APR. 11, Friday, sightseeing around Alamogordo
WOW! What a day!!! It started by driving to the White Sands National Memorial Park where we visited the National Memorial Park and the surrounding desert. We paid our $6. entrance fee and proceeded to the far end, approx. 8 miles away. On the way, we stopped at the road side history cards and visited a few area such as the boardwalk where we saw foliage and critters footprints, a dry lake and it's formation then drove to the picnic area where we climbed a huge sand hill. The sand was loose and we had to remove our shoes to climb it. It was fun and Tucker also enjoyed it. The picnic table were covered with an interesting roof design(see pictures). From there, we drove around the end and saw a filming set with Jack Black as the "movie Star" and the movie was a comedy called "Year One". He was famous for the "school of Rock"!
Took some pictures then left and went by an area where there were 6 school bus parked and the sand hill was full of kids and adults sliding down the slopes. From there, we stopped at a Nature walk and hiked for about a mile around the sand dunes and looked at the foliage growing within that environment. It was really neat and sure interesting. Amazing what can grow amongst sand dunes
On the way out, we stopped at the Visitor Centre and bought a souvenir then drove back to Alamogordo where we took Hwy 82 north. We drove up the mountain to 8695 feet. What a climb and what a view of the valley! WOW! WOW! We walked around the village which was like a western cowboy town and had lunch (which was EXCELLENT!!) and visited most of all the little shops. Val bought a weaving basket made by local Indians(Apache).
We drove back down the mountain and stopped at the Space Museum. Again, it was very interesting. It held the history of the first atom bomb test site at "Trinity site" north and near of here, a history of the advanced made in rocket building and space adventure. One of the shuttle landed here in Holloman AFB. We started on the fourth floor and slowly walked down visiting all the different exhibitions. It was awesome and very well laid out. We spent almost two hours in there.
We arrived back at our park after fuelling up for our trip tomorrow. Had dinner and now it's relaxing time and a time to reflect on our full day. The wind has come up again but it's supposed to calm down by the morning. We head north to Amarillo, Texas in the morning. We've enjoyed our stay here. There is a lot more to see but it's time to go!
APR. 12, Saturday, into Texas
We were on the road by 8:20 a.m. Took Hwy 70 north-east to Tularosa. From Tularosa we climbed to 6000 feet through the Sacramento Mountains which was the last set of mountains before the plains. Drove through some very pretty little villages and for the last time, we descended to a valley and finally onto the foothills. We kept going and the rolling hills slowly changed to a flat prairie like country side. We arrived at Roswell, where a UFO and an Alien were found, as the story goes. There even was a movie made on the rumours. The town is full of all kinds of tourist attractions on Aliens. I stopped for fuel here and took on 10 gallons @ 4.199
We continued north-east on hwy 70 to Clovis where we stopped for a quick lunch at a road side picnic area. We soon arrived at our cross-road where we turned onto Hwy 60 and finally crossed into TEXAS! Stopped again in Friona for fuel: 14 gallons @ 3.959 From here, it was an easy drive to Canyon and finally arrived in Amarillo where we spent the night at "Ranch RV and water Park", (Passport America) A very nice park worth spending time in but now this time around. The sky is clear and it is cool but still very comfortable. We had a tail wind all day and averaged about 12.5 miles to the gallons which is very good, considering.
N 35* 11' 43" W 101* 46' 26"
Altitude: 3660 feet Distance today: 530 KM
@ an average speed of 54 mph
APR. 13, Sunday, Oklahoma City
Left at 8:15 and stopped at Flying J for fuel : 8 gallons @3.91, and breakfast Also took on propane @ $23.95 (Everything has gone up)
We got on I-40 and drove on and on eastward bound. The country side was flat and just like the prairies at home. Flat and boring. We did see a HUGE "Cross" on the side of the highway which claimed to be the biggest cross in the universe!? (see pictures)
Stopped in Shamrock for fuel before hitting Oklahoma which was a mistake; took on 17 gallons at $4.06 and as soon as we crossed into Oklahoma, a few miles down the road, fuel was $3.89. My luck!!!
The wind was getting stronger and stronger as we got further east. Blowing from the north, it was hitting us on the side and making driving somewhat difficult. The country side was very beautiful. Some rolling hills, lots of trees and lots of farm land. We could also lots of cattle in the fields. We arrived in Oklahoma City around 3 p.m. and parked at Rockwell RV, a "Good Sam" park. We will stay here for 2 days as we want to visit the city. Fuelled at Flying J: 17 gallons @ 3.839
Went to Wal-Mart for some basic groceries such as bread and milk. Time to relax from a long day.
N 35* 27' 30" W 097* 38' 04"
Altitude: 1230 feet Distance: 402 km
Average speed of 55 mph.
APR. 14, Monday,
We had a late start this morning. I guess we haven't caught up to the time change (Central Time).
We drove to "Stockyards City" about 3 miles away from here, then we took the trolley to Oklahoma City centre. First, though, we went to check the "famous" stockyards. It was HUGE. This place dates back to the early 1800's when cowboy would come into town with hundreds of cattle to sell to markets in the East. Ever seen "LONESOME DOVE"???? We were impressed with the place. We climbed on an elevated boardwalk and we had a full view of all the cattle pen. There were hundred of them and as many cattle. Being Monday, they had a live auction and we got to see it. We saw cowboy steer the cattle towards the auction house. We walked inside the house/barn where they had the auction. It consisted of a big room like an amphitheatre. They would bring small groups of cattle (3 to 8) and then they auction would begin and ranchers would wager on the stock they wanted.
Afterwards, we went into the city within a city and walked a couple streets before taking the trolley to downtown Oklahoma City, also know as OK city. We walked around for a while, found the canal which according to the Visitor Centre, was built before the one in San Antonio. It was nice but not as nice as the one on San Antonio.( am I being prejudice?) We took another trolley to see the National Memorial where McVeigh and his accomplice bomb a federal building on April 19, 1995. It was a moving and awesome experience and we both shed a tear as we walked the grounds and looked at the Memorial. The gates at the East side and west side represents one minute before and one minute after the explosion.. On one side, there are 168 empty chairs in 9 rows representing the 9 floors of the building and the 168 people that lost their lives. 19 children also perish in this atrocity. The other side had a tree that survived the explosion and a wall full of kids drawing from all over the country and the world. It really was heartwrenching.
We took the trolley back to our truck at the Stockyard, after having lunch, and came home.
Heard back from Fleetwood and we have an appointment, not with them but with an RV dealership near there. Also got an appointment for an oil change tomorrow morning, first thing.
We leave tomorrow for Arkansas and Missouri.
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