Day 84 - A Thoroughly Entertaining Day
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
86
161
Trip End
Nov 08, 2008
Clarendon,
Texas,
United States
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Then it was 20 lengths in record time in the pool for Mel, showers and packing up and we left the site around 1.45, nearly two hours later than we should have! Mel had wanted to use the gym to counter the effects of the "Blizzards", but that would have been really taking the mickey, and besides we needed to get groceries and find somewhere to get our propane tank filled as it ran out this morning when we went to put the kettle on. It's a good job it didn't run out last night while we were doing dinner as the approaching storm made it far too windy to cook outside on the barbie.
Cadillac Ranch 1 © MFox 2008
We had seen Wal-Mart on the way into town yesterday, so knew exactly where to go, but first we took a little detour a few miles down the road to "Cadillac Ranch". It's a public art installation comprising 10 old Cadillacs which have been half-buried, nose-first in the ground. They're covered in graffiti, as you are actively encouraged to doodle on them. Unfortunately we forgot to buy some spray paint before we went. Lots of other people haven't though, the paint is so thick on these old shells, they ain't ever gonna rust!
From here we headed for Wal-Mart, stopping briefly at a camping supplies store and also at a Dairy Queen. The power of advertising! Sadly the DQ wasn't up to the usual standard. Mel's had to be sent back because it was runny. DQ claim that their Blizzards are so thick that you can hold them upside down, so Neil tried it with his and lost some of it to the table!!
After Wal-Mart and a fuel stop, we went in search of a fuel station selling propane and found one relatively easily thanks to directions from the people at the gas station. Finally ready to the hit the road again we headed due east, and the temptation became too great, we just had to do it....
Cadillac Ranch 2 © MFox 2008
. put "Is This The Way To Amarillo?" on the MP3 and sing along at full volume, all the while grinning at images of our friend Jasmin dancing to it very enthusiastically at his wedding 3 years earlier! We took a combination of the I-40 and the old 66 running parallel to it, and were amazed to discover that, just as the song says, "just beyond the city, there's an open plain"!! We passed a couple of interesting features on this stretch of road. Firstly the "Largest Cross In The Western Hemisphere", tipped to be a "spiritual experience you will never forget". Well we will certainly never forget it, but amazingly we didn't find the huge steel (or whatever it was) construction remotely spiritual. Then there was the "famous" Route 66 landmark, the leaning water tower at Britten. Not exactly the Leaning Tower Of Pisa, but close!
Just after Britten we turned off and headed south for about 15 miles before arriving at our camping spot for the night. It's basically a bit of land next to a lake owned by the local water authority, with a couple of Portaloos (we'll be using our own)! According to our book it should cost us about $6, but despite driving between the two "sites" there was no-one about to collect the money, so it will either be a free night or they will have to come get it from us.
Miles travelled: 100
Total miles travelled: 7785
Days on road: 64
States visited: 12
National Parks visited: 11
