Rt 66 Road Trip, Pt.1, Day 3

I was up half the night from the crazy wind and the sounds of cows mooing (I think they were scared too) I did manage a little bit of rest and was exceptionally happy that we didn't blow away. 

This morning we were prepared. We had our single burner, coffee pot and extra strong coffee working before 7am. Once the coffee was in hand, there was a little breakfast, showers and repacking of the car. 

It was time to make our way out of Texas. Thanks for "Big Meat" (as Anne Burrell would say) awesome sights and a terrifying night. There was one last stop on our exit,

The Midpoint Cafe

As the name suggests, The Midpoint Cafe if located in the exact middle of Route 66. Halfway between Chicago and Los Angeles (1139 miles to each) 

This place was super cute and retro

 and even though it took a little while for our food to come, it was pretty good. 

Yeah… those aren't gluten free pancakes- in fact that are 100% the real deal. With lots of butter and even some fake syrup. Don't judge me- I'm on vacation. 

The Midpoint Cafe is also known for its "Ugly Pies" so of course we had to get a piece to go… 

We went with pecan even though I really wanted Coconut Cream (obviously… we all know coconut is my favorite food group) It was definitely one of the best pecan pies I’ve ever had.. 

From The Midpoint Cafe, we continued west into New Mexico. The town of Tucumcari was the best strip of Rt.66 as far as old signs were concerned.

(Lots of pictures ahead)

 My only wish was that we gone through it at night to see all of these neon signs lit- but it was still awesome. AND I'm pretty sure I almost killed us multiple times stopping short to take pictures. I was most definitely driving like a maniac.. It was totally worth it

Other than this strip, there really wasn't much that I wanted to see in New Mexico.. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely beautiful.. like I could totally live here.. But there isn't much for wacky Rt. 66 attractions.

I am however still kicking my self in the ass for not buying this hat

What? I could rock that shit… 

 We drove to Albuquerque, grabbed some coffee, stole some internet and hit AAA to get some camping tour books and then reserved a camp spot about 30 minutes out of the city. But before we headed to set up camp, we stopped and grabbed some food to make once we got there.. Like Coco kind of food- SALAD..  And we had to grab some bowls and utensils so we stopped at the Dollar Store and I found these pimp glasses

Worth every penny.

As soon as we got to the campground, I went to work making food, and James put the tent and hammocks up. 

 (My body thanked me for this dinner for sure)

After dinner, we jumped in the pool real quick and then I got the bright idea to go for a run since I've been super slacking (and someone called me out on it- thanks for that :p )  my race is 1 month away and I'm pretty sure I've run a total of 17 miles SINCE my race last month. (At this point I should be back to 20-25 miles a week) So I got suited up- James and Tuna even came. Too bad the weather here makes your entire body feel like sandpaper..including your mouth and lungs- trying to breathe deeply is like trying to inhale sand. So I ran 2 miles.. and felt like I was dying. 

So instead of doing 5 or 6 miles, I sat in my hammock with some hard cider and worked the rest of the night away. 

Rt 66 Road Trip, Pt. 1, Day 2

We woke up pretty early with the sun both blinding and cooking us. We got cleaned up, ate some food and repacked the car for the day. We figured there would be a Starbucks on the way- since they are all over the place here- but as it turned out… there wouldn’t be a Starbucks (or anywhere to get coffee- like at all) until we hit Amarillo Texas.. I’m talking 1 1/2 HOURS away. Rough way to start Day 2. 

But before we even got to the coffee, our first stop in Texas was Shamrock

 Nothing much to this town except for this old filling station (it was restored a while back and now is some kind of info center- but I just think it looks nice)

 And let’s not forget about the fancy Barbed Wire Museum (which wasn’t open.. but even if it had been there is no way I would have gone in.. I mean how much can be said about barbed wire?) 

 There was the Leaning Water Tower

 And the 200 ft. Stainless Steal Cross that we could see on the horizon 10 miles away.. Overkill much?

 (Both of which weren’t cool enough to get out… actually we took the pictures while driving. 

We made it to Amarillo Texas and it was finally coffee time! I stole the internet for a little blog and Facebook time while we sat in the sun on the deck.

But, the funny thing about the south is that people always want to talk to you.. which is awesome, but it’s just not like that in RI.. So it almost always catches my by surprise. Oh and the other thing.. People in the south seem to have no idea what Rhode Island is- and trying to explain it doesn’t help anything. Either way, I managed to get some work done in the middle of all our chatting. I kind of love all of these nice people!

So after coffee, it was time to hit one of my most anticipated road side attractions.. 

The Cadillac Graveyard

 Tuna Moose was super pumped too

 It was so much cooler than I thought it was going to be- and I had high expectations (even though half of the cars were in a big puddle it was still fantastic)

 I totally forgot to bring a can of spray paint along to sign our names.. but as it turns out, if you search through the hundreds of cans that littered the ground, you might just find a half used can ;)

COCO! 

Straight from the Graveyard, we went a couple miles up the road to set up camp. The first place didn’t allow tents, but the second place did.. and it was only $21 to stay the night!

The plan was to get our space all set up and head back out for the rest of the afternoon.. but we ran into some CRAZY wind.. so we set the tent up anyway and hoped it would still be there when we returned

 (I realize it doesn’t look like anything much… but seriously the wind was laying the tent flat- it was bananas)

With the tent somewhat secured (Fingers crossed) the next stop- more coffee.. This trip is completely powered by sugar (in the form of LOTS of candy) and caffeine (mostly in the form of Starbucks) Coffee in hand- (even better we only got charged for one!) we drove out to the Palo Duro Canyon

 The pictures are so Lame in comparison to how beautiful it was

 We attempted a little hike that the girl at the front gate suggested. It was only 2 miles, but when your in the canyon its at least 10 degrees hotter than at the top, which made it 115 degrees.. so really 2 miles seemed like 10. Poor Tuna Moose does not do well in the heat (even though I sun screened his little nose) and at one point started to cry because the ground was just too hot for his little paws.. James had to step in and take care of business 

You can tell by the smile on Tuna’s face, he couldn’t have been happier!

Though we had planned to do a second hike, we knew Tuna couldn’t handle it, nor could we leave him in the car.. so we just drove through the rest of the park and enjoyed the views from the AC :) As we  were driving out of the canyon I looked down at my legs and saw that I had some crazy rash thing going on, on my right leg. Me being me, I started to freak out- but really it looked WEIRD- and even James was concerned (And lets me honest.. he’s a boy.. he doesn’t freak out about shit like that). So I was one of those people.. asking the park rangers if I was dying from some kind of crazy desert jumping spider or something. He just laughed at me, rolled his eyes and said “Um, no.. thats just an allergic reaction, your fine… hahah” Great dude.. I’m glad I made you laugh, I kind of feel better now? 

Obviously he was right. I haven’t died, yet. 

We went back to the camp space and our tent was still there! Woohoo! So we showered and chilled for a bit 

(A hammock, computer and Wifi.. that’s my kind of camping!)

FINALLY it was time to go to dinner!

 THE BIG TEXAN! 

Not only a “Roadside attraction” but also was featured on Man Vs. Food.. (if you eat a 72 ounce steak plus all the “fixins” in under an hour you get it for free) I have never seen so many cowboy hats in my life.. or a bigger bucket of butter at a table

I went with the Ribeye.. and I’m not gonna lie, I ate pretty much every last bite of it.. When in Texas, eat like the Texans do 

YUM

With exceptionally full stomachs, we headed in for the night. Tuna had had enough and passed out instantly

But we stayed up for a while to enjoy the view as the sun was setting

The night was absolutely perfect.. It was windy and cool and I felt like I could have stayed out on that hammock all night…. until some big creepy desert bug landed on me..  yeah, Fuck all that noise- I went into the tent! 

As I tried to go to sleep, the wind really picked up. Like “We’re not in Kansas anymore” kind of wind. I tried not to freak out, but the fact that this camp ground boasted about their “Storm Shelter” didn’t make me any less worried. At least they were prepared!