Sunday, October 28 & Monday, October 29, 2012 – driving and driving!

Today was my brother, John’s, birthday – so Happy Birthday to you! We tried a cell phone call in the evening, but Allen’s conference call failed, so we didn’t get to talk.

We left Monroe about 9 a.m. and got breakfast at an IHOP off the freeway. We were back on I-20, heading for Shreveport LA. I found out in my guide book that a Mr. Shreve spent 5 years breaking up a 165 mile log jam on the Red River in the 1800s. The citizens were so grateful to have their river navigable that they renamed the city in his honor. We wonder how that could have happened?

Then we were in Texas and traffic was pretty light. I guess the truck drivers are taking Sunday off. We got off the Interstate at SH 287, which also turned out to be a pretty good route. We ended up in Wichita Falls and called it quits for the day. This part of Texas is pretty flat – it is cattle and oil country. There was a 5 foot falls on the river running through Wichita (which was pretty impressive in this flat country), so the people started calling it Wichita Falls. A flood on the river washed out the falls, but the people eventually built an artificial falls on the river, and they kept the name. Aren’t people funny?

On Monday we were back on the highway heading for Amarillo TX. Things were starting to seem familiar, so I eventually looked at my former trip reports and found we had traveled this same route in 2007. So, we remembered the good restaurant in Tucumcari, NM and decided to get on I-40 and head for that city. Everyone seems enamored of Route 66 and a lot of places advertise the route. Tucumcari was a popular destination on Route 66 until it was decommissioned. The last time we were there it felt like a ghost town. It is a little livelier – some new restaurants and motels have been built on the edge of town. We drove into town and found Del’s Restaurant. It was as good as we remembered and I am glad we supported them. We also found a painting that we liked, so we bought it.

We had gained an hour, so decided we would continue driving until we couldn’t stand it anymore! We ended up in Edgewood NM where we are recovering from all that driving. It has been quite cold – especially at night, so I am glad I brought along a variety of clothes.