State of Emergency, Jell-o plans, Cadillacs

Walmart, Elk City, Oklahoma

On Tuesday, Mar. 17^th, St. Patrick’s Day, I was wide awake at 4:30 am. Dagnammit! I did a complete rotation of the crocodile roll ending up where I started and told myself to pretend that it was 9:30. That worked. Next thing I knew, I woke up with Bill bending over me with a hand on my shoulder. He was worried, it was 7:15! I was okay, and happy for the extra few hours of rest.

This is a pretty trail, rocky in places so watch where you're
going!

Bill had a lot on his mind and last night we went to bed with our heads bursting. We’d talked on the phone yesterday to 3 people from home about the situation and this time were encouraged to jump on the band wagon and head for home. This morning, our Premier for Ontario announced that Ontario is in a State of Emergency.

This picture is of the office from the main road
but the trail brought me down behind the building
very left of the photo

There are many concerns for our health insurance coverage. Many providers could possibly cut consumers off on Mar. 23^rd. This prompted us to check with Manulife, our provider, and they will honour their commitment for all existing policies. However, Bill and I have unitedly agreed to make the push for home, now. No panic but just move as far as we can in a day with one-night stopovers.

Bill was dumping tanks etc.when I returned

Because we are not travelling back alone, we needed to talk to Ken and Kim, knowing that this is the exact opposite of what we said we were going to do. We wanted them to feel free to make their own choices and that we weren’t expecting them to ‘jump ship’ unless they were ‘on board’ to do so.  After a chit chat, they are coming along with us. We packed up, dumped tanks and added some fresh water for travel.

This little tree is laden with blue berries

 I walked down the little trail that I love to the Office to inform them we were pulling out. I grabbed a couple of David Baldacci books from their full book shelves and huffed and puffed up the hills back home. I was glad for the walk though.  

I'm not sure of the significance of the owl rocks
but I loved them

We were only ‘out’ $6 by leaving a night early. We believe whole heartedly that we are making the right choice for us, our health and safety. We pulled out at 9:45 with the Wilson’s bringing up the rear end of our now shorter convoy.

This campground, Hidden Valley, is well hidden but it is definitely not a valley
We are up quite high here

Our travel mates making the turn back onto I-40E

By 10:45, we were driving through some heavy foggy areas. The terrain on either side was that of hundreds of staghorn cholla cacti. The temperature was a mild 47F/8C and I-40E still left a lot to be desired in spots. We chugged along, making pretty good time even with pretty steady traffic. 

At 11:15 we had to pass a Rest Area (which I could have used!) because it was closed. Next R.A. 50 miles, I was desperate for that one. Grrr, it was closed too but I told Bill we had no choice so he pulled into the turning lane and parked along the curb. Thankfully, the Journey was with us so we were able to use their facilities w/o opening any slides.

Frustrating as all get out

Back on the road at 12 noon. What good are the R.A.’s to travelers when they are closed? Very inconvenient, I'll say. All refreshed, we crossed into Texas at 1:00 and within minutes, lost another hour. 

Home is only an hour ahead of us now. We journeyed to Amarillo, TX and took Exit 60 to fuel up and just down the road stopped at Cadillac Ranch. It was dry and fairly warm, mid 50’s, but very mucky so after some painting and pictures, we had a muddy mess to clean off our shoes. It was worth the stop.

Not sure of the significance of tossing the boots either
but at least these were painted for the theme!

10 Cadillacs buried nose down in 1974
In the ground longer than they were on the road

If you look at the bottom of the caddy, you should be able
to see our names in bright green
for St. Patty's day!

Before pulling onto the interstate again, we opened up the Suite on one side and had some cheese, meat and Keebler’s Flip Side crackers. Yum, they are nice with one side cracker and the flip side pretzel.  Thanks Dave and Cheryl for the tip! 

Drove through a fair bit of this today

We were back on the road at 4 pm. The sky was a mass of clouds but you got the sense that the sun wasn’t far behind them. Other than some thick fog patches crossing Texas, it was a good drive day.

The price of diesel is incredible in Texas!

A familiar Texas Rest Area for a lot of us snowbirders

Around 6 pm, the rain started and we forged on until 7 when we reached Walmart in Elk City, OK. We managed 416 miles today and feel really good about the distance we covered. I missed the sign to Oklahoma so took one from the Info Centre that we passed. 

We found lots of room in the parking lot for big rigs so got situated easily. It was still raining lightly but nipped across the lot to see what was in the store that we may need over the next week. A lot of empty shelves but we picked up some milk, bread, Zero Coke and sausage. No ground beef, pork or turkey to be had. I'll check at 7 am again.

Still pretty landscapes as we drive along

Something about these roads on each side of the Interstate
makes for a nice picture

Since we had lunch around 3 pm CST, we didn’t feel too hungry. We snacked on chips and dip. This was a good day, steady driving with a bit of fun at Cadillac Ranch in the middle. 

funny thing
I forgot to pull all of these items in the sink, like I always do
The only thing that moved during the 6+ hours today
was our Oral B brush popped out of the holder
LOL

We aren’t regretting our decision, instead feeling it is the right thing to do and we’ll worry about the next step when we cross the border. The only thing I forgot to do today, was to wear my green shirt! LOL

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVERYONE!

Here is where we are tonight (see Ken in between our rigs?)
Good night all!

Thank you for popping in and have a great evening!