On the Road Again

We left Knoxville, Tennessee on October 23 around 6:30pm and drove all the way across the state on I-40 through Memphis and Arkansas only stopping for gas and potty breaks and a couple of hamburgers. We did take a little nap at a rest area in Arkansas during the early morning hours.

By day light we were in Oklahoma just in time to visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The guard there was very helpful showing us the layout of the monuments and helping us find the memorial for one of our friends - Ted Allen.

We crossed the Chisholm Trail near Yukon, Oklahoma.

Dinner was at Del's Restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico with Jackie Smith serving us a great meal. The chicken enchiladas are excellent. I asked for extra salsa and was pleasantly surprised with almost a bowl full of the hot spicy stuff. Jackie was great.

Close to the Curio exit in New Mexico, we stopped where we found a little ghost community running along both sides of I-40. The town thrived when they had a train stop. After the train no longer ran and the interstate diceted it the folks all moved away leaving property and vehicles behind. Today, only a couple of homes are occupied. All the businesses are closed and the church is being maintained by one of the remaining residents.

Other than those brief stops, we didn't take time to stop much this time on the way out, passing up the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo and of course the Cadillac Ranch. The first night (in a real bed) was spent in Santa Rosa, New Mexico (1300 miles from home) at the Motel 6. We look for what Mark calls "down and out" type motels. He prefers to park at the door and not lug suitcases up and down stairs. Motel 6 is predictably clean and cheap.

Not bad for the first 24 hours.
Sharon Cawood