Alumazooma

Hey Folks,

This post is wayyyy overdue but it's been a busy week and we haven't had a chance to edit all the photos 'till now.  Oh yeah, and there's the SECOND 800 mile round trip we took back to New Mexico to pick up the sick big black dog Shiloh.  He's now the all better big black dog and all four of us are now parked in our long-term site at the KOA in Salt Lake City and happy we can finally settle in for a while.  We even have a shed for all our stuff.  Hank is very pleased with this arrangement.

Site 656 - Salt Lake City KOA

Back together again.  Checking out of the hospital in Farmington, NM

A different type of post this time too.  I'll just hit the highlights and let the photos and captions tell the story.  So, for those of you who just look at the pictures this will be the greatest post ever 'cause boy, do we have some great pics.

Highlights:

The wind blew and blew and blew, 30 mph sustained to 50 mph gusts from the south across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.  Lulu handled it well - hence the reason they call 'em Airstreams.

It snowed on our co-workers traveling across the upper tier, I-80 and I-70, stranding a few for a couple of days.  For that reason we took the low road; I-40 through Memphis, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, and Albuquerque, had temps in the 50s and only a little rain in Oklahoma and Texas.  Sorry, no pictures of the Gateway Arch as I had planned but plenty of iconic photo ops just the same.

We spent a night fo' free in the Cracker Barrel parking lot outside Memphis.  It was fantastic, even better than some RV parks we've stayed in.  A big thank you to the manager for a great meal and a great night's sleep.

We rolled onto world famous Beale Street in Memphis for an early morning photo shoot.

Just outside Amarillo, TX we visited the one and only Cadillac Ranch and got sandblasted.  We actually had to lean forward into the wind to walk the short distance from the highway. Goggles next time for sure.

We found the quirkiest little bitty town ever. Tucumcari, New Mexico, just over the border from Texas.  Claim to fame - the old Route 66 runs through it.  Claim to our admiration; the murals and personality plus from the local radio station KQAY, (think Chris in the morning on K-BEAR from Northern Exposure). 

Margo put some time in behind the wheel in New Mexico.  She took on some good size hills and a construction zone that came out of nowhere, narrowing down to give her only a foot or so of clearance on either side.  That was a fun passenger moment for me but she pulled it off, no sweat.

Of course there's the story of leaving Shiloh in Farmington, NM.  Shout out to the good people at Animal Haven Clinic for nursing him back to health.


I'll leave you now to look at the pictures.  Click the pics to enlarge.  Feel free to download, print and frame if you like. 

Ladies and gentleman - start your engines!

Bristol, TN

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Overnight at Cracker Barrel - Memphis

Walkin' in Memphis

Over the Mississippi River

Co-pilot Shiloh

Oklahoma City skyline

Sundance Bridge - Oklahoma City

Day two.  Overnight at Wes Watkins Reservoir - Okla. City

A rainy welcome

Wind turbines

Cadillac Ranch

Route 66 parallels I-40 most of the way across TX and NM 

The original Route 66

Old and new

Alumazoomin'

Tucumcari, NM

Tucumcari, NM

Tucumcari has many of the original motels from the Route 66 heyday

Tucumcari KOA.  Great campground.  Nice neighbors...

...and they even had pony rides on the playground.

New Mexico - Margo owned the camera and the road

I wanted to see a roadrunner so badly.  This is the only one I saw.

We went through only a small corner of Colorado.

Margo's desert dream home

Wilson's Arch near Canyonlands National Park

Lunch stop in Moab

Little dog dreams big. Pep the rock climber.

Moab

Moab out the front door

Relaxin' in Moab.  The Colorado River is within a stones throw.

Approaching Provo, UT

The last stretch before Salt Lake

Six states in 6 days.  2,484 miles.  One sick but recovered dog.  Four seasoned travelers happy to be in Salt Lake City. 

So far I've worked a week here in SLC and I'm really enjoying it.  The people at the gas company and from my company are all top notch.  We've been reunited with old friends from past jobs and met many new ones.  Stay tuned for some new adventures in this beautiful place.