We found a street named after Charlene!
We had breakfast with a nice couple we met at our marriage seminar. As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed on the GPS that there was a street named Charlene Avenue. This is the first time we have ever seen this anywhere in our travels. We drove to the street and had a chance to take Charlene’s photo in front of the sign! Charlene is a wonderful woman and it is great to find a street named after her!
Spicy Mike’s has absolutely fantastic barbeque! We enjoyed looking at all the rustic ranch supplies on the walls.
Today we discovered a special treat! A couple we met at the marriage retreat we attended a few weeks ago told us they liked Spicy Mike’s Bar-B-Q Haven. Today we learned why they recommended it. It is a very small independent restaurant in the southeast area of Amarillo. Charlene ordered the pork ribs and I ordered the pulled pork. The meat was especially tender and we thoroughly enjoyed both barbeque sauces. We had to ask for to-go boxes as we could not finish our meals. Their smoked meatloaf is supposed to be very good too. That will have to wait for a future visit. Maybe we will order a takeout meatloaf this weekend? I absolutely LOVE discovering independent restaurant gems!
Neil, Amy, Michelle, John, me, and Charlene on Thanksgiving morning.
It is not very often when we can get together with Amy, Neil, John, and Michelle all at the same time. However, we were able to all get together and had a wonderful, but brief, time together. Sorry, this is a poor quality photo from my cell phone.
Charlene and I are starting the Turkey Trot in a cold rain. Fortunately, it stopped raining as we continued on the course. Photo by Sean Steffen / Amarillo Globe-News
Amy, Neil, Charlene, and I were getting ready to go jog/walk in the Turkey Trot. John and Michelle needed to get out of town because a large multi-day ice storm was on its way to Amarillo.
Neil and Amy are in the middle of the photo wearing blue t-shirts. The rain was really coming down! Photo by Sean Steffen / Amarillo Globe-News
Neil and Amy left Charlene and me in the dust in the Turkey Trot. Neil and Amy are in great shape. It was raining on and off during most of the run, but we really enjoyed ourselves. Charlene and I were happy because we finished the 5 K within an hour. After the run, we enjoyed nice warm, long showers and then made a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.
Charlene, Neil, and I really enjoyed a gorgeous day in Canyon, Texas watching WT play football.
While in Amarillo, we went to the final home football game for the WT Buffalos (West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas. We watched them play the Eastern New Mexico University Greyhounds. The home team won, so everyone was happy. I really enjoy college football so it was nice to enjoy a beautiful day and watch a close game.
The WT mascot did not seem to be enjoying the game as much as we were. Many people ensure he is well taken care of. He was a fun bison to watch.
This was the back of the rear-view mirror entrance permit.
With my extended time in Amarillo, I discovered a real gem. Caprock Canyons is a Texas State Park and it is beautiful. In some ways it is similar to Palo Duro Canyon, but it has its own bison herd. In fact, this state park hosts the only official Texas State Bison Herd. They are huge and magnificent!
This bad boy was giving me the eye. I was scared taking the photo and ready to run if he started charging me!
The landscape has many red rocks. It reminded me as a combination of Sedona and Kanab. It is gorgeous.
These guys are huge and impressive.
After paying my $4 fee, the ranger told me about a couple of mountain bike trails. I drove around the state park and then stopped to ride a trail loop. The ranger told me there was one section I would need to walk my bike because it was very steep and rocky. She was correct. There was no way to ride down it. I crossed a creek 3 times and had some rigorous riding. I was exhausted when finished, but completely loved the ride.
Giving me the evil eye picking through the grass.
The bison are open range in Caprock Canyons, meaning there is nothing separating you and the Bison. You are strongly urged to get no closer than 50 yards to any bison. That sounds like very good advice to me since they can weigh up to 2,000 pounds! I got out my telephoto lens to take a few pictures of these massive creatures. A couple that I saw had some intense horns, so I did not want to get too close!
Check out his tongue action.
I loved this sweat shirt in the gift shop!
Driving back to Amarillo, I passed through Armstrong county. Not everyone has a county named after them.
A great start to seeing many wonderful places!
I am a member of a RV social website called RVillage (http://www.rvillage.com/). It is a way to connect with other RVers of similar interests by joining various groups. It also provides a way to connect with people when you move to a new campground or RV park. I have been entering various places as I have traveled and just discovered that it has been maintaining a map with all the places I have entered. I think it is very amazing to see all the places I have stayed in our motorhome. This includes our trip through New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas last summer. I would say this is a superb start to seeing some amazing places around the US. Obviously, there are many more places to visit.
I have loved being in Amarillo seeing Charlene, Amy, and Neil. Charlene and I had lunch today at a fantastic hamburger restaurant. I love trying new independent restaurants that are popular to locals in a community. The food is always so yummy!
I fly to California this week to give some lectures and then I will start a slow trip up to Iowa for an appointment at the Winnebago factory. I think I might go through Oklahoma, part of Arkansas, all the way through Missouri, and then into Iowa. I reserve the option to change the route multiple times since I am in no hurry. I would like to visit Branson, Missouri since so many people have talked about all the nice shows they have. It sounds very fun to me! Stay tuned! The travels will resume shortly!
It is nice to enjoy the beautiful blue skies of Amarillo!
I cruised back into Amarillo this afternoon. I am looking forward to reconnecting with Charlene, Amy, and Neil. It will be wonderful to see them! It is amazing how big Texas is. This is a huge loop and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing a large section of Oklahoma, the opportunity to spend time with John and Michelle, and the chance to spend time in Abilene and Lubbock. I am also glad I identified some nice RV parks for future trips around Oklahoma and Texas.
Now it is nice to get the coach setup and enjoy the beautiful blue skies of Amarillo. I am also grateful that it is only 88 degrees. I am loving the cooler weather!
Check out the huge driving loop I just completed!
Cadillac Ranch is a famous tourist site in Amarillo.
Today I went to a couple of the classic places to see in Amarillo. Cadillac Ranch is a place where these crazy cars are sticking in the ground next to I-40. It is only a couple of minutes away from my RV park. The fun thing is to buy spray paint and then cover the cars with new colors, write your name, or create a crazy design. I have been to Cadillac Ranch several times, but it did not feel right to leave Amarillo without stopping by again. A lady and her son (both from Germany) were laughing and taking pictures of all the cars. She was gracious and took a picture of me with my cell phone.
The Big Texan is extremely famous. People from around the world eat here.
Probably one of the most famous restaurants in the entire state of Texas is the Big Texan in Amarillo. It is famous for offering to give someone a free steak if they can finish eating the whole meal within one hour. They have all the rules highlighted on their website. I have seen people try to earn the free steak, but I have never seen anyone able to finish the meal.
Ed, Charlene, Amy, and Neil all enjoyed watching the Walking Dead marathon.
Charlene had the fun idea of watching the Walking Dead marathon. I have never seen the program, but it is quite popular. To create the right atmosphere, Charlene created a skeleton out of vegetables. She also found a ZOMBIE drink and BLOODY Mary mix. Charlene also bought some pork ribs that were quite messy to continue the blood theme. The food was absolutely wonderful and fun to all be together!
Charlene’s creativity is seen in her vegetable skeleton!
A drink all ..ZOMBIEs love
Although I am a rookie to watching Walking Dead, I soon found myself drawn into the program. I understand why the series is so popular!
Yummy Red fruit to eat.
BLOODY Mary mix.
The bike trail has a nice entrance and map.
Today I tried a second location that was supposed to have some nice mountain bike trails. I drove south to Canyon, the town just below Amarillo, where West Texas A&M University is located. Just north of their football stadium is a fantastic set of bike paths.
I just started riding on the “fence” pathway around the perimeter. It started with a meadow and then went downhill into a grove of sunflowers much taller than me. I was peddling through the narrow path between sunflowers when suddenly I went straight into this HUGE spider web. As I entered the spider web, I saw this large spider (probably 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter) crawling around. Instantly, I had spider web in my face, along both arms all over my handle bars and covering my thighs. I looked down and saw the spider dangling from my handle bars, right next to my left knee. I stopped my bike and jumped off and started trying to get the spider off my bike. I was able to pull over a sunflower branch and sort of get him off the bike and to the edge of the bike path. As I was doing this, suddenly a woman riding her bike came up behind me. We laughed as she saw me covered in spider web. It took a few minutes to get all the spider web cleaned off me. She rode into the remaining spider web of the path edges and was trying to get it off her arms too. She lived nearby and rode over to the bike path. She told me about different areas and what trails I might like the most. I told her since she knew the trail, she could go first and I would follow her lead. She was a much better biker than me and soon left me in the dust. However, on two occasions, I heard her cry out and as I caught up to her, she was stopped trying to get spider web off her arms and face. I guess no one has ridden these trails for a couple of days to have so many spider webs between the sunflowers.
With most bike trails, you have to splash through water. Instead, Canyon built a nice bridge to ride over.
I had fun ridding through the meadows. While peddling through the grass areas, hundreds of grasshoppers would jump up in the air on both sides of the bike. It was like forming a wave of grasshoppers as I peddled. The lady was waiting for me at the top of a ridge and showed me a couple paths I might like. I finished the loop and decided to go around everything again. This time there were not really any spider webs as we had cleaned them all out the first time around.
My bike has 24 gears and I needed to gear down to the lowest gear to get up several hills. The first time around I had to push my bike up that last 5 feet or so in several places. The second time around, I was ready for the hills. I geared down to my lowest gear and was able to power up the hills! I then had to stop at the top to catch my breath.
This turtle was just sitting next to the trail.
Going through another meadow, I saw a turtle just sitting next to the trail. I stopped to take his picture and he never moved at all.
There was a 5 foot snake right here. However, by the time I got my phone out and swiped the screen for the camera, the snake had slithered away.
I headed back up the hill and around the perimeter fence path, when suddenly I saw a brown snake laying right in the middle of the trail. He was about 5 feet long and all stretched out. I had just been on this very trail about 20 minutes ago on the initial loop and now there was a huge snake right in the path. I hate snakes. I stopped my bike as fast as I could. I took off my backpack, got out my phone, and swiped the screen so I could take his picture. However, by the time I did all those things, this sneaky, slippery, serpent had slithered off the trail. I went ahead and took a picture of where he had just been. I took another loop across only this top meadow to see if he would reappear for a photo, but he was nowhere to be seen. I just peddled quickly through the area as I scanned back and forth looking carefully for the snake. Seeing a snake right in front of you will definitely get your heart pumping fast! As I rode back to the Jeep I saw a rabbit running along. I wonder how long until a snake finds him? So today was unique with seeing a spider, grasshoppers, snake and rabbit. Ridding my mountain bike is so much fun!
Fiesta on Wheels 