Day 2 of Illinois Journey

Hello from Amarillo, Texas! Today's drive was long - partly due to sheer mileage (~430 miles), but irritatingly added to by ROAD WORK! My daughter and I have a running joke that wherever we decide to go, someone has decided road work is needed. Well...there were no less than 10 spots where the speed limit was down to 45, and traffic was down to one lane. There are many, many trucks traveling on I-40, so this made it even more terrible! Oh well - 8 hours after leaving Gallup, I arrived in Amarillo in one piece, so I guess I can't complain! Driving through New Mexico was a straight trip through miles of empty land. At one point I looked in the rear view mirror, and thought I could see the road go straight back to Gallup - and this was probably 3 hours into the trip. There weren't even ranges of cattle or horses. The minute I crossed into Texas, however, the landscape changed. Gone was the desert-like scrub, cactus and trees, and in came the plowed fields, ranges of cattle and horses, and huge ranch-lands with big iron gates at the entrance showing the name of the ranch. Those were pretty cool!

I am staying at The Big Texan Motel, across the parking lot from The Big Texan Steak Ranch. Yes, they are combined. The motel rooms are very rustic and have those swinging saloon-type doors going into the dressing/bath area. Very solid, rough wood furniture, which is surprisingly comfortable! I did not go across to the steak house to eat - too tired and not hungry enough to do a steak justice! I ordered a hamburger to go and went back to the room.

The Motel:

My room:

Very nice space!
(Photos added Wed. 9/21)

Tomorrow's jaunt is through Texas and into Oklahoma, stopping in Oklahoma City. It's about 250 miles, so shouldn't bee too hard of a drive. I plan to leave early anyway, as I haven't been able to see much Route 66 yet, and there is a lot to travel on from here on out. I also need to be settled in Oklahoma City by 4:30, as I have a Webinar at 5pm - "Illinois Genealogy Crash Course" through the Family Tree Magazine website. I hope it offers some tips that I have not thought of!

So that's the update for today. For those who are reading this in the SF Bay Area, my thoughts and prayers go out to the two families facing crises this week. Please know that you are in my thoughts every day.

Tomorrow's post will be from Oklahoma City, OK (O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A OKLAHOMA!)