Oklahoma to New Mexico

It's been difficult to update lately because we've had quite a few exhausting nonstop days - getting up at 4 AM and passing out by 10 or 11 PM...I'm not sure this is what I signed up for.  Anyhow, I'm going to try my best to get caught up so here it goes...

We left Clinton, OK on Tuesday the 19th and headed for Albuquerque.  We didn't have any stops planned, but we managed to find something anyhow...Cadillac Ranch.  Apparently a few people in Texas have a sense of humor.

Cadillac Ranch in Texas

We also got to see a few interesting things that pertain to my environmental interest - wildfire fighters at our hotel in Albuquerque, wind turbines, and confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).  We also crossed under a helicopter that was stringing electrical wire.

Lots and lots of wind turbines in Oklahoma and Texas

Cows on a CAFO

Helicopter stringing electrical wire

We learned that no matter how hard you think you're doing it, someone else out there is doing it harder.  We thought going across country in an old non-air conditioned car was tough, but so far we've seen people on long distance motorcycle trips, people backpacking down the highway with their dogs, and people running across the country.  We also saw a few cars headed east from the LA Roadster Show.

Loaded down motorcycle

Backpacker with his dog hiking east on route 40

It felt as though it got 10 degrees hotter as soon as we crossed the Texas-New Mexico line.  Unfortunately, this was just the beginning.  

 We had a delicious dinner at the Pueblo Indian Cultural Center across the street from our hotel in Albuquerque.  Dad had another pork chop...I think that made 3 since we got to Kentucky.

This van was in our hotel parking.  These are for you, Brett.  Just like we have Cowboy fans in Washington, they have Redskin fans in Texas.  

Armadillos...Lessons from the road and a list of roadkill

Lessons from the Road

1. Armadillos are by far the ugliest roadkill you will ever see.  I don't find them repulsive in any way when they're alive, and in fact, I think they're sort of ugly-cute...like Bull Terriers and manatees.  But something about them being squished is just repulsive (see end of post if you dare).  And they must be awfully stupid also because there sure are a lot of dead ones on the road once you hit Arkansas.

2. Your eyes can transform any shred of tire into any animal you want... "Oh look, a turtle, a deer, a bird, a snake, an armadillo, a bear...no wait, it's a shred of tire."

3.  No matter how bad you think you'll have to pee in the middle of the night, don't camp near composting bathrooms with a vent.

4.  Truckers must have weird tan lines because I sure do and we've only been on the road for a week.

5.  If you ever visit Oklahoma City, go to the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for lunch.  I don't care if you do or don't like cowboys, they have the best buffet lunch I've ever tasted.  The museum is really cool, but the lunch is worth it in and of itself.

6. New tires are essential before you go.

7. Treasure the air conditioning whenever you can.

8. Don't talk about Deliverance or Jeepers Creepers before camping.


List-o-Roadkill - This is just because I feel like it and because it's been somewhat interesting
1. Raccoons
2. Deer (and the one that just about jumped over the hood of the Impala in Ozark)
3. Young bear (I think)
4. Armadillos
5. Badgers
6. Rattlesnake
7. Cow (well that wasn't really roadkill, but it was dead on the side of the road in a pasture)
8. Almost prairie dog (he ran out in front of us and then right back to the shoulder)
9. Hawk
10. Fox
11. Skunk

To be continued...

SO MANY GROSS ARMADILLOS!

Whathehellzapoppin'?! - The Blowout - Kentucky to Arkansas to Oklahoma

We left Kentucky on Sunday morning and headed south thru Tennessee to Arkansas.  We had to drive a little longer than we had originally expected because we mapped the route to a ranger's station in Atkins, AR rather than to the campground 15 miles outside of Clarksville, AR.  Even after that, it wasn't the easiest campground to find and we drove past it and had to turn around and ask some locals where it was at.  Dad of course had lots of Deliverance references to make after that.  It wasn't the most restful nights sleep while camping.  A pickup truck and another car drove through the campground a couple times late at night so Dad got about 2 hours of sleep and stayed in the Impala the majority of the time...he'll have to really sleep in a tent at some point on this trip.

Ozark National Forest - Horsehead Lake - Our first campground

View over Horsehead Lake

Old cemetery on the hill in the background.  We passed this on the way in to the campsite.

Lots of cows in the area.   These two were especially interested in us.  Spot the longhorns in the background.

On Monday, we left Horsehead Lake and headed for Oklahoma with a stop planned for the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. After leaving a rest stop, I started driving because Dad hadn't slept well the night before and wanted to take a nap.  About 30 miles from Oklahoma City, he started dozing off.  I was doing about 65 miles per hour when suddenly there was a loud POW!  The car dropped down on the passenger side and Dad woke up.  I yelled "Oh shit!" and braced the steering wheel, hit the brakes, and pulled it off to the shoulder.  My hands were shaking and I'm pretty sure I had an early onset minor heart attack.  I thought the whole engine had exploded and fallen out of the car.  Turns out, we had just experienced our first ever blow out.  The front passenger tire was completely destroyed.  It blew a hole through the tire, the tread was shredded and peeling off, the steel belts had ripped.  After unloading more than half the trunk, we finally managed to get to the spare tire and the bumper jack (Dad is pretty sure that's the first time the original bumper jack has ever been used).  The fender got a little banged up by the tread that peeled off and it bent up the chrome a little.  We removed the spun aluminum, put on the spare and I made Dad drive from there.  We decided to head for the Cowboy Museum, hoping to find a tire shop in Oklahoma City.

My blow out on Route 40

 The Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum was really cool and WAY bigger than we expected.  It literally goes on forever.  It has statues, paintings, a rodeo section, a Western performers section, historic rooms, Native American rooms, a hunting room, a war room, and an entire room dedicated to barbed wire.  This room literally had thousands of types of barbed wire all in glass filing cabinets.  The absolute BEST part of the museum was the lunch we had there.  The museum and all its exhibits were great, but the food was amazing.  If you ever go to Oklahoma City, go to the museum and have lunch, whether you like cowboys or not.

End of the Trail statue 

John Wayne painting

After we left the museum, we went down the street to Hibdon Tires Plus Total Car Care, recommended to us by one of the guys at the museum.  They managed to squeeze us in right at the end of their work day and we got two new tires put on the front of the car!  We're really grateful that they were able to do so because we already had a hotel reservation in a town 100 miles down the road.  

One of the mechanics with the tire

This car is the reference in the title...it's Dad's new favorite saying.

National Hot Rod Reunion - Bowling Green, KY

The National Hot Rod Reunion was from Thursday to Saturday at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY.  It mostly consisted of drag racing (top fuel, funny cars, and old style gassers), looking at cars, shopping t-shirt stands and the swap meet, cacklefest, and meeting a lot of cool and interesting people.  We won a set of a jack stands at one of the events (funny coincidence since dad had been saying that maybe we should have brought a set).  I got to sit in a couple of drag cars and line the Impala up like it was a push car.  We got an offer to push some drag cars, but we decided we'd rather not risk it so that we could continue on our trip (maybe next year!).  The most exciting news was that my car won a Top 50 award from the NHRA and got to be in the parade down the dragstrip!  Some favorite pictures are below.

For Sale! $22,000 for an awesome truck. 

The Impala "pushing" the Scorpion.

My '62

Gene Schwartz jumping at the start

'62 Corvette like Brandon's.  Unfortunately, it wrecked after winning a race on the last night.

Two '40 Ford Pickups...my next car?!

This person has great taste! Awesome interior! If only I had a station wagon...this would go better in a wagon than in a four door.

Jody and Dad with Dave McClelland.

Clint Eastwood movie inspired drag cars!

My number is on the awards board!

Me and Dad with my Top 50 award.

Top 50!

Home to Kentucky

We left home on Tuesday, June 12th at about 7:30 am with 95, 246 miles on the Impala and headed for Kentucky.  For those who haven't heard, the Impala has finally been transformed into a push car like I always envisioned! Now we just need a dragster...

Unfortunately, the push board deflects air from the radiator and makes the car run a little hot so we had to take it off for traveling, but it will still be on for the shows.  After a short stop at Bobby Lightbown's in Friendsville, we continued on through West Virginia until we arrived Mt. Sterling, Kentucky.  After about 510 miles, that left us approximately 200 miles from Bowling Green, KY where the National Hot Rod Association's 10th Annual Hot Rod Reunion would be taking place.  

Jody's 55 Chevy, Jody, Dad, and Bobby outside of Bobby's shop.

We got up the next morning and continued on toward Bowling Green, with a stop planned for Mammoth Caves on the way.  We made a stop there around 10:30 am (time change) only to find out that the next Frozen Niagara tour that we would be able to go on wasn't until 4:45 pm.  We decided to head to Bowling Green (another 30 miles from Mammoth Caves) for lunch and to check in to the hotel and unload a little before going back up to the cave.  We stopped at this really crazy junk shop on the way back to the cave that was filled with all kinds of old stuff.  It looked like something out of Hoarders crossed with American Pickers and all overpriced.

Almost forgot! There's a castle in Kentucky! It's near Lexington, where a lot of the horse country is.

The junk shop near Mammoth Caves.

Some other interesting sites along the way...very 1950's "attractions." 

Mammoth Caves was pretty cool.  It's the largest cave system in the world.  It has 396 miles of documented passages with more still forming and likely more undocumented.  The cave is 379 feet deep and has at least 5 levels of passages.  Some of the lower levels contain rivers that are still forming new passages.  Despite being the largest cave system in the world, only about 1/8th of a mile contains formations (stalagmites, stalactites, etc.).  This is because most of the cave is dry and it takes water to make these formations.  There is a part of the cave called Thorpe's Pit because of an explorer that found it and fell in it.  He did survive though.

Our first National Park stop!

The '62 at its first (of hopefully many) National Park!

We decided to take an easier tour that showcased these formations, including Frozen Niagara.  Next time though, I would like to do one of the more challenging caving tours or go down to the level of the river.

Some of the formations in Mammoth Caves.

Frozen Niagara

Frozen Niagara

Thursday was the first day of the NHRA show at Beech Bend Raceway and Park.  We had the car judged first thing so we'll find out tomorrow if we got anything!

Having the car judged at the NHRA show.