Monday, April 12, 2010

We got on the road this morning with a leisurely start since we were only traveling about a hundred miles to get to Albuquerque.  We ate a small Breakfast this morning with intention of going to the Albuquerque Grill in the Best Western Motel to have their excellent Burrito for lunch.

We arrived at our campground in Tijeras about noon and got settled in.  We had Wi-Fi in the office and Sharon took off with the computer to check e-mail and read her paper.  She was back in a half hour and hungry.

We left for the restaurant and when we got there found out they no longer serve the Burrito that we wanted.  We ordered other food that was still very good but not what we wanted.  Sharon had a Taco Dinner and I had Enchilada Encantadas.

After lunch we headed toward town on Rio Grand Boulevard to see if we could find the "muffler man".  We don't know what it is, or exactly where it is, but we'll look anyway.  This is our second attempt as we tried the first time in Flagstaff and failed.  We found the offbeat attractions on the website "roadsideamerica.com" but their directions to the sites are non-specific.

We started in the middle of Central Avenue (Route 66) and went to one end of the road and then returned all the way through the downtown of Albuquerque.  We had quite an education of the remaining 66-era buildings that are still standing.  We must have surmised there were at least a hundred or maybe more.  They're a dead give-away by their construction aesthetics.  I think we managed to see the Good, The Bad and the Ugly of the city itself.

We were back home by about 4 and settled in to watch a little tube.  We were supposed to get some wind tonight and it started just before we went to bed.  By the time we hit the feathers it was whistling outside to say the least.  We could hear the awning flapping pretty good but not to a destructive amount.  It seemed to let up some time during the night.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

We had a medium sized Breakfast this morning and a plan for the day.  I scrambled up some Eggs with Ham and we had some leftover gravy for Biscuits and Gravy.  It was our first halfway decent Breakfast since we went to the Golden Corral in Lake Havasu City.

After Breakfast we left and went up the Turquoise Trail (Hwy 14) to Santa Fe for the day.  We wonde3red why they called it the Turquoise Trail and we never did find out why.  There was one little town named Madrid that had quite the tourist trap.  It was about 3 short blocks long and crowded with little shops with everything from art to pottery.  A place we might like to return to some day.

Santa Fe was only 59 miles from our campground in Tijeras and we got there well before noon.  Our intention was to get another look at the Loretto Chapel and then just browse around Santa Fe for awhile.  The GPS got us right to the chapel but we had a heck of a time finding a place to park.  The area around the chapel is now a bustling community and parking was not a major concern for the vendors.  We did manage to find a spot, however, and made our visit to the chapel.  The chapel has an unusual feature.  It has a 2 story spiral staircase that makes 2 full 360 degree turns, and was built without railings or a center post.  The railings were added later because of safety concerns.  It's quite something to see.

We tried to find the downtown of Santa Fe to no avail.  We actually drove past the State Capitol and didn't even notice it.  So we were probably somewhere in the vicinity of it.  We spent so much time looking that we finally lost interest.  The streets are very narrow in the whole city and all the architecture is remarkably similar.  The adobe style is taken to the extreme here.

We left and arrived back home about 3:30 - 4.  Sharon took off with the computer for the office to check e-mail and read her paper.  I  settled in front of the TV and got ready to watch TV for the night.

We had a DiGiorno's Pizza for Supper tonight.  It was the one that came with Breadsticks.  It was good as usual and the Breadsticks were a nice touch.

We settled in front of the tube for the rest of the night and even stayed up "late" tonight.  Our programming ran out by 10:30, and with that, we headed off to the sleep chamber.  It had been kind of a long day.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I had a plan this morning since I couldn't find a place to pick up a new set of windshield wipers yesterday.  We had a light Breakfast and then took off for Wal-Mart to pick up the wipers and a few other items for the next few days.

We looked around for something different for lunch and finally settled on stopping at Sonic.  It had been a few years since we have had anything from Sonic. I think the last time we stopped at Sonic was when we were in Florida for the Winter.  That has been some time since we've been going to California for about 9 years.  I guess we've made the switch to In-N-Out Burger for the time being.  The food at Sonic was quite good as I had a Super Sonic Burger and Sharon had a Chicken Wrap.  We shared an order of Onion Rings.

We headed back home after lunch and while Sharon was gone with the computer for e-mail and the newspaper, I dumped the Holding Tanks, filled the Water Tank and changed the Windshield Wipers.  Since it looks like we'll run into rain for the next few days, the wipers were a good investment.  The next week or so is typically the time when we run into rain every year anyway.  We just sat around for the rest of the afternoon watching some tube and Sharon was doing her puzzles. (Soduku)

Neither of us was hungry for Supper so we just fended for ourselves tonight.  When we got hungry we made ourselves a sandwich and then sat back down in front of the Telly.  We found enough to watch until 10 tonight even though we stayed up until 10:45.  It wasn't long after that, though, that we folded up the lawn chairs, turned off the sun, locked the doors an headed for the feathers.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

We left Tijeras this morning with a leisurely start knowing that we only had about 260 miles to go today.  We would be stopping in Amarillo, Texas when we finally reach our campground.  Actually we would be about 7-8 miles west of Amarillo.

The trip was pretty uneventful except for the intermittent times that rain was falling.  We stopped for lunch at a Stuckey's parking lot.  We had our own food so there was no point in going in to the restaurant.

Getting back on the road we knew we would be stopping at Adrian, Texas at the Mid-Point Café, the Geographical Center of Route 66.  It's 1139 miles from Los Angeles and 1139 miles from Chicago.  Having already eaten lunch we stopped and had a piece of pie and a coke.  The restaurant was only a block off I-40 and a very quick and easy stop.  They also have a gift shop that is loaded with Route 66 items. 

We were back on the road again in about an hour and at our campground less than an hour later.  We stopped at the Oasis RV Resort just west of Amarillo and it is a very nice and new campground.  The price is also quite good.  Pay for two days and get the third for free, so it cost us just $13.33 per day.  Not a bad price for a brand new campground, although it is quite a ways out of town.

Neither of us was hungry for Supper tonight so we just ate when we were hungry.  Sharon had a sandwich and I had a bag of popcorn.  Not much of a meal for not much of an appetite.

I tried to hook up the Wi-Fi when we got here but I had no luck .  Sharon tried after supper and she got it working.  That's why I bring her along.  She also got the TV working today.  Man, she's a keeper.

We settled in for the TV for the night.  We're back on Central Standard Time so it won't take many programs to get us to 10 tonight.  In fact by the time it was all over we had two programs taped that we didn't even have time to watch.  Go figure.

Friday, April 16, 2010

We had a plan for today that fell apart almost as fast as it was planned.  We found out that Sean and Stef wouldn't be available on the weekend and we decided to leave here tomorrow and try to get there in West Bend before next weekend.  We would skip the Hoffbrau Steak House and go to Joe's Crab Shack so we could eliminate Branson on the way home. It sounded like a good plan except that Joe's Crab Shack was closed down and replaced by the Saltgrass Restaurant.  We couldn't find the Muffler Man but did find a giant cowboy statue which could have been it.  This plan was caving in fast.

With Joe's closed, we decided to try the Hoffbrau for lunch.  Sharon had a steak and I had Fried Catfish.  They were both quite good, but nothing exceptional.  After lunch, and with our plans dashed, we came back home.

Sharon took off with the laundry and I got to work to finish the Newsletter.  We were both finished about the same time and finished out the afternoon watching TV.  The wind was blowing quite hard and it was raining, so the reception from the dish was non-existent.  We watched a couple of programs that I had taped from last night which took us up to the time for Jeopardy.

After that the wind actually calmed down enough for us to watch TV normally for the night.  We stayed up until our usual time before we finally folded up our tents and went to bed.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

We got an e-mail from our kids saying that next Thursday was no good for them, so now we have to make up another day in order to get there on Wednesday, if possible.  We sent a reply asking about Wednesday.

It was still raining this morning after having rained all night.  It looks like this is going to be our day today.  We got a semi-early start at about 9:15 but we really weren't into getting out of here early today anyway.  We knew if it was raining, we'd probably just drive until dark tonight.

The day was pretty uneventful having stopped only three times all day.  Two times for gas and another to change drivers.  We did actually stop a fourth time for lunch however.

The rain persisted all day off and on and we just kept driving.  It didn't slow us down any because it never did rain that hard.

We had planned to stop in Henryetta, Oklahoma but when the time came we just decided to drive for another hour or so as long as the light held.  It was still raining off and on so we knew it was bound to get dark early tonight.  I hate driving the motorhome in the dark and try to avoid it at all costs.

We finally pulled in to a Wal-Mart in Sallisaw, Oklahoma which is about 20 miles from Fort Smith, Arkansas.  It was still light when we pulled in and after we got everything set up Sharon went across the street to a Dollar Store and did a little shopping.  Very little.  I stayed home and watched the Telly on the inverter.

By the time she got back we fired up the generator just to make sure the batteries wouldn't go dead tonight, and to use the microwave.  I heated up some leftover pizza for my supper and I don't know what Sharon did.

We watched TV all night even though there wasn't diddly on.  There must have been a marathon of stupid criminals on TruTV tonight because that what we watched for most of the night.

We got a reply from the kids confirming Wednesday would be fine.  Now if we can only make it by then.

When 10 o'clock rolled around we rolled out.  It had been kind of a long day and we both welcomed the bed to end it.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

We left Sallisaw this morning with changed plans.  We would be stopping in Branson for one day to eat at Joe's Crab Shack and then hit the bricks the next day for points north.  The trip was pretty uneventful and we arrived around 1 PM and we got settled into our site at Treasure Lake Resort and we were immediately off to Joe's.

We rode the trolley down to Joe's at Branson Landing and got a window seat in the restaurant.  We ordered our usual King Crab Dinner and it was fabulous.  My potatoes were cold but I didn't care because I came for the crab anyway.  Although the manager brought a plate of potatoes when we informed him of the problem.  We really enjoy this Dinner and we'll be eating for years to come hopefully.  The price of the Dinner is $28.00 but it's such a treat we really don't care about the price.

We came home after lunch and plopped into our comfy chairs and enjoyed a couple of Gin and Tonics for dessert.

We were settled for the rest of the night with only a couple of snacks between us and the bed for the night.  We watched TruTV for most of the night since there wasn't much else on. It took us nicely to 10 and the bewitching hour.