Tucumcari NM

We are in a KOA. We needed to stop somewhere that had a few facilities. During the 2 1/2 hour drive I passed no one and no one passed me. It was pretty desolate. Before I forget, we are now on mountain time and will be until toward the end of July. Tucumcari has nothing really going for it except the old route 66 runs right through town. For those of you that might be interested, I have some route 66 fun facts. When it was established in 1926 it was known as "The Main Street Of America". It ran from Chicago to Santa Monica California, a total of 2448 miles. It's reputation was enhanced by the song "Get your kicks on Route 66" and a TV show "Route 66. The TV show ran from 1960 to 1964 and starred Martin Milner and George Maharis (pics below). If I remember correctly, these two guys  cruised the highway in a Corvette convertible. I don't recollect that they had any visible means of support but they were able to do it for 4 years so there must of been something. We move tomorrow. We don't have reservations anywhere but we do have a couple of ideas.

Black Mesa day 3

The wind last night was something out of a horror movie. We had the AC off so it was pretty quiet. At 3AM we heard some screaming from the tent campers who were camped below us. Massive, wind induced, tent failure. The plan this morning was to take the yaks out on the small lake that's in the park. We decided against that due to white caps. Just to be a little more descriptive of how bad it was, if you were standing outside with a glass of wine, there would have been white caps on your wine. Especially if it was Chardonnay. This afternoon we drove to a spot where 3 states converge. Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico. There is a small monument there. We took some pictures but I won't be able to post them today. The park's Wi-Fi doesn't let me post pictures. Yesterday we drove 16 miles toward Boise City to get an adequate cell signal. We just decided to hang out in the park instead. I'll post pics tomorrow from our new location in New Mexico.

Black Mesa summit hike

The hike to the top was the only thing on our agenda today. It was a 4 1/2 mile one way walk. There is a group of individuals who try to summit the highest point in each state. The people we met on the trail were attempting to do that. The hike up wasn't really difficult but it was scenic. After we got back down we visited some dinosaur tracks and then drove into the town of Kenton (pop. 17). There was a museum in town manned by a 94 year old resident. She had been born in the building that now serves as the museum. She was a wealth of information. That last pic is a 'Side Saddle' that was on display. We are here one more night.

Black Mesa SP Oklahoma

We drove into a biblical headwind to get here. "HERE" is way out in the boon docks. We drove through Boise City which is the only city in the country that is 30 miles or less from 5 states. We should have good star gazing tonight. Cell coverage is weak here. There is a Wi-Fi antennae at the shack that is the park office, I'll attemp to post this from there.

Roman Nose day 2..

We hiked the trails this morning. It took us a couple of hours and I’m confident we have seen, at least the highlights. The park is named after Chief Henry Roman Nose. He was one of 44 chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne Tribe. Chief Roman Nose participated in raids on white settlers in 1875 and was imprisoned for 3 years because of it. The land that the park is on was his allotment when the U.S. government moved the Cheyenne to Oklahoma. I’m not sure why the park is on his land but the CCC did the work and the park opened in 1937. The video is a large spring in the park. It’s one of 3 and they are the parks centerpiece. That big dog is staying in an RV about 1/2 the size of ours. That monster is still a puppy and he weighs 155 lbs. We move tomorrow to the extreme western end of the Oklahoma panhandle. Our intent is to climb Black Mesa, the highest point in the state. We will be staying in Black Mesa SP and we might be out of touch.

Roman Nose SP Oklahoma

We got on I 40 and eventually drove through Oak City. It rained on us for 4 hours and the wind was gawd awful. On top of that, we stopped at a Wal-Mart off the freeway and they didn't sell wine. They sold beer but no wine. For crying out loud, a bunch of states sell marijuana now. There is some oil or gas well drilling going on in this part of Oklahoma. We are near the small town of Watonga. We did find a liquor store and the guy did have what we needed but it was the most pathetic excuse for a liquor store I've ever patronized. One thing of note. The liquor store was right next to a "Loves" gas station. Turns out that station was the first "Loves" gas station ever built. There's a another piece of useless trivia you can stash somewhere. I'll explain the origin of this parks name tomorrow. We'll be here another night. 

Sheets

That was the only pressing issue on the agenda today. It wasn't really that pressing, kinda like the Trump-Kim thing in Singapore. Jenny checked the laundromat reviews and she decided on "Bettys". We went to Bettys and lo and behold Betty was there. In fact, she has been there for 64 years. She is 87 years old, been married and widowed twice and lost a son to lung cancer when he was 61. We obviously got to know alittle bit of her story. She was so nice that she did something weird to our dryer and we didn't have to pay. After that adventure we ate lunch at a railroad themed restaurant. That sign was on the wall and that pie was coconut cream. We move tomorrow.