Tucumcari, NM here we come.

 During our stay in Guthrie we experienced some apprehension as the result of a news report.  On Sunday evening we were watching TV when one of those News crawlers started moving across the bottom of the TV screen.  There was a reported shooting of 2 police officers in a neighbouring county about 30 miles from us. The police were warning everyone to stay inside and keep their doors locked.  As the evening went on and into the next day more information became available.  Turns out some wacko went on a shooting rampage with an assault rifle.  Fortunately neither officers were seriously injured however the perpetrator stole the Cops truck and went to his Aunt & Uncles house.  Killed the uncle with his rifle and stabbed his aunt to death.  Then tried to decapitate his uncle.  In the next report he had car jacked a vehicle in a mobile home park and shot a lady in the leg.  On Monday it was reported he had tried to car jack an RV in a Flying J parking lot.  Turns out it was the same Flying J we stopped at the next day.  All the time he is driving around the country side and posting a video on Facebook showing his gun and a gun shot wound in his shoulder inflicted by the cops.  Absolutely ranting nonsensical stuff.  At last report he was still at large.  Lori hasn't slept much the past few nights and is glad to be out of Oklahoma.  You just can't make this stuff up.

Tuesday we were off to Tucumcari, NM.  It is located just inside the NM / Texas border on I40 and situated right on Route 66.  We stayed at the Cactus RV park as it accepts my Passport America membership which provides a 50% discount.  After the discount it was still $23.75 and given the lack of amenities that seemed a bit pricey.  The town, at least the part we saw on Route 66 was pretty run down.  When Route 66 was replaced by the Interstate much of the economy seemed to bypass Tucumcari.  


This was the original motel built on this site to accommodate the traffic from Route 66.  Now its closed and derelict.  Newer hotels now exits on the Interstate bypass.


             
The hotel property has now been converted to an RV Park with additional sites in a lot to the rear of the hotel.  How to gain access?  Simply demolish one motel unit to allow for a drive thru.

We had plenty of room to pull in. The Balloon Festival is a major event in Albuquerque in early OCT and I suspect most of these sites are full for that event.

An old style gas station complete with old gas pumps

Wednesday we were off to Albuquerque and spend a few days exploring the sights.  

Guthrie, Ok

We got into Guthrie late on Saturday and spent Sunday doing some grocery shopping and sitting out in the 80 degree heat enjoying the sunshine.  After 3 days of driving it was nice to kick back and relax.  The American Midwest is in the midst of a heatwave with the usual temps in the 50s soaring to the mid 80’s.  The winter jackets and gloves are now packed away and its T-shirts and sandals, at least until we hit the higher elevations of Flagstaff. 

  

We stayed in Guthrie 2 years ago but didn't have time to tour the town but based on our quick drive through town and reviewing some of the tourist brochures we knew we wanted to make a return visit.  

First a bit of history.  Like so many towns in the settlement of the west, Guthrie was born because the railway decided to set up a railroad station in 1887.  A few years later 50,000 people gathered at the edges of the unsettled territories for the great land run.  People raced across 2 million acres of Indian Territory to lay claim to plots of land.  In a matter of 6 hours 10,000 people settled in Guthrie which became the capital of the new Territory of Oklahoma.  Talk about a boom town.  While Guthrie eventually lost out to Oklahoma City in both economic influence and the title of capital city of the new state of Oklahoma the buildings constructed during those boom years have been meticulously preserved.  The centre district of Guthrie was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1999 and the following are pictures from our little walk through about 6 city blocks. 

     

The tree below is on the site of the original Land Office from the Land Run of 1889.  It is now located on the property of the US Post Office and is designated a National Park.  Thats right, the tree and the land immediately around it, basically what you see in the picture is the smallest National Park in the US. 

Many of the old buildings had restored original painted ads.

Read the sign.  Guthrie had all the modern conveniences. 

Could you ask for a prettier downtown.  So much nicer than the Walmart and Strip  Malls in the suburbs. 

I always ask Lori to take her sunglasses off for pictures.  Guess I also have to ask her to keep her eyes open. 

almost all of these buildings have active business operating in them.  No derelict structures here. 

each corner had one of these.  all ready for Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

The old state capital.

Bed and Breakfast.

The Victor Hotel.  Must have been a grand place to stay. 

The start of America's (and Canada's) addiction to sugar. 

A local Theatre company still puts on plays at the Theatre.

We saw this building way down at the end of the main street.  Looks totally out of place.  It is the Guthrie Scottish Rite Masonic Centre.  It is absolutely huge and is situated alone on an entire city block with massive grounds surrounding the building.  As with much of the rest of town, it was closed on Monday.  A tour is a must if we find ourselves here again. 

The steps and pillars remind me of the provincial legislature building in Winnipeg

All of the windows, and there are lots of windows, are stained glass. 

Monday morning we took a drive into Oklahoma City and a visit to Camping World.  They had a replacement shroud for the A/C and after climbing up on the roof of the trailer (I hate heights) I installed the new shroud.  Its white and the rest of the rooftop vent covers are black but at least we are safe from any rain.  Lori suggested a couple cans of black spray paint and no one will know the difference.  A project for a lazy day once we settle into one of our longer term stays.  

   

We stayed at Cedar Valley RV Park last time we were in Guthrie and liked it well enough for a return visit.  It has nice level concrete parking pads however its right next to the highway and the truck traffic starts about 5:30AM so sleeping with the window open is a problem.  I don't remember the noise being a problem last time but it was considerably cooler and we probably had the windows closed.  Last time the campground was almost empty and this time we were lucky to get a spot.  Many of the campers were either seasonal long term residents or work crews, many of which started their big trucks at about 5:30 to head off to work.  

The only problem with our stay in Guthrie was that we were there late Saturday and left Tuesday morning.  Most of the town and attractions are closed on Sunday and Monday so walking the streets and peering in windows was the extent of our exploration.  Perhaps we will be back again on days when we can get inside some of these lovely buildings. 

Off to Tucumcari on Wednesday.

US Border to Guthrie

We hit the US border about noon on Oct 20 and after a few of the required questions we were asked to pull over for an inspection by the Agricultural officer.  They checked our dog food, the food in the fridge and pantry.  We have learned from personal experience and reading other blogs to take as little food over as possible and keep it in the original packaging.  He took a package of brown rice which was imported from India which apparently is a no-no.  Everything else was ok and we were on our way.  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and we made it to Summit, SD.  Checked into a small RV Park which had nice level sites with easy access although at $44. was a bit pricey for an overnight stop. 

The next day things started off pretty much as planned.  We had switched out the Rogers SIM cards in our iPhones and replaced them with the Roam Mobility cards.  We couldn’t get any service in our campground however as soon as we hit the highway we both had phone service.  Our first scheduled stop was Watertown, SD to see the Terry Redlin museum which houses over 200 of his paintings plus personal memorabilia.  Admission is free however they got their pound of flesh from Lori by way of the gift shop.  If your not familiar with Redlin, he is a famous wildlife and landscape artist who grew up in Watertown (He just passed away in 2016).  We have one of his pictures and have always been impressed with his work.  His pictures are so realistic and his use of colours make his pictures so warm and inviting that you feel like you could take a step and be right in the scene.   The building is quite impressive and a must see if you are by this way.  

We stopped in Sioux Falls to get some gas and thats when I made one of those decisions that causes me to question my intelligence.  We missed the turn off to the Flying J but saw a sign for a BP station.  It seemed a little off the beaten path but it looked like a truck stop although somewhat dated.  Upon reflection I’m sure it was built before the Interstate was put in and the canopy was not built for todays rigs.  I new it was tight and pulled in slowly.  Thats when I heard the crunch.  I needed about another inch of clearance.  What ticked me off, other than my own stupidity, is that they didn't have any signage stating the clearance of the canopy.  I managed to negotiate my way out without any further damage.  We got out to take a look and the shroud for the front A/C was cracked but didn't look too bad.  We continued on to the Flying J to fill up with gas.  That was the second mistake.  Should have taken the lawn chairs off the back ladder and climbed up for a further look.  Somewhere out on the Interstate the shroud flew off onto the road.  I saw it in my mirrors and luckily it came down and didn't hit anyone.  So 2 stupid mistakes and one lucky break all in the space of an hour. 

On Friday night we pulled into Nebraska City and got the last spot at Victorian Acres Campground, courtesy of a cancellation a few minutes before we pulled in.  Very nice spot and at $33. a better price than at Summit.  

Laundry facility at Victorian Acres.  Very cute

We left the next morning for Guthrie hoping to make it in by about 5:30.  A long day but a few mistakes along the way resulted in us not getting in till about 7:30. 

Lesson #1 - I set the GPS up to avoid Toll roads.  That meant we avoided the Kansas Turnpike but ended up on secondary highways which was a bit more indirect and lots of small towns requiring us to slow down.  I realized what I had done and changed the settings and we were soon on the Kansas Turnpike making up for some lost time.  For the untrained in the ways of Toll roads they do need better signage on how to enter and pay for the tolls.  I won’t go into details, due to extreme embarrassment, but I did end up trying to enter the Turnpike in the exit lane.  Stupid is as stupid does.  At least thats what Forrest says.  

Lesson #2 - Topeka seems to be our Achilles Heel when it comes to running low on gas.  2 years ago we were on the Turnpike and on fumes by the time we came up to one of the Travel Centres.  This year we by passed a couple of truck stops thinking we had lots of gas and then we were down to 1/4 tank and no gas stations coming up on the GPS.  We ended up turning around and going back into Topeka and searching for a gas station that would take our 54 feet of truck and trailer and with clearance of at least 14 feet.  Finally found one.  It was tight but managed to manuvere in without hitting anything.  Back on the Interstate and about 10 miles further down the road we came to a large truck stop.  If we’d kept going we could have saved at least an hour backtracking and looking for a gas station.  We have subsequently discovered a setting on our new GPS that finds Truck Stops.  Much more suitable than looking for gas stations.  Ain’t travelling fun!

We finally made it in to Guthrie and have booked for 3 nights.  Time to unwind, buy some groceries, find a new shroud for the A/C before we get some rain and put these little challenges behind us.  

More on Guthrie in our next post.  

Later  

We are off, barely!

Since my last post we have been to see “The Book of Mormon” which was very good, although somewhat graphic in some parts.  We also took in the Toruk, Circ du Soli production which was also pretty good.  Then we winterized the trailer and headed up to Swan River to spend 10 days with Lori’s mother.  Then it was back to Winnipeg to make a few last minute preparations for our trip.  

On the housing front we have finally received agreement from our builder for us to take possession of our house upon our return in April.  They will arrange for installation of our appliances when we are gone and may use our house in the spring Parade of Homes.  Kind of wierd that hundreds of people with see our house before us.   On our last visit to the house the outside was pretty much complete and they were painting the interior.  They are on schedule for completion for mid-Dec. 

We left for Snowbird 2 on Thursday, Oct 20 and until the 19th we weren't sure we were going to get away on time.  We picked up our mail on the evening of the 18th and much to my surprise I had a letter from MPIC regarding my drivers license.  Apparently I was due for a physical exam in order to keep my Class 3 drivers license.  The exam needed to be completed by Dec 31 however since we were planning on leaving in 2 days I started to panic.  This was totally my fault.  I new a medical exam was required every 3 years however I had mistakenly thought it was due in May/17.  I checked with my Dr the next morning and there was no way they were going to get me in before our departure so my next option was hoping I could arrange for an extension for the submission of my medical exam.  Success.  They were prepared to extend it to  April 30/17 provided I had a Dr appt booked.  One more call to the Dr office and we were good to go.  

Or so I thought.

On the afternoon of the 19th I tried to make an online purchase using my Costco Capital One MC.  DECLINED.  After a frantic call to Capital One I find out that my card was corrupted and they cancelled the card. No one could tell me how the card was corrupted, only that no fraudulent transactions took place.  A new card was being mailed to me however wouldn’t be received until after we had left.  Good new was I could still use the card as an ID card for Costco and Lori still had her card which was fine.  We have a US $ Visa which we use in the US anyway.  So a bit of an inconvenience but no biggie.  

Thursday morning we were packing up the trailer and thought I’d check the activity on my credit card just to make sure no one had accessed my account.  Everything looked fine but then I noticed a charge from the movers who were storing our furniture till we get possession of our house.  I had given them my MC # to process the monthly storage fee.  Next months fee would be bounced.  Put in a quick call to change the payment to another Cr card.  No problem except they had to take an impression of my card.  Kind of old school but they came to our RV Park and as they were pulling up we were ready to pull out.  

US border here we come.