Day 4 - Sept 2

I was up bright and early and on the road today at 7:00.  About 5 miles into the ride, I learned that part of the route I had made was actually on unpaved roads - bummer.  I had to break out the map and find a way to detour around the unpaved section and then get back on track.  A little setback but no big deal.  It was a gorgeous morning - around 65 degrees.  One of the areas I went through had many uniquely southwest styled homes.  Very different than what you see in other areas.

After getting back on track, I finished my planned route for New Mexico and made a run for the border (Texas that is!).  The route from New Mexico into Texas and across Oklahoma (Oklahoma City is how far I made it today) was not very interesting which I expected but there were a few points I can share.

First was the temperature.  While it started out very nice and cool in the morning, it was around 95 degrees when I hit the Texas border.  The worst part is - it kept getting hotter!  All the way across Texas and Oklahoma, the temperature ranged between 95 and 104.  It took a lot of water to keep cool and hydrated.  I ended up staying in a motel tonight because I couldn't find a campground later in the evening when I was ready to stop for the night.  Earlier when I could find campgrounds, it was too hot to even think about setting up a tent - it was cooler to keep riding.  Oh well, a good cold shower and some A/C is feeling really good now.

On my way across Texas I stopped at a rest stop a found a very interesting sign - see the picture below.  You won't find one of these signs where I come from!

I also did stop at the Route 66 Museum in Elk City,Oklahoma.   When I arrived, they told me they were closing in 30 minutes.  I decided to pay the fee ($3.00) and do a quick tour as long as I was already there.  It turned out that 30 minutes was more than enough time.  I had high hopes but they were quickly dashed.  This is one museum I should have just driven by and saved my time.  Oh well.

I can also say the terrain wasn't very exciting to see along the way but it did change from the rocky, dessert-like areas of New Mexico and west Texas, to the area around Amarillo Texas where they did a little farming to the red soil of Oklahoma.  Near Amarillo Texas I saw the largest cattle feed lot I have ever seen - there must have been 10,000 cattle there.  It was over 1/2 mile long - it just kept going and going.  I am not sure where they got all the food to feed these cattle as there wasn't much near there for crops.

Along the entire route today, it made me realize again how much "nothingness" exists in the western part of the U.S.  You can drive for many miles and really not see anything or anyone.  It truly is an area of wide open spaces.  

Today's ride was 688 miles.  New total is now 2,250 miles.  I have now added 3 new states to my "states ridden in" list: New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma.

Tomorrow I pick up Route 66 outside of Oklahoma City and ride a section of that.  From there it will be across the rest of the state and into Arkansas.  I am really looking forward to seeing the Ozarks there.  Everyone I talked to said it is really beautiful.  Time to find out for myself!