Wednesday, April 10th, 2024

Day 2 of our trek north

Dear Journal:

It was a cold night here at the Dancing Eagle Casino RV park, the thermometer sensor located outside of the coach was showing 39ºF (3.8ºC), that was why we sprung twenty dollars for a campsite so we could run our electric space heater over night so when I rolled out of bed this morning at five o’clock the coach was a balmy 60ºF (15.5ºC) in the coach.

Todays route will be eastbound on Interstate I-40, and the destination I have picked out is a visitor center / rest stop in Amarillo Texas. Of course every morning starts with a pot of fresh perked coffee and most morning there is a wee Irish blessing. We are in travel mode so we want to be on the road by nine this morning, and that should have us off the road by two in the afternoon. Ok I have a confession to make, this is the week of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta Georgia and I’m hoping to be stopped early enough each day to watch the coverage.

I have to make a stop this morning at the grocery store here at the casino as they carry a chip dip that is the best, it is made with local chili peppers and I have stopped to get some dip every time. And as luck would have it they had two containers left and they are now in our refrigerator. As we unplug and prepare to head east on I-40 the first major city is Albuquerque and we should be travelling through there at 10:30 – 11:00 which means traffic should not be too bad.

Todays drive through New Mexico has been reasonably uneventful, I will state again that the highways in New Mexico are shameful some of the worse that we travel, Our fuel stop today is at a TA truck stop in Moriarty NM and is part of the “Open Roads” discount program. The price of fuel in Arizona and New Mexico is too high but I had to get fuel as we do not carry enough to make it to Texas and more reasonable fuel pricing,

Lunch today was a gromet grilled cheese sandwich, prepared by Miss Laurie while in a rest stop on Interstate I-40 in New Mexico just 80 miles ( Kilometers ) west of the Texas border, the time is 12:40 Mountain Daylight Savings time. I mention the time because we will loose another hour at the Texas border as we will move into Central Daylight Savings time.

Let me say this Texas roads are so much better than New Mexico’s it is such a difference that I just have to mention it again. Amarillo is our destination tonight and with the lost hour because of a new time zone we did not arrive till 4:00 local time. And to add to the annoyance the AT&T cellular service here at the rest stop sucks. And now that I think back I remember that from last springs stop here as well. Next trip through Amarillo we will try the Cracker Barrel if the Service has not improved.

Speaking of improvements we are pleased to see there is a new Buc-ees’ being built at the interchange with the rest area, that is a big bonus as as much as we have never fueled Thunder at a Buc-ee’s I know that their diesel prices are very good. We had enough cell service to watch some television but there was considerable buffering.

This Visitor Center / Rest Stop in not easy access to or from the Interstate and we have found in the past that it usually limits the number of trucks that use it, making it one of our favorites and it is so flat that would recommend it. As we head for bed tonight it seems to be quiet, something that doesn’t happen every stay, but the temperature helps (no one trying to stay warm or cool by using a generator or running their diesel motors) to reduce the noise. It is nice not having to unhook the toad at night, as we would have to at the Cracker Barrel, but sometimes the quiet is worth the price.

Day 2 Stats: 340 miles (547 kilometers) solar harvest of 128 amp / hours $0.00 spent on accommodations, 66.82 gallons (252.94 liters) of diesel at a cost of $242.72 ($334.38 Cdn)