Posted on 01/14/2017 5:30:34 PM PST by vis a vis
Driving this route soon. Have never been this way before. Little concerned because of the recent ice storms in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Any helpful hints? Best route? Any fun sights or good eats along the way?
Well why didn't you say so? Forget all of my earlier directions .. LOL
I know what you mean about the long haul on I-10 from Houston to Arizona. I've made it many times, and it's a humdinger. Best to do it with two people, to take turns at the wheel, and book a motel somewhere in between for overnight.
I once drove from Tampa, Florida to Los Angeles, CA with my (then) 13 year old son. I made the trip in three days, but let me tell you, I was delirious when I got there. To this day, my memory of that trip is a blank, from Houston, on.
Eat at the Double Horn across the street, then hit Bluebonnet for pie to go. You won't be sorry. The Double Horn is, by itself, a good enough reason to take 281. The Mac 'n Cheese is about 900 cals per serving from the cream and butter and cheese, the CFS and CFC are great, and the burgers are Yuge and delicious. Shrimp and grits are good, too, if you like it hot.
You'll be full as a tick, but get the Bluebonnet pie to go anyway; it's worth the trip across the street! Banana Cream, if they're not out of it...
If it occurs to you as you drive down Amarillo's main drag that everybody should spend at least one night in a motel that has a half lit sign advertising rooms for $19 a night, don't.
LOL!
Years ago I was called out on short-notice to an out-of-town job. At the end of the day in the field I started looking for motels in the city. It was late and I was tired.
I pulled into this place. It had a gated entry with like a parking attendant guy. The motel and parking lot behind him. The guy was in this little booth with bars all around.
He wasn’t the parking attendant - he was the motel desk! I realized once I got to my room that most of the rooms were probably rented by the hour.
Maybe he’s got a winning lottery ticket, that’s about the only reason I’d go to Austin.
That’s funny and that’s how this motel clerk was set up. Like he was in a check cashing place in a bad part of town.
Like you, it was late and I was tired and I figured I got this far into commitment so I headed to the room.
Everything, well it seemed like everything, was held together with duct tape. Old duct tape. The little refrigerator was duct taped closed. The bathroom door hung away from the frame even though it was duct taped, too. The closet door was sealed with duct tape.
I didn’t pull the blanket off the pillow because I once spent a night or two at the Rockpile so I knew what sleeping with rats was like and that’s what came to mind. I slept clothed with both feet in my boots and on the floor with a 9mm next to me.
What a trip.
Good Story.
I would have pissed outside myself.
LOL. Easy for you to say, I paid 19 bucks for the privilege of indoor plumbing.
I ain’t grabbing at duct taped toilets.
I don’t know you but you’ve been here.
East Coast North Carolina.
Greetings
What?
No Amarillo Songs?
My BIL is still bitchin about that Apache he sold.......
Howdy and yes I was.
They nailed it. Good Song.
I got stuck in caliche with my RX-7. Playing in a wash outside of Maricopa.
RIP Tommy Allsup
Have ya, Have ya, Have ya ever been to Utah?
“... everything, was held together with duct tape.”
Oh man that is funny.
I recall once where the other guy was driving stopped at a place that didn’t look the greatest.
“I don’t care - as long as it’s got a shower.”
The place was okay, except when I turned on the shower it ran rusty. After 10 minutes like that I figured it wasn’t going to clear up. I just had to laugh, that was all I was looking forward to was getting clean. I did have diaper wipes in the truck so I could clean up a bit.
All of that said - taking the off-beaten path and stopping at some of the dives along the way DOES provide the most memories of a trip. As long as the memories don’t include diahrea or bedbugs.
When we would do roadtrips with the kids we would go on the off beaten trail. Once went about 200 miles on dirt roads going to Las Vegas. There were some old volcanic cones and an old fort along the way. The fort was cool - still some walls, crop fields surrounding it, and an old wood sign saying what it was. It probably saw 20 tourists a year.
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