Oct 18, 2012 - Across the Panhandle

We left the New Mexico today and entered the panhandle of Texas. We enjoyed the week or so we spent in New Mexico and have added it to the list of states that we will return to future trips. The panhandle of Texas is high plains and cattle country. Driving across this part of Texas takes a lot less time than when you are traveling along I10, some 675 miles. We expect to be in Oklahoma tomorrow night. Today we alternated between I40 and Route 66 again. When you do this, even with the GPS, the Guide to Route 66, and a Route 66 iPhone app,...

Jun 7, 2012 - From Shamrock, TX

Well we didn't go as far as I was planing, Sharon easily convinced me to stop here in Shamrock, TX. We had traveled through some misting rain in the afternoon and black clouds were coming at us (that was the easy convincing part to stop early). Storms went around us, but nothing happened here. We were fortunate since it was supposed to be thunderstorms. We will be off Friday heading toward Checotah, OK.

Dec 7, 2011 - Arrived in the Texas Panhandle

We got an early start and had a good travel day today. The weather was sunny but cold. Our route took us through Albuquerque and then east through Amarillo on I40 that replaced or parallels old Route 66. Each of the states have marked the original route with "Historic Route 66" signs. I wish I had more time to follow the route, but pulling off I40 and riding through some of the towns along the way will have to suffice for this trip. There were alot of photo ops, so I won't write too much as I have alot of pictures to sort through.

Oct 2, 2011 - Shamrock, TX

After leaving Albuquerque, I took Rt 40 to Amarillo. I had planned to spend the night there,but then I got my second wind and went on to Shamrock, TX. While in Amarillo, I passed a stockyard where there were hundreds of cattle and the smell was so bad, the car reeked. Of course a trip through there would not be complete without visiting an icon of Rt.66 - The Cadillac Ranch. It is off a dusty Rt 66 - you walk thru a field to see these cars buried in the dirt. They have been there for over 60 years. All around are empty cans of spray paint....

Sep 23, 2011 - Weather Balloons in Shamrock, Texas

We decided to stop at the West 40 RV Park in Shamrock Texas for the night. The weather continues to be in the upper 80's and lower 90's. Everything at the park was dry without any green grass. The park is a little west of town and we had to drive about 3 miles on a frontage road to get there. Just before sunset I went out to take a picture of the beautiful sky when I noticed two bright lights in the sky. At first I thought it might be parts of the satellite that was supposed to be coming out of orbit. After getting the binoculars I...

May 29, 2011 - travel to Shamrock TX 5/23/2011

Drove straight thru Oklahoma thru winds gusting up to 60 mph. Better roads than AK but difficult because of the winds. Stayed in a McDonalds parking lot with about 15 other trucks and campers. Saw oil wells, gas wells, wind turbine farms, cattle by the thousands, and lots of empty looking space. The wind farms were amazing. The blades are about 300' each and sometimes the farms have dozens of turbines. They are building more farms in several places we saw. One stockyard had about a mile of rump to rump cattle as far as we could see into the...

Mar 22, 2011 - Blown to Shamrock

There are very few days when wind is an RV’ers friend, but today was one of those days. The west wind literally blew us from Santa Rosa, NM to Shamrock, TX. We left Santa Rosa early because we lost another hour of time when we went into Central Time. We took a quick break for Foxy at a rest stop. I could barely stand up against the wind. We fueled up at Flying J in Amarillo and had lunch at Denny’s there. Most of the former restaurants at Flying J’s are now Denny’s. Food was OK but the service was slow, considering these folks are catering...

Nov 7, 2010 - Oklahoma City, OK - Shamrock, Texas

Soon after we depart Oklahoma City, we enter Canadian County. The first big town we come to is Yukon, which has a large grain elevator advertising Yukon's Best Flour. There is a statue of a big horned bull at the entrance to town, with a mural depicting the cattle-drive history of the area in town. One of the main streets is named for Garth Brooks, and there is a business on the west end of town advertising deer & chicken, interesting combo? We cross over the South Canadian River on the 1933 Pony Bridge, built with 38 pony (small)...

Jun 19, 2009 - Day 15

We had planned to go see the Royal Gorge Bridge this morning before starting home. They guy at the hotel told us that just to see the bridge cost $24 per person and we thought that was a little much just for a picture. They have a bunch of stuff there that we didn't have time to do. So we started home heading down to Trinidad and then going south to New Mexico and then east into Texas. We got as far as Shamrock, TX which made about 500 miles for the day. The skies were looking dark and rainy so we stopped for the night and should make it...

Apr 13, 2009 - McGregor to Shamrock, Texas

We had a nice quiet night and left the agility site about 9:30 in the morning. We drove west until we reached highway #83 then started making our way north. We’ll stay on this highway all the way to Minot North Dakota. We drove about eight hours today – longer than usual but there aren’t that many choices for RV parks out here in the ‘boonies’ so we went all the way to Shamrock in the Texas panhandle to spend the night. They have an internet connection which is nice to have after a several days of being off-line. Shamrock is located at the...

Nov 2, 2008 - Shamrock, Texas

OK, so Carol and Randy were in Shamrock, Texas, which apparently has nothing in the way of technology, such as cell phone signal and internet. Awwwwwww. Poor Carol and Randy. Homeless AND out of touch with civilization. Well, I will make the entry then! Talked to both this morning and they're headed for Rollo, Missouri! Don't know if I spelled that right but who cares! They're halfway cross the country!

Oct 1, 2008 - panhandle musings

Driving across the Texas Panhandle was not what we expected at all. It’s definitely “Big Sky” country. You look out to the north and swear you can see Canada! And not a farm or ranch in sight…just miles and miles of grasslands, fields, pastures, whatever…but no people, no signs of civilization. Reading up on this area, they say it’s a brutal place in the winter…winds come hard and fast across the plains, bringing, in winter, what they call “horizontal snow”…. It would make for a rather boring ride, except for the joys of my laptop. I can...