie found us a place to stop and get some BBQ and boy did she...After some confusion as to whether we had found the right place, it didn't matter.  The food was unreal.  Some perfectely smoked meat and a cold beer helped us refuel.  It wasn't until then, really, that we saw the sun for the first time in a while...

 Delta region 

Lunch!

After crossing the Mississippi river (below) and winding our way to Lake Chicot, we checked in with the state park and chose our campsite.  All of our neighbors that day/night all seemed to be on some form of fishing trip.  Families and groups of "the guys" line the lake's edge in their RVs.  We were one of few tenters that night.  

Arkansas farm land next to Lake Chicot State Park

Annie got a great shot with her phone of the sunrise this morning.  

We plan to explore Hot Springs a little tomorrow.  Either taking a full day or maybe just half, we are definitely going to check out the park.  After that, we'll start our way west onto Rt. 66...