2013 Trip Three, NM and VA, April 16

Prologue from Jude:
Ed and Chris now leave as they arrived five weeks ago — on their silver Saturn steed. I can’t describe how grateful I am for their help in getting me through post surgery recovery. I have now graduated to independent living, able to bathe and dress myself, and I am well stocked with provisions. Their job done, it’s away with a “Heigh Ho, Silver Saturn” and off to their next adventure. God bless you. Adios.

April 16, On the road again. Well, it is goodbye to New Mexico. So long mesas and buttes. So long red black brown and gray colors, along with some green juniper and pine. So long to attractively decorated highway underpasses with color and symbols. So long to mountain vistas and snowcapped peaks. So long to beautiful sunsets. We did not get up for too many sunrises.

Sunrise April 16

Hello to flatlands. Hello to initial views of green grasses and trees. We will be driving on interstate 40 for several days. A portion of interstate 40 parallels the famous route 66.

Just outside of Amarillo Texas, we saw Cadillac Ranch. This is a location where ten Cadillacs are buried facedown into the ground. We were not sure if they were fancily painted or if just a series of graffiti artist have applied their paint to the cars.

Cadillac ranch, Amarillo,TX

For dinner, we thought a wise move would be to have buffet dinner at an Oklahoma Indian casino. After all, casino equals buffet. Right? Wrong. The casino in Clinton Oklahoma was small, very smoky, and the eating area consisted of an area you would find set-aside at your local supermarket. We did not dine at the casino and went outside to air out our jackets.

Instead, we continued another 15 miles to Weatherford Oklahoma where we are staying the evening. We had dinner at a local diner. The food was plentiful, tasty, and inexpensive. However, I am sure it was not organic or local sourced food.

Our dining habits are not fancy. We have booked lodging in Vancouver British Columbia for the end of July through airbnb. We emailed the host and asked permission to later this summer include our comments about her location on our travel blog. She was happy with that and directed us to a recent visitor to her apartment who had a travel blog also. Their travel blog was very detailed about the locations where they ate and how the food was prepared. I think their restaurant locations are at least two stars higher than ours.

Ed on Route 66 8:30 pm