Well, I made it to Amarillo, Texas. I’ve never been to Texas so this will be my first time through even a bit of it. The newer hotel that I’m staying in informed me that OOPS, they haven’t quite got their internet hooked up yet. So I called Barnes & Noble down the street to ask their opinion on where to get internet access. Schlotzky’s Deli in town offers three ports in their restaurant. In between bites of a stuffed baked potato, I’ll quickly write a posting for you.
Steve reached me as I was traveling on I-40 just across the New Mexico-Texas state line. He rode 53 miles today in 25-30 mph winds, bringing his average ride for the day down to just 8 mph. He said that it was also very hot. The upside he said is that the humidity really didn’t play a factor today. He is camping in Ellsworth, Nebraska tonight in a little park north of town. Our friend, Johnny B, from Bozeman will be arriving via van about 9 PM tonight. Then for the rest of the way across Nebraska they will ride together. Although John will only ride 1/2 way out each day, turn around and return to his van. He’ll then drive to the next overnight town from there. A totally different approach than Steve’s in crossing the state, but he’ll probably have similar bike mileage.
I left Shelly & Pat’s around 11:30 this morning after a great visit with them, Emma, and Lucy. Now I’ll look forward to moving along and reconnecting with more family and friends in the coming weeks. Today it was beautiful driving south on 285 from Santa Fe to Clines Corners. The deep red mesas gradually gave way to the Gasiteo Basin with its share of ancient junipers, sage brush, and pinon trees. Then almost immediately after climbing out of the Basin, I was into a flatter, more broad expanse of land with less vegetation. After leaving the Clines Corner area I drove onto Santa Rosa where I actually caught the Historic Route 66 for several stretches until Glenrio. It was pretty awesome to drive on the old road. As I crossed into Texas I noticed more ranches, more cattle, and finally a field of corn, which I haven’t seen in a couple of weeks, and grain elevators, which are more reminiscent of the Midwest landscape where I grew up!! It’ll be interesting to gradually watch the terrain unfold around me as I drive across the United States to Virginia, won’t it??
Well, toodles from Amarillo….oh, by the way, I’ll watch for any loose armadillos!!–Diane