Mesa Verde 2 - Trip home
I have talked about Mesa Verde in the previous page. I have 14 photos on this page of Mesa Verde. The key thing to notice is that most of these photos are different ruins rather than different views of the same ruins. A few of the ruins have been restored but most have not. It is truely impressive to see these ruins in person. You can see that these dwellings were easy to defend. Most were under an overhang so attackers could not damage them from above. They were up on the cliff so it was a difficult climb up to attack from below. The entry was from along the side ledge which ment that attackers would have to attack single file. Very defensive locations.
After Mesa Verde we drove up to Durango CO. We did not have much time to visit but it looked like an interesting and attractive town in the hills/mountains. We stopped for a drink in Steamworks Brewing Co. They made very good beer. El Diablo was excellent.
The next day after visiting Mesa Verde we were concerned about the weather to travel. The forecast was for winds up to 50 MPH so we were happy to see that the weather was clear in the morning so we headed off for Albuquerque NM hoping the winds would hold off. For the most part they did but as we arrived in Albuquerque it was getting quite windy. As we drove up the access road to the RV Park the wind was coming at us head on and we had a herd of tumbleweeds rolling down the road at us. Quite a sight. Due to the high winds we stayed an extra day in Albuquerque which allowed us to do laundry, some RV repairs, and allowed Linda a big win at the casino. The tumbleweeds were incredible. There were thousands of them constantly running across the park. The fences on the park border were covered over by tumbleweeds and the whole area was in serious threat of fire with so many tumbleweeds lining any fences. What an experience.
After Albuquerque we were on our way home. Basically going home consisted of driving RT 40 to the eastern end of TN and then going north on RT 81 till PA. We took 40 across northern NM and into the pan handle of TX. We stopped in Amarillo which ended up being a fun and interesting town. First was a visit to Cadallic Ranch. This was a mile or so away from our RV Park and off the side of RT40. There are 10 vintage Cadallic’s buried hood down in the field at the angle of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. This is another example of you can’t make this shit up. Here is the Wikipedia link to research the Cadallic Ranch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch It’s a very worthy read. After the ranch we went to the American Quarterhorse Hall of Fame and Museum. To Linda’s great disappointment it was a holiday and it was closed. Well I guess that is a reason to return to Amarillo. Next up is the RV museum. Jack Sisemore owns the oldest RV dealership in Texas, and began collecting vintage trailers, campers, and mobile homes in the 1980s. His museum, which has its own building at his dealership, displays 15 homes-away-from-home from the 1930s to the 1970s. There's a Model T Kampcar, a VW hippie van, and the bus from the Robin Williams film RV. Jack is especially proud of the RVs he's found in barns, some so well kept by their tidy-traveling owners that they didn't need to be restored. Besides RV’s Jack has lots of Motorcycles on display. Jack was a very impressive individual. I loved the picture of the motorcycle that Jack rode when he was 12 years old. He apparently was involved on the motorcyle race circuit. We ended up meeting Jack when we were leaving the dealership. He is in his 80’s and still works the floor most days. This was a very cool and interesting find. Next up was The Texan, home of the “Free” 72 OZ steak. All you have to do is eat it in an hour. This is a heavily avertized tourist trap but interesting to visit for a few minutes. The last stop was dinner at Hofbrau Steaks. An excellent family owned and operated restaurant.
My relative Dee and Joseph Yannarella live in Edmond OK a suburb of Oklahoma City. Whenever we are in Oklahoma I look forward to stopping and visiting with them. Many years ago Joe was in a very serious car accident and Dee has had to take care of him since. Dee has had a lot of hardships to overcome in her life yet she has a beautiful outlook on life and is one of the nicest people I know. She is a very impressive woman.
From Oklahoma we were on a mission to get home to NH. We made steady progress till VA. Then there was the threat of a snow storm the day we would arrive in NH. So we pressed to get home in one less day. We succeeded and arrived before the storm and were settled in for the snow the next day. All in all it was a very successful winter trip. We were very glad to be home however. The two things I missed most about home are my bed and shower!
The end.
