Sunday, April 9, 2023

Day Two – Journey Home, HAPPY EASTER Y'ALL!

Amarillo Travel Information Centre, Texas

On Easter Sunday, Apr. 9th we were all up by 6:15, washed, fed and watered. 😊 With breakfast dishes cleaned up by hand we were leaving the quiet parking lot of Walmart at 7:06 am. The temperature was almost a carbon copy of yesterday and we once more adorned ourselves in shorts and t-shirts. I slipped my hoody on to start the day knowing with the warm sun, it would soon be off. Gibbs settled instantly in his bed.

Last night's overnight stay in Socorro, NM

Last night's Mexican meal at
El Camino Family Restaurant 

This morning just before pulling out at 7:06

Top picture, on the road, loving the clouds
Bottom picture, within 10 minutes, Gibbs sleeps 💖

I jotted down the information we like to keep track of in my notebook and we took the easy peasy exit onto California St. and then I-25N. We’re almost the only ones on the road, just as we’d hoped for this special Sunday and at this hour. Then it improved even more when we took Exit 175 onto US60E. It’s a 2-lane highway but with very few old homesteads and very sporadic vehicles, we loved this pretty drive for 80+ miles. 😊

Plains, ranches, hilly terrain

We loved this drive on US60 
Old historic homestead on top left
Train (Bill's Dad thinking of us) coming top right
Open flat plains and cattle belonging to
a ranch that is no where in sight.

We passed through Mountainair, which we want to remember has Turner Inn  & RV Park right on the highway, Willard, which was a poor little town, and then Encino which had a post office but nothing else in the way of businesses. Once through it, we found ourselves on a 4-lane highway, US60/US285. We are blown away by the never-ending open ranch land since we got on this highway. We’d take it again in a heartbeat.

who is this good little pooch riding with us?
He has been so good, bless his little ♥

Signage on our route
We were on historic Route 66 for
a few miles

While we drove, I worked on my Samsung phone and watched a video how to change my pictures from  .heic format back to .jpg. That is why I haven’t been able to work with them once downloaded. Good grief, a simple fix but it had to be by mistake that it got switched. Phew! Back in business! 😊 We stopped at Vaughn at a Valero and filled Black Beauty for $4.08/gal. We’re happy with the price and heard from Deb that it gets better still in Texas.

Hilltops covered in staghorn cholla cactus
and
red soil through the flatlands

The Interstate I-40 wasn’t terrible but there were patches of ‘repairs’ ? around MM312 to 315 that rattled our teeth! A few other stretches and then east of Tucumcari, NM, we crossed the state line into Texas and the road was 99% improved. I guess Texas has the funds for that! It is quite warm, at 1 pm (now CDT) it has reached 73F/23C and we are only an hour behind our family and friends at home. No more early morning calls! 😊

Top photo was me trying to get a panorama view
while in the vehicle 
 It didn't work out too well
Bottom picture is Black Beauty bragging about her mileage ♥♥
It didn't last for long and we started climbling

After passing by the Cadillac Ranch, which we’ve stopped at many times for fun, we arrived at tonight’s destination. Amarillo Travel Information Centre is one of those return trip stopovers that we tend to aim for when we come this route. We always get a spot and the rv lanes are extra long. Not that we need to worry tonight but there are also outside washrooms (not portables or outhouses!) built for tornado shelter.


More signage
Leaving one state, entering another

There could be thunderstorms later today with minimal winds so we arrived right on time at 2:06 CDT after 6 hours on the road. Clouds have moved in and we’re set up for the night. 😊 Hearing from almost all of ‘Poker Pool’ ladies was the top off of the day! Happy Easter to all of them back at Park Place.

Approaching Amarillo we started watching
for Cadillac Ranch
It was busy today

I just about missed it!

It was a great travel day! We traveled 344.8 miles today and with the elevation up and down between 4,603’ to 6,526’, Black Beauty pleased us with an average 11.8 mpg. As I finish typing, here comes the rain at 2:45. 

This is our spot for the night

Just two other rv's, nice and peaceful

The calm AFTER the storm
It will be a calm night too.

Gibbs and I walked around after dishes and as you
might guess, he was freaked out by these
metal bull statues.
He's an entertainer all right!

For supper, we warmed up a bowl each of my chili on the stove. Yummy, it was a success!

An Easter meal is not about what you consume,
but who you consume it with. 💓
I ate it with my sweetie.
Good night and I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter!

Thank you for stopping by. Comments are always welcome.

14 comments:

  1. Happy Easter! Glad you had another good day of travel. Gibbs has obviously got this all figured out.

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    1. Thank you.
      Gibbs is our backseat navigator but only when we turn. Haha

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  2. Glad your day went so smoothly and had beautiful weather. Keep on truckin and be safe. Happy Easter.

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  3. Love those good driving days with no traffic. Give Gibbs a big hug for me.

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  4. Nice to hear you had another good travel day and reached your planned destination. Continued safe travels.

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  5. It looks like you enjoyed a beautiful Easter Sunday. We are looking for a high of 98 today...yikes!

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  6. Happy Easter. Great travel day. We love the road across the top of the Mesa on 60. Beautiful but a bit desolate. Enjoy the shorts and t’s, soon changing on our route anyway. Continued safe journey.

    Deb

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  7. Happy Easter a bit late. You are making good time on your journey home.

    God bless.

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