Texas Side Show

Harnessing the winds of the high plains

Since I found myself in the northeastern corner of New Mexico it seemed like a good idea to jog over to Texas.  Not exactly "Amarillo by morning" , but it was close.  In fact, I did get up early the next morning to take a look at Amarillo.  Along the way I got to see some rather interesting sights along the side of the road.  This part of the state is known as the high plains I learned.  Now that I've driven through the constant wind across the plains the reason Clint Eastwood kept that gritty smile in "High Plains Drifter" is a lot clearer to me.  But I did enjoy myself and saw a lot of curious sites.  Hope you enjoy the tour. 



No, not the chicken ranch.  Why would I want to go there?

A favorite stop on the way west of Amarillo was the Cadillac Ranch.  To some this is art.  To others it's just camp.  To me it was just plain a fun stop.  Even at 6:30 in the morning the cars were lined up here and folks were walking over to add their own touches.  Yes, you're invited to bring more paint.  In fact, the paint layers on here measure about 2" thick, but then it's been here since 1974.  Why?  Why not?

As I was leaving the cadillacs and heading back to where I parked my rv I came upon proof that some Texans do have a sense of humor.  There was supposed to be a geocache here to ironically called Psycho, but I never found it. 

If you love Robin Williams you'll love the movie RV

While I do like roadside attractions, I do sometimes get out of the car and go inside if it's interesting.  And the RV museum in Amarillo definitely qualified as interesting.  Of course the museum was free but then I had to talk with an RV salesman and take a look at some models on the sales lot.  I enjoyed the museum but not the sales visit.  Pretty cool stuff there like the bus conversion from the movie "RV". 

But just like all the other good times and good places, it came to an end.  On Sunday morning I hooked up my toad and started driving west on old Route 66.  It's a pretty good road and had no traffic at all so it seemed like a good idea.  And then, just 20 miles west of Vega where I had camped for the weekend, I found the Midway Café.  Yep, you guessed it, a café at the exact halfway point of Route 66.  There's a big sign to mark the spot and even the road itself is marked.  I stopped and went inside to shop.  When I signed the guest book the owner admitted he had just bought the place and moved here from Thompson's Station!  Small world after all.