Heading for Amarillo

Dear Friends,

The trip from middle Georgia began fairly uneventfully, for which we’re very grateful. We took Hwy. 16 northwest to I-20 and spent two nights in Heflin, Alabama. We needed to take a day to put the High Falls job together and ship it. Heflin was cheap ($17) and had no distractions. We took I-20 into Birmingham, picked up Hwy. 78 and actually made it to Memphis. A big day for us, over 300 miles. You hit three states in an hour on this route. We spent the night in Southhaven, Mississippi, went through Tennessee in a freeway flash, and spent the day crossing Arkansas on I-40.

Every year we have a weather adventure in Arkansas. We’ve had horrendous rains one year, a tornado warning another year. Last year we were in what the truckers call an “Arkansas parade,” stalled when a load of broccoli turned over across the highway. Lots of flooding in Arkansas; the Mississippi is very high right now. It looks like bayou along the edges of the freeway.

Diesel is $4.05/gallon. We get 70-75 gallons every couple of days going across country. We don’t like to carry the weight of a full tank. Fuel will be about $550 this trip west. If we didn’t have family on both coasts we might wait out this fuel crunch by working in a smaller area. As it is, we’re glad we have this job, because we would be traveling across country anyway! We have been trying to find a park between Georgia and New Mexico, like Arkansas, but the best we could do is Amarillo. It’s a brand new park, similar to Redmond Fairgrounds. We’re looking forward to the challenge (remind me of that in two weeks!).

We started on Monday, and had another Arkansas adventure. We got the oil changed in the Bird in Georgia, but noticed, two days out, that the oil is over-full. Dave is concerned about engine damage. Funny (not ha-ha) Rachel Baker just wrote us about how hard it is to have breakdowns and glitches on the road. You’re at the mercy of people you don’t know. It’s true. Last year we went to a highly recommended shop in Macon for routine servicing and they didn’t put enough transmission fluid in the bus. When we went to leave our next park we were in trouble. The guy who fixed us up is the same guy we went to this year for an oil change last week and he over filled it. Now we’re in Russellville, Arkansas, trying to find a shop to drain a little awl. Dave could do it but with our luck of late, he couldn’t get the plug back in and we’d be back where we started (except with a dirty Dave, cleaning up a mess). These are the times I wonder if I’m taking the right drugs.

So the oil change we got in Jackson, Georgia for $245 is now a $300 oil change. Fifty bucks to take some out. But we’re back on the road and it’s not noon yet.

Hwy. 40 is only marginally better than I-20, which is a bus-beater. Dave says he would even vote Republican if they would guarantee to quit using concrete on the Interstates.

Our 6th day on the road saw more delays. We’re 110 miles east of Oklahoma City and could have driven 70 more miles or so, but there is no RV park listed in the directory between where we are and Oklahoma City. And we have a flat tire on the car. So we search for a tire guy. Saturday morning in Henryetta, Oklahoma: Like Dave says, there’s gotta be a song in there somewhere. We ended up parked at the small town football field dedicated to Troy Aikman, and the tire guy came out behind the shop and fixed us up. Eight bucks. It was downright heartwarming.

We overnighted at a little park we like in Elk City, OK and drove on to Amarillo this morning. Oasis RV Resort is a 192-site park, brand new, on the western edge of Amarillo. It is laid out with concrete pads and gravel where the grass should be and is as flat as a pancake. But the landscape fits the surroundings. We can see I-40 from here and the horizon is so uncluttered the cars and trucks look like they are driving on the edge of the world. Nice amenities, though, like free laundry!

Talk to you in a couple of weeks!

Love,