Sand Island, Bluff, UT

 

We were awakened this morning by the sounds of the ravens fighting over something, or another.  The temperature was around 34*, so we cranked up the electric heat for a while.  Didn’t take us long to drink a couple cups of coffee and take Sally for her round.  We had picked up an audio book from Cracker Barrel before leaving home.  Lee Child has a way of making those interstate miles not quite as boring.  We needed to drop it off in Gallup as that was going to be the last Cracker Barrel we would see for a few weeks.  If you haven’t borrowed books from there, and like to listen to audio books, I highly recommend it.  You buy the book, then they refund the cost when you turn it in, minus $3.95 for each week you keep it.

Anyway, that was our breakfast destination.  From there it was to Wal-Mart, then Safeway.  A short driving day through a part of the Navaho Nation.  Very depressing to see old rundown housing, and litter everywhere.  Also my first McDonalds with a security guard on duty, in Shiprock, NM.

We arrived in Bluff around 1 PM.  Drove the B loop of Sand Island BLM campground and grabbed a great site.  Long back-in, with a huge sitting area behind the Casita.  Saw a group of rafters departing from the boat launch as we arrived, but no pics.

It felt really great to feel that we are now HERE.  No more long days until we start back home.  Just to sit outside enjoying the mild temps and breeze lifted our spirits considerably.

We took a short walk around the loop, seeing the river, and viewing the petroglyphs on the bluff above the campground.

  Running for a couple hundred feet or so are many different symbols and figures.

The plaque says they run from 300 to 3000 years old. Some are low enough to have been made by modern man, but some are over thirty feet up on a vertical wall.  No way they could be recent.  These “paddles” were about thirty feet up on a vertical wall.

A couple more.

Whoever made them left their mark.  Definitely makes me wonder what was going through their minds at the time.

We plan a quiet evening around a campfire, either wood or propane, it’s yet to be seen, which.  Tomorrow we may get out a explore a little of Cedar Mesa and Valley of the Gods….jc

Bluewater Lake State park, NM

 

We put in another long day as we traveled from Amarillo to just West of Grants, NM.

Another great state park just over six miles South of I-40.  There are 132 sites scattered across five different campgrounds.  Most all are developed with a table and fire ring.  14 of them have electric available.  That’s what we selected as it’s to be 36* tonight and some heat will probably feel good in the morning.

Our site.  $14.00….

Other views from a couple of the roads in the park.

Before leaving Amarillo this morning, we went on the hunt for something we’ve missed every time we’ve passed through town.  Cadillac Ranch.  Though I knew it was just off I-40 west of Amarillo, I had never spotted it.  After reading a friends post about visiting it last week, I was determined to find it.  Asked the waitress at dinner last evening.  She didn’t know, but asked her boss.  His directions were wrong.  Wanda had asked the guy in the office of the RV park.  His directions were wrong.  Seems everyone knows about it, just not where it is located.  After two failed attempts I happened to remember that I had some roadside attractions loaded in my GPS.  Opened the POI file, and there it was.  The ol’ Garmin led up right to it.

She always wanted to be a graffiti artist.  Cans of paint were scattered around everywhere.

It’s amazing how thick the layers of spray paint have built up over the years.

Fins.

Bet he towed a Casita.

A fun stop.  Can now say I have been there.  Amazingly a number of the original tires are still on the rims and the differentials are still operational.  Spin a wheel, and its mate turns the opposite direction.

Someone had a sense of humor, also.

Tomorrow…?????

Amarillo, TX

 

After sitting out this morning enjoying a couple cups of coffee in the cool air, we were on the road by 7:30.  Made our way West on I-40 to the town on Henryetta for a McDonalds stop.  Couple of biscuits and back on I-40 West.  From then on it was just a boring day of driving. 

We left behind the lush green hills and pastures of Eastern Oklahoma.

No problems going straight through Oklahoma City.  A stop somewhere at a Love’s for gas, and a couple of rest areas for us and Sally pretty much made up the day.  We watched the landscape change from green to brown.

We arrived in Amarillo around three.  Checked into a nondescript RV resort on the West side of town.  All dirt and gravel, but it has water and power.  The temperature was 98 as we arrived, with winds blowing around thirty mph.  Walmarting wasn’t an option.  The air conditioner is working just fine as I type this.

We made a Wal-Mart run, and then grabbed a bite to eat around four thirty.  Back to the trailer to repair my bike tire by five thirty.  The plan is to continue on I-40 W into New Mexico.  Tomorrow evenings stop is still to be determined.

I had a couple of comments about the rates of Oklahoma state parks.  I don’t know if all the states parks do it or not, but Lake Eufaula offered a ten dollar discount for Sunday through Thursday nights, as well as an additional dollar or two if you’re over 62.  That’s how we got by for $12:00 for a nice site.  Beat the heck out of where we are tonight for $35:00….jc