We Make Our Getaway

The chapter in which we escape Lawton:-

Actually, we had the alarm set for 05:00 in order to make an early start and by shortly after 6 we were away from the house picking up coffee. Rolling down the road as the morning dawned found us well away when I glanced at the clock. As you can see it is 8:00.

Well then if it is 8:00 this must be Texas. Just as I was thinking this thought a sign hove into view.

Texas in all it's vast glory welcomes us yet again. It truly is like a whole 'nother country. Wide open spaces abound.

To put everything in perspective here is a visual aid. Sometimes even I lose the quantitative analysis and need to see a picture for it to truly sink in.

We stopped in Memphis to top off the gas tank. While Love's is not always the cheapest fuel in town, their employees are cheerful, their washrooms are clean and they seem to have every type of snack, gewgaw and jim-crack to help you part with those pesky dollars you've been carrying around. Just the gas today thank you.

Some pictures simply demand to be taken. You may remember in a much earlier blog post a picture I got of a Mission Style Rest Area in Southern California.

This is the Texan equivalent. The architecture is Frontier Style. The overhang, the second story veranda; it looks like it was lifted straight out of a Western Action Novel. This shot was a must, even if we didn't stop to get interior pictures.
 

A little further on in Amarillo I got the opportunity to document another true Texan institution. This is the Texan Steak House. Their big claim to fame is that they offer a Steak diner absolutely free of charge if you can eat it in one hour. Did I forget to mention the steak in question is 72 ounces!!!! That's four and a half pounds of meat, along with a Side Salad, Baked Potato and Dinner roll.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread and my idiocy quotient is not high enough to prompt me to try it. A recent movie with Barbara Streisand called
"The Guilt Trip" has a scene in which Babs actually tackles and vanquishes this challenge. Cinematic license I am sure.

There is a motel adjacent that is dressed up to look like an old western town. Perhaps it is for those who are defeated by the challenge and need a little lie down.

 This character greets people pulling into the parking lot. He appears to be some sort of cowboy boot wearing dinosaur. Why? I don't know!

There is also a stable of Cadillacs equipped with Longhorn hood ornaments. These no doubt see regular usage in adverluxury functions.
  

Leaving Amarillo we crossed the Oklahoma panhandle and entered Colorado. The fellow in this GMC motorhome put his hazard lights on as we left, so we wheeled back around to see if we could assist. As we pulled up behind him he took off. Hopefully everything is ok.

We passed the tiny little Stage Stop Inn. Seems quaint. (This is a word real estate agents use to describe something almost impossibly small).

 There is a pioneer woman standing on the corner with a parasol. Perhaps she waits for her beau to arrive with the carriage. Taking into account her level of rust, I feel sure that she must have been waiting a long time.

This is the Baca county courthouse, built the year after my father was born. It stands in pretty good shape considering it's over 100 years old.

As we roll north we enter the land of giants. I am always humbled by the size of these windmills. Day after day they generate power. Can't raise cattle due to drought? Have you ever thought about farming the wind?

We ended up back at the same hotel we patronized on the way down. They were happy to see us and had a room ready. I am exhausted and it's only 6 p.m.

We will be back with you tomorrow. Cheers!