Don't Mess With Texas! #1

I assume from the title you can tell we made it to Texas. Actually we're in Albuquerque,NM for a week of sightseeing and R & R. One of my first priorities is to catch up the blog. The trip from Oklahoma City to Amarillo was good but did have some unexpected challenges. It seems the wind blows most of the time out here on the plains, and it was making up for lost time on our travel day. The velocity meter at the rest area said it was howling at 30mph,  and of course, it had to be a headwind! On top of that, there is a subtle elevation change of about 2000 feet which made the trip more interesting. The elevation change is so subtle you really don't notice it, but our trusty steed did. Our poor ole Chevy Duramax was really laboring, but she came through with flying colors. Our fuel mileage was about 9.5mpg, down from our normal 11.5mpg. Speaking of fuel, the diesel prices have been all over the place, but have been pleasantly lower than expected. We've been on the road about 2 weeks now and have already logged over 2,000 miles on our truck. I'm attempting to keep a log of our fuel and campground expenses and will share them at the end of the trip.

Our destination in Amarillo, was at Oasis RV Resort, a very nice park about 10 miles west of Amarillo close to I-40. One of the highlights of this stop was to hook up with our Texas Buddy, Bob Curry, whom we met about four years ago in Colorado Springs. Bob is a native Texan and kind of took me under his wing to teach me some Texas traits.  He's a good ole boy, and on top of that, he's pretty smart too.

We've traveled to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Cadillac Ranch. and The Big Texan Restaurant while here and it was all good. I do have a lot of pictures to share of our adventures, but there is so many I've decided to break this blogpost into two different posts so the files won't be so large.

Gray County Rest Area On I-40

The big structure behind our rig is the entrance.

Pretty Impressive  and could be a storm shelter if not for all the glass.

Back view of the rest area structure.You can see a windmill in the lobby.

View off the back veranda. Really wish it had been a sunny day.The rest area is built on top of a hill and you can see a long way.

Pretty cool picnic area.

Their charcoal grills are shaped like the state of Texas.

Bet we saw a gazillion wind turbines and they were all humming too!

Entrance to Oasis RV Resort. Very nice park.

Our site, #37.

Really large level sites. They have a grass dog park for our four legged friends.

Really nice bath house.  Each room has a shower, sink, and toilet and is private from the other rooms. Not your typical RV Park rest rooms. Laundry facilities in each building also.

Our gang of happy travelers!

Bob says, "now us Texans cross our arms, lean to the side and kinda stand like this". How do y'all like my cowboy hat?

Bob's rig. Bob is a full time RVer and is a veteran and proud Texan. Thanks for your service Bob!

Love flag shots!

Outside of Big Texan restaurant right on I-40. The restaurant has been featured on several TV shows on The Travel Channel and others. Their claim to fame is you can get a free steak, if you can eat it all. The catch is that it's a 72 ounce steak with all the sides and has to be eaten in an hour or less. If you don't make it, you have to pay $72!

Not sure where these folks escaped from.

Whatcha' looking for Bob?

The restaurant has a cowboy group that goes around to all the tables and takes requests.

Our troubadours with a neighbor near our table. 

If you choose to take the steak challenge, they seat you on a raised platform for everyone to watch. There was room for six on the platform. There are large digital timers above the platform. This worthy patron was tearing into his 72 ouncer when we were there. Don't know if he made it or not.  Looks like he might need a haircut!

Now this is unbelievable, The young lady in the picture ate three 72 ounce dinners in twenty minutes to win the 72 ounce showdown and a large cash prize!

The restaurant has a fleet of limousines with cow horns on the hood and driven by a cowboy.