All we’re doing now is driving, but it is neat to see the scenery change so dramatically along I-40. We’ve moved from the almost suffocating green tree tunnels of N.C. and Tennessee, to the transition forests and fields of Arkansas, to the wind and open spaces of Oklahoma, through the mesas and high plains of the Texas Panhandle and eastern New Mexico with horizon-to-horizon views of either dead flat land or jutting mesas. Surprisingly, the ground cover is still green, although we’re now getting to the browner areas at the exit to Albuquerque. From Little Rock, we first overnighted in Oklahoma City after fighting the winds again flying across the plains. Did I say it was windy?
That is a Zinfandel Port from a small winery in the Paso Robles area, and it was incredible. Adding the chocolate was over the top. Let the day melt away.
Our next leg was to Amarillo. I had gone online to check out RV parks, as I wanted to be sure to be able to watch England-Germany in the first knockout round of the World Cup, which was to be played Sunday morning. I picked a newer park, which advertised full hookups and cable tv at every site. Since it was going to be on ESPN, we needed a cable feed. The Oasis RV Resort appeared to fill the bill. NOT! The park itself was indeed new, well laid out, with generous concrete pads, little night lights on the pedestals, new hookups, multiple bath/restroom buildings with excellent showers, on-site RV repair facility, RV washing. Hey, this had to be the best park we stayed at. No leveling needed, it was all as flat as the scenery.
All this for $20. What could possibly go wrong? Well, for starters, the promised wifi, with transmitters atop all those bathroom buildings throughout the park, had such a weak signal we couldn’t connect in three different sites we tried. They finally gave us a site next to the main building, where we could get connected at last. I went online and googled the place and found that someone else had reviewed it and complained about the weak wifi. Well, that’s not too bad. We’ve had worse in that category. I hooked up the cable tv and started setting the channels into the tv. Hmmmm. Where’s . . . let’s look at the channel guide that is printed on the park brochure. Uh, shopping network, uh lifetime network, uh . . . WHERE THE %#$*&(@!! IS ESPN? I have managed to book us into the only cable system in the USA that doesn’t carry ESPN. AUUUUGGGGHHHHH.
[Postscript: I found out later the next day that Germany demolished England 4-1, so it wasn’t such a great matchup after all. But I’m still pi**ed.]
The next day, New Mexico gave us a less than cheery welcoming.
I was not enchanted by nearly twenty miles of this. Actually, it was better than in Oklahoma. OK wins the pothole and accordion award for the worst stretches of interstate we’ve ever been on. Californians like to trash I-5 and 99 highway, but they’re ribbons of glass compared to I-40 through OK. It’s almost criminal. It’s a testament to LD build quality that the whole coach didn’t come flying off the frame. Chaco Canyon has nothing on OK’s washboard highway. Once past the miles o’ cones, we had nice sailing into New Mexico.
What we had missed in the South were these vast vistas and the incredible skies, whether rainy
or just billowing.
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