Tales From the Road

Well it has been quite a while since I added to this blog so here goes. First of all I want to thank our friends Bill & Pat with helping me with this blog. Still having issues with pictures so that will be later. The last time I wrote, I mentioned a few of our stops on the way to Las Vegas. Our first destination was a overnight stay in Granite City, Illinois near St. Louis. Of course towing a 8 ton trailer cannot be without issues. Somewhere in central Illinois we pulled into a truck stop for diesel fuel and met a truck driver who told me my back window was flapping in the wind. It was due to a broken latch and thanks to some duct tape we had a temporary fix. While getting to the window I had to extend out one of the "slide outs" to get access to the back of the trailer and when I pushed the button I heard a loud crack and then a crunch. My heart stopped and decided not to pursue that action till we were at our next camp area. Set up in Granite City and found the trouble with the slide out was a grill lighter that fell underneath the rollers. Whew! Turned out to be an easy fix. The camp ground however turned out to be in an industrial area next to a C&N Railroad maintenance junk yard. Very scenic.







Woke up the next morning to continue our journey to our next stop which was a suburb of Kansas City Missouri. That camp ground turned out to be little more than a gravel parking lot where we spent two nights while visiting with my son, Rick where he manages a chain of restaurants.

Oklahoma City was our next stop and we thought we died and went to heaven. Beautiful camp sites with plenty of grass and amenities such as a salon and spa, great pool and exercise facility. While there we visited the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial at the former federal building. It was very well presented and very moving. The first thing you experienced was a public address message being delivered at the time of the explosion. The recording captured the chaos and the crumbling sounds of the structure. The hair still stands up on my neck as I write this. There is a field of chairs, one for each adult and child killed in the bombing. One hundred and seventy one in all.  The next day we visited the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum which was a great presentation for the west and the settlers.

With Oklahoma City behind us, we headed for Amarillo in the great state of Texas. We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch where a collection of Cadillacs from the 50's & 60's are buried at an angle in the desert floor. We left our mark (traditional spray paint) and drove through the Pallo Duro Canyon. This is best described as a mini Grand Canyon. This is a place I would love to camp at. It is a state park and has camp sites with water and electric although they are fairly remote and rugged.

All for now. Wait till you read about our next stop in New Mexico.