The West is the Best - 2007

Part 1 - On the Road Again
Last Modified:
Index of this bloated blog

Getting Ready and Getting There (this page)

West of the Pecos
Albuquerque and Grants Route 66 Landmarks
Colorado - Here We Come Are
To Moab ..... and Beyond

I Need a Vacation!

Here starteth the litany of events that has made the beginning of this adventure somewhat anti-climactic and not one filled with the usual high expectations and sorely needed rush of adrenaline. In fact, were it not for a number of people (remember, zero is also a number) cajoling me to write this gibberish, and were it not for a gosh-awful miserable, crappy, wet, foggy, overcast, steam-bath, morning in beautiful southern Illinois' copperhead snake filled Giant City State Park, this page would be toast. So, when you read this feeble attempt at writing, remember that I was forced into this arduous task due many circumstances beyond my control.

Most of the late spring and summer was spent thinking (oops, I mean planning) about everything that needed to be done before this trip. Then the last 4 weeks were spent feverishly implementing the "plan" during the hottest days of the year. For example, 10+ squares of re-roofing & shingling (thank goodness for friends, Harbor Freight, and an inexpensive but much used air nailer!), a lot of Jeep work, an excruciatingly difficult and frustrating four week project at work, weekly obligatory parties (yeah, it's a tough life), and the coup de grâce - a crescendo of wayward electrons.

The FN JP, prepared for Rhino lining of the tub's interior. Too bad I told the Rhino dude to follow the lines I painted on the tub for the lining. The Rhino dude tried to tell me that he knew where to spray the stuff, but nooooo, I obviously knew better. Oh well, a second trip back to the Rhino dude for some additional touch up solved the Jeep's missing lining (but not my missing brain!) This was only one of the many Jeep projects this year, not only on my Jeep but on several others.

About a week before leaving, a storm blew through that left our marvelously mismanaged electric company scratching their anatomy trying to restore power to a mere 200,000 people. An errant tree took down one phase of a 12,000 volt line a few houses away, arced on the ground for 4 or 5 hours, and provided entertainment for the the neighbors, the fire department, and of course, me. It took our marvelously mismanaged electric company almost four days to restore power. Thank goodness for generators! The cost: a burned arm, a defunct exciting winding capacitor in the generator, and probably a generous donation to our local natural gas company which provided the fuel. All's well that ends well.
The beginning of the trip was a drive down to Southern Illinois which was uneventful except for the poor waitress that slipped on a wet floor in a Murphysboro BBQ joint. She slipped, with a full load of food (not mine, whew!) and landed squarely on her keister with food flying in all directions. Being a young college woman with some padding, she appeared not to be hurt. Sadly, the same could not be said for the food. When another waitress arrived, was told of the 'event' and the final resting position of the other waitress, her only response was "Awesome!!!!" Ahhhh, to be young again! And yes, the non-flying food was excellent.
From the BBQ joint, a short drive to the aforementioned Giant City State Park was made. It was dusk, had rained, and it was so hot and so muggy that the outside of the front windshield was fogging up. After going into the park on the route that stupid Woodall's camping book suggested, we drove for what seemed like an eternity on a road obviously not designed for a motor home, knocking branches off of trees with the RV and trying to stay on the one lane road. It was like "Where the hell am I and where the hell am I going?" Oh yeah, the foliage was so thick that Barbie, my Garmin GPS traveling companion, also got disoriented. After a really fun drive, the campground appeared out of nowhere. Only afterwards did we find a much more direct and appropriate route of egress. And then the campground keeper warned me about the copperhead snakes. Oh my! But there is good news: beer sure did taste good out of a real glass beer glass after the shock of having a number of real beer glasses in the RV wore off.

No satellite reception here.
The following morning's weather was as bad as the previous night's. Instead of thrusting myself into the steam bath outside, decided instead to start this tripe (thus explaining the cryptic comment in the opening paragraph.) But eventually a drive to Anna was made and by afternoon the sun was out and the humidity started to drop. So what does one do later that day to relax from the stressful morning in beautiful downtown Anna? Aha! One goes on a tour of Illinois' finest wineries via the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail. Now that was a trip. Many wines were tasted and a number of bottles purchased in a moment of weakness. I was even able to retrieve my credit card later that day (another story.....) But the drive was nice. The weather was great. Sadly most of the wine wasn't....even for me. But perhaps my whining about the wine was because of my well-known discerning taste for wine - or the lack of cherry trees.

Let it be known that some people down here do have a sense of humor --- I think!!

The Pomona Quick-Stop.

We went through Alto Pass on the whirlwind tour of Illinois' finest vineyards. I remembered Alto Pass was famous for something and courtesy of Limbo, I found it...so it must be true! At any rate, it's an entertaining story.

The world famous oil-well firefighter and accomplished lawnmower racer Dr. "Uncle Porky" Shomeyer lived in Alto Pass most of his life; he once single handedly saved an entire school bus of special education children from a forest fire near the local wildlife park "Rattlesnake Ferry." Porkchop, as he preferred to be called, was known for his daredevil antics -- he was known to jump his own house on the CR500 that he had named "The Baby-Maker."

Dr. Shomeyer also founded the University of Mud. This children's program was designed to keep kids away from drugs by getting them off the street and into a mudhole. It ran from November 1986 until April 1988, when an eleven-year-old boy lost his life in a horrific accident when Porkchop's CJ caught fire and remained half-submerged in a lake of mud for nearly an hour.

He currently resides in Pomona, IL near a large pond.

Air conditioned and endorsed by AAA. It don't get no finer than this.

The drive was most enjoyable on the one lane roads and a good time was had. But while the drive was fine, this area "ain't my cup o'tea." It's extremely heavily forested (duh, the Shawnee National Forest!) and I periodically like to see the sky. It's in an area that appears to not be the most prosperous. And there were many, many, nifty looking old roads that had been closed down, I guess to 'protect' the public land from the public. Even Barbie was surprised as many of the closed roads were still shown as valid roads.

While the rolling hills were pretty (when one could see the hills for the trees), this merely reaffirmed what I've always known: give me a mountain or desert any day. But youse folks south of I-64, please don't take that personally.

So back to camp, had supper and a number of beers. Tomorrow: head 'em up, move 'em out!

Started the RV at 7 AM and woke up most of the folks in S. Illinois with an excruciatingly loud squealing noise from the back the the RV. WTF! The damn main engine belt was squealing as the alternator seemed to have had an issue with rotation. CRAP. Well, at least it's Friday and I might be able to get parts. After removing the 40 lb 160 amp alternator, the problem was obvious. One of the three 8" long bolts that goes through the entire alternator and holds it together had come loose and the head of the 8" bolt was jammed in the vanes of the cast aluminum alternator fan preventing rotation. Three of the vanes were not happy!

I cut the bolt at the bend and the rest of the bolt slid through the mounting holes and out. The alternator would then rotate. Many calls later, a search for a replacement alternator proved futile. Consensus among alternator rebuilders was to not worry about the imbalance of the vanes and not to worry about the one bolt missing (kinda sounds like me!) The other two "should" hold it. So put the damn thing together sans bolt and it seemed to run fine. It rotated and alternated! Talk about dumb luck!
Rant on: Once again, this failure was due to incredibly poor design on the part of Country Coach. What a bunch of morons they had there in 1998 that designed this coach. Hopefully most of them have moved on. The rocket science designers added an RF suppression device to the end of this bolt and the added mass vibrating is what caused the failure. Add to this the FU'd design of the charge air cooler as well as almost 100 other design flaws that I've fixed over the years and it has become painfully (and financially) obvious to me that those who designed this coach had their heads stuck in a part of their anatomy that is anatomically impossible - - - or - - - it was designed by a committee. Rant off.

So now drove to Cape Girardeau (on the way anyhow) and got a replacement belt as the old one was trashed and I used my spare. Also picked up some threaded rod to bolt it together again tomorrow. No complaints!

From there, headed out through Southern Missouri through some kinda scenic areas. Couldn't have impressed me too much as no photos were taken on the 418 mile trek across MO to Baxter Springs, KS. Did manage to get one off as we drove over the impressive Mississippi bridge at the Cape.

Once again, trees are nice but give me a mountain or desert any day.

Finally pulled into a great city park at Baxter Springs, KS, right on the MO-OK-KS border about 7:30. $10. Water, sewer and 50 amp service! Today was good - dodged another bullet. No complaints about that at all! Kinda wanted to have some of that lovely Illinois wine we purchased yesterday but I've already pushed my luck enough for today! No sense in taunting lady luck a second time. Beer will be fine tonight, thank you! And later..... mmmmmm....yesssssss! It was excellent!
Oooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain ......

The next morning, I exercised my rights as a native born Iowan and did my thang (Oklahoma speak), snapped a few photos, and replaced the belt on the RV. Ooops, I forgot to mention my close encounter with the black water tank. Another shitty story for another day.

So then there's this surplus RV store we passed last night 30 miles back that looked intriguing. Called them and no answer. I bet they're closed for the Labor Day weekend. But...we journeyed back there anyhow just to be sure. Yup. Still closed.

It was a nice day for a drive on I-44. After returning from whence we came (Baxter Springs), we headed off on old Route 66 to Tulsa. There were some remnants of motels, gas stations and what not, but with the RV it was too difficult to stop on a dime or turn around if something was missed. Ergo, I want to come back and drive certain sections of Route 66 with the FN JP so I can get my kicks.

Up a lazy river.....by the old campground
We did drive through Claremore and a trip to the Will Rogers museum would have been delightful but alas, that was not to be. Sigh. So instead we RV'd down to Tulsa. Not being a city person, Oklahoma City had little appeal. Instead, elected to go north of Oklahoma City and spend the night in Guthrie. What a pleasant surprise! Guthrie was the state Capitol at one time until those nasty folks from Oklahoma City stole it away like a thief in the night. It's a small town but with fascinating red brick buildings, many of them restored to their former glory. The drive through the town was most enjoyable, however the same could not be said for the BBQ meal. Note to self.....if you stop at a restaurant near the interstate (first mistake) and there are cars there from out of state but no locals, perhaps it's not the best place to eat in town (2nd mistake.) Que sera sera.


But the highlight was yet to come. The Beacon Drive-In movie theater was still in business...and as an added bonus.....this is the theater that was used in the movie Twister. COOL! Windshield down, a 6-pack of beer and some popcorn.....all was well. It was a fine evening except for the movie that sucked, but it was just a lot of fun to be at a drive-in movie on a pleasantly cool evening and drink beer to my heart's content.

Tomorrow will be a little more of Route 66 - definitely a couple museums and then maybe, not sure, but maybe get down to Amarillo and Palo Duro Canyon for the night.

The Mother Road
or
Amarillo by Mornin'
(tomorrow morning!)

Morning has risen! Screw it! Too much to see and do on Route 66 to pass up. When there's something to see, I'll park the RV and we'll take the Jeep. So decided to take a slow day and wind up wherever in the evening. Upon leaving the campground, noticed there were more trailers that were half and half - half living quarters and half horse quarters than there were any other type of trailer or RV. Some of the horses' quarters were even air conditioned. Life has changed out on the prairie.

After leaving the campground, headed past a maybe 20 - 40 acre lake with a bunch of cables around the perimeter perhaps 30 feet high. Hmmm? Then I see something moving along the cable. Attached to that was another cable and following it down, there was a water skier! Apparently these cables move on rollers and can pull a number of water skiers. Sadly, no photo, but it was pretty cool to see it work. Then we passed several golf courses. At a subsequent intersection, there were a number of peddlers on the side of the road peddling their wares. Their wares you may ask? Golf balls! Now that was funny, seeing tables full of golf balls and folks proclaiming the attributes of their balls.

THEN....a half hour later, while on a 2-lane headed back to Route 66 from Guthrie, was moving right along when this MFer in an oncoming red car starts to drift into the center lane and then finally fully in my lane. WTF!!!!! We were both going maybe 60 mph and I didn't relish the idea of the grill of his car in my crotch. He (or she) wasn't about to blink so I steered to the right, into the ditch (yes, with all 38,000 lbs of motorhome and Jeep at 60 mph) and missed the prick by only a few inches it seemed. Holy merde! Thank goodness it was not a deep ditch, nor a soft ditch, nor containing a big ass cement culvert like the one we went by only seconds after getting the RV back on the road, still doing about 60! Sheeeeat! Dodged yet another bullet. That could have ruined the whole day. I still can't believe how lucky we were. That was by far the closest call I've ever had with another car at high speed in my life. No damage to the RV. Nerves were all OK. Not much to do about it so kept on truckin'. But I wasn't thinking nice thoughts about the asshole that could have sent us to the happy hunting ground!
About noonish, decided to unload the Jeep and hunt for the bridge that was used in the film, "The Grapes of Wrath." Drove down some delightfully dusty roads south of Geary and came upon this sign. "Well hell! I've got a Jeep. I can go anywhere! Doesn't look too bad from here!"
NOT!

It seems this area was that which was recently flooded and a ~20 foot wide, ~20 foot deep chunk of the road was missing from the far side of a bridge. As building a ramp to jump the crevasse would have been too much work, we reluctantly turned around and continued the hunt for the elusive Grapes of Wrath bridge.

And find it we did! However, this does raise the question, at what temperature was the bridge measured at 3,844.33 feet? And how much does it expand and contract with temperature changes? Enquiring minds want to know!

Awesome Route 66 bridge. Below, on the river bed, there were miles of 4x4 trails in the sand bottom.
So supposedly, this bridge was used in the movie Grapes of Wrath. Most the bridge action took place at the west end of the bridge, as shown here. BTW, under the bridge were a number of folks having picnics and playing on their ATVs in the sand. Looked like a nice, fun, playground! But alas!

Movin' on. Next stop on the Route 66 de jour was the awesome museum in Clinton. Sufficient time was spent in the museum to thoroughly enjoy it!

And across the street is the Trade Winds Inn. Elvis used to stay there often on his automobile trips back and forth to the West Coast. His room, 215, has been preserved as it was then and can still be rented. No data on the rates!

On to Sayer. There were a number of attractions, including an original soda fountain still in operation as well as the courthouse that made a cameo appearance at the beginning of the Grapes of Wrath. But by the time we arrived, 5 PM, the drug store was closed. So the plan was to move on to Erick and honor the memories of Sheb Wooley and Roger Miller, as well as pay homage to the 100th Meridian. But, there was this city park in Sayer that beckoned to me. After finding a delightful campsite ($12/night, water and 50 amp service!) and pounding down a number of Bitter End beers, it seemed staying here would be a prudent thing to do. Cooked some burgers and then decided to go for a short evening drive in the FN Jeep.

All's well that ended well.......again. The day was a success......we're still alive. Perhaps tomorrow morning Amarillo will be in sight.


A 1930's cement mixer used in the construction of Route 66.

The Grapes of Wrath courthouse. Probably looks more like the one in the movie if this would be black and white.

A short little trail down to the North Fork of the Red River at sunset. Awesome!
A Quick Trip Through Texas
Slept in. Felt good. On the road again. Buzzed through the remaining few small towns in Oklahoma on Route 66 and a few Texas towns on the way to Armadillo, I mean Amarillo (yeah, saw plenty of the former, also!) Sadly, most of the towns had rolled up the sidewalks for the day. However, a few of these towns had some attractions quirky enough to warrant a visit next time through this area when traveling I-40. So, for your armchair traveling pleasure, here are some select photos of world famous attractions that should be on everybody's "must-see" list...........OK, OK, so I exaggerate!

Erick, OK. Home of Sheb Wooley and Roger Miller. The Roger Miller museum was closed for the day. But then again, what would one expect to see in a Roger Miller museum? Trailers for sale or rent?

Now this I wanted to see! And what would one put in a museum dedicated to the 100th Meridian? A bunch of meridians?

Gotta love the restored cafes and gas stations. Well, you don't "gotta," but they are so 30s.

A restored Phillips 66 station. There's a whole story behind how they got the name. At any rate, check out the oil change apparatus on the left of the photo. I want one of those!

Goodness gracious, great balls of barbed wire. Look but don't touch. Ouch!


Too bad this saguaro is 400 miles from its native habitat. Oh...wait...it's not real. But this is Route 66. Who cares!
Below, "Bug Ranch," an alleged parody of "Cadillac Ranch," which is an alleged parody of "Car Henge," which is an alleged parody of "Stonehenge." And who knows, maybe Stonehenge is a parody of something also? And the leg bone connected to the thigh bone.
Get your "kitsch" on Route 66. Isn't this a great tour? ? ? Are we there yet? ? ?

And no quick trip though Texas would be complete without a photo of one of these things.

The original plan was to pull in to Canyon (the city), visit Palo Duro Canyon and also see some of the museums in the Amarillo/Canyon area as well as pay homage to the Cadillac Ranch. Well, there weren't many "acceptable" campgrounds to choose from so we wound up in the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon....a GREAT place, however. I was very pleased with it. Quiet. Serene...and that's because they have 'tricity here and no one runs their generators! But sadly, this is off the edge of the Sprint universe so am having severe internet withdrawal pains. Perhaps a glass of fine Illinois wine might help!

And also sadly, the tours of the museums and the world renowned Cadillac Ranch were not meant to be this trip for a variety of reasons. So instead, took a short drive around Canyon (the city - not impressed) and retired early to Camp David, cooked some pork chops, had a few beers, took a hike, and chilled for the day.

Epilogue: Went out after dark and contemplated the stars. How many others must be doing the same tonight? Wow! They weren't as spectacular as around Moab due to the ambient light from Armadillo, but spectacular just the same. The Milky Way, a gazillion stars (+/- 1), a couple satellites and a shooting star. Not bad. What a great evening to be outside. 70°, ~20% humidity, and about a 15 mph constant breeze. What a night! No TV. No noise. Just me and the universe! Amazing what the gazillion (+/- 1) stars and a number of glasses of Kir (my new favorite wine: 85% apple, 15% black currant - surprise!) from the world famous vineyards of Illinois can do to soothe one's soul. Ahhhhhhh!

Palo Duro Canyon. Allegedly, the 2nd "largest" canyon in the U.S. It's OK. Very pretty but have been to others that knock the rocks off this one. But that's just my opinion.....and you know the saying about opinions!

Camp David, a great campsite at the end of the park. The West is the best!
Tomorrow will climb the 2 miles of 10%+ grade and, if we make it out of Palo Duro Canyon, the plan will be to head to central New Mexico and see what's there. I'm sure this will be another thrilling experience for all! Will also try to re-enter the Sprint universe or steal some wi-fi to upload this rambling. Just call me Ramblin' Dave - as opposed to Ramblin' Rose (though ramblin' rosé might be ok at times), or ramblin' Jack or whomever. Are we there yet?
The Land of Enchantment

Hey Hey! Made it out of the Canyon and lo and behold, the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in town was now open. Stopped in for a "short" tour and spent 3 hours there. Awesome museum! And driving around Canyon trying to find a parking spot for the caravan, I only tore one of the air horns off the roof due to low hanging trees. But the museum was great and the horn can be fixed. And besides that, sitting here on a back street, I found an unsecured network. Life is good sometimes! NOW finally on to New Mexico or thereabouts! We will be in "dark territory" for the next few days......no cell nor internet.

This is one BIG museum! There were 4 or 5 rooms of exhibits just on the oil industry in Texas. This is a 1920s steam driven oil well rig.

My buddy, T-Rex. Carnivores are cool!

This was my favorite!

All in all, a great experience in the largest museum of Texas history in the great state of Texas. Yippee ! ! !

Got going about 1 PM. Heading out on US 60 towards New Mexico, we missed the "Cowgirl Hall of Fame" in Hereford. Damn! And on arriving in Norm Petty's Clovis, where Buddy Holly recorded his best songs, we also found that this weekend will be the Clovis Music Festival with many tributes to West Texas musicians like Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, the Fireballs, Buddy Knox, and a whole lot more. Would be nice to attend this, just like it would be nice to attend the Winter Dance Party in Clear Lake. Sigh. Maybe someday.

Highway 60 through the middle of NM is a great road. Very small, almost ghost towns, along the way. Love it! And besides that, it the BNSF railroad parallels it. What more could one ask for? ........Well, actually quite a bit, but hey, it's a vacation!
So about 4, wound up in Ft. Sumner, a place of some notoriety. It's a place where the crafty Navajo were severely mistreated by Kit Carson and the U.S. Government. It's the place where Billy the Kid was shot and is buried in his "real" grave (the sign says so, ergo it must be true.) It's the place of the largest privately owned tract of land in the country at one time. It's also the place where I emptied my bottle of excellent Kir. Awwwww. It's a place where we got 50 amp service, water, cable, and no one camped near us for $15 a night.

This place is so full of history and trivia - way more than I can go into here (I know what you're thinking.....thank goodness!) So, if you are so inclined to be entertained, look up Billy the Kid on the internet. According to the road signs, he should have been killed and buried here.

And, if you want to be ashamed of our government's treatment of this land's Native Americans, check the internet and see what Kit Carson and our illustrious government did to the Navajos at Ft. Sumner. It's downright friggin' shameful. I could make comments on Affirmative Action and how it ignored those thousands who were killed, and to this day, mistreated, for defending their lands but I won't pontificate on that. (Thank goodness again!)

Now it's time for a sunset ride.


Note the glaring "plug" for Texas International. And just how do they define "International?" Flights out of the state? And how did "Big John" get his moniker?

So to keep Billy safe, they put up a cage to keep people out and to keep him in. Makes for lousy photos.

Killed at age 21 by sheriff Pat Garrett only a few feet from here. 21 marks are on the gravestone, specifically, one for each man he killed. The gravestone proclaims "truth and history," therefore it must be true.


While the Zia in Ft. Sumner (the town), is closed, its memories of Roy Rogers and Saturday matinees lives on. Love it! And yes, I do remember the 10¢ Saturday western matinees back in Iowa over a half century ago. Scary, huh?

There's this big ass bridge over the Pecos River and a lot of BNSF trains through here each day. Couldn't resist a sunset photo of a train crossing the Pecos.

Sunsets melt my heart and make me melancholy and pensive (yes, both at the same time.) So with that, shall end today's blather and open another bottle of wine so I can wallow in my melancholyness and pensiveness.
West of the Pecos
As usual, these pages become pretty unwieldy and sometimes slow to load. So with some reluctance, if you want to inflict more pain on yourself by continuing this adventure, click here for Part II.
Started: 01 August 2007
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