4/22/2011 A Long Day on the Road

Once again we’re doing something we don’t usually do.  We’re traveling more than our normal 200 – 250 miles a day.  Today we’ll put in close to 340 miles.  Bob wanted to break the rest of way that we have to go into two days of travel rather than three.  It sounds good when we talk about it but it makes for a long day sitting in the truck.

So we started out in …..



…and a short while later we were driving through a small portion of…..



….and before we knew it we were saying hello to….



……of course we weren’t in this state long at all before we saw this…



I’ve mentioned this before but it just cracks me up that Colorado boasts about it colorfulness and yet greets one with a drab brown sign.

More about our day.  Just before we pulled out of the Tucumcari Elks Lodge Bob pointed out these oddly shaped birds.  Pea hens, perhaps?  I don’t know but I do know they put up quite a racket when they noticed I was walking towards them,  Each one stood as tall as it could get, stretched its neck as far it would go and let loose with a whole bunch of what to me was bird gibberish.  When they realized I wasn’t backing down and turning the other way they just went back to their grazing.



Not long after we were back in Texas Bob pointed out these Pronghorns.  Most people call these Antelope,,,me included.



Our short ride through Texas was uneventful, which is every RV’er’s dream.

The first thing we noticed about Oklahoma was the roads.  Can you say WASHBOARD-Y?  They weren’t  even dirt roads but actually paved and it still felt like we were driving on a giant washboard.  At one point we had to pull over just to check inside the rig to make sure everything was ok.  We did have to pick a few things up off the floor (some papers I had left on the dining table) and a few drawers had to be shut.  Ours drawers hardly ever come open when just headin’ down the road but under conditions like these…anything is possible.

I’m just gazing out the passenger side window watching the landscape slide by when I hear Bob say, “Where’s the camera? I think you might want to get it ready.”  This grabbed my attention immediately and I reached for the camera before I even knew what I was looking for.  Sure enough, a little further down the road there was something to photograph.



A small herd of antelope were near the road’s edge and we were uncertain as to what they were going to do.  Turn back?  Wait until we passed?  Dart across?  Since we had no way of knowing their intent Bob started applying the brakes, just in case.

I guess they figured they had plenty of time to cross since we were slowing way down so across they went.



On after the other just as pretty as you please.



Off into the field they went to romp and play and graze.  Just a day in the life of an antelope I guess.



Further into the state we passed an area that was ravaged by fire.  This is what it looks like afterwards.  No color, no life, just scorched dead plants.  The burned area was just huge so this was no controlled burn but instead a wildfire.



When we got into Colorado we were quickly reminded that Colorado is a coal state.  We saw this train being pulled by two engines and it just seemed to go on forever.  I wish I had counted how many cars there were.  In doing some research about these trains I found that these trains have a couple of engines pulling, a couple pushing and in between, on average, there are 125 coal cars.  Average haul?  About 120 tons of coal.  And these trains run this route every day.



Coal car after coal car.



……and at the end?  Two engines pushing.



We passed a lot of farms and ranches on our journey today.  Cattle, alfalfa, more cattle but my favorite farm of all?  This kind!

A WIND FARM!



Clean energy is sorely needed in this country as evidenced by the coal trains above.  I just love me a good wind farm!



We saw the old fashioned windmills ….



….and  today’s uber modern version.



If these walls could talk.



As we drove across the portions of New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma it never dawned us that we weren’t seeing a very familiar site in this part of the country.  It wasn’t until we were into Colorado and saw the first one did we realize what we weren’t seeing.  Oil wells!


LaVon, this is for you girlfriend….what do you see?



We’re going to be in the Shady Grove Campground for several days.  Temps are still pretty low in northwest Nebraska.  Of course it isn’t exactly summer temps here either!

We’ll see what’s in the area in the next couple of days and who knows, maybe we’ll be able to show you a little bit of Seibert, Colorado.