The Great Buffalo - Part One

All times are local

Day One - 1240 - Sunny / 51 – Wednesday, April 8, 2009

We’ve put a 4 inch thick cushion on the console between our seats and put Jack’s bed on top of it – he rides up there like he’s on a throne – all he has to do to see out is lift his head

First problem: RF modulator Jerry installed in truck for mp3 player not working (has worked fine for two years now) – no Louis L’Amour to get us in the mood!

Redbuds in bloom all along interstate - hate to leave home this time of year when it's just starting to look so good

1415 - RA –TN- I40:269 – lunch – pasta salad, cookie

RA – TN-I40:130 – snack – Cocoa Krispie Treat, Zero

1735 - Flying J - TN-I40:84 – Fairview - 19.3 gal @ $2.139 = $41.20 – 224 mi (25 miles already on tank)

TN-I40:42 – Yum Yum, TN! What a cool address

2000 - Memphis – Neely’s Interstate BBQ
Jerry: large chopped pork, large fries
Shari: small chopped pork, small slaw – shared Zero
Spicy, but not too spicy - I like Buddy’s better, Jerry likes Neely’s

2100 – ARKANSAS

2130 – AR-I55:4 - Arrive Flying J – West Memphis, AR

Clear / 59 - 399 miles today

2200 - bed – Jerry gave Jack his usual goodnight belly rub and the little guy fell asleep in mid rub!

0330 – something woke both of us up – Jerry got up to use the bathroom – both of us thought it was morning because we were parked under a light standard – I thought to myself “I’m not ready to get up yet.” Jerry checked the clock – hurray it’s only 3:30 in the morning – we get to sleep some more



Day Two – 0730 - Overcast / 58 – Thursday, April 9, 2009

No coffee in the truck stop – had to buy it at the restaurant - $3.79 for two – no cream!

No donuts in the coffee shop

0800 AR-I55:4 - Flying J - 18.1 gal @ $2.219 = $40.00 – 199 mi

Drove to Petro –apparently there are no donuts in all of W Memphis

Got breakfast bars out of picnic box

0830 AR-I55:4 – depart West Memphis, AR

Flat – fields – no more Redbuds

Standing water in fields, roadside ditches, irrigation ditches.

Decided to try playing audio books through computer – could not transfer back

Found ‘Dead Watch’ by John Sanford on the computer – neither of us had heard it before

9:30 Partly Cloudy – 62

Can see a ridge in the distance

0945 – AR-I40:205 – extremely rough concrete road

0955 – AR-I40:194 – new smooth asphalt road

0956 – AR-I40:193 - Oh-Oh! the door on the battery compartment vibrated open – pulled onto
exit ramp

0958 – on the road again – Little Rock, 41 miles

Flat - fields

1000 – Cloudy - 67

1010 – AR-I40:182 - Carlisle Municipal Airport – 3 small planes

1020 – AR-I40:173 – Jerry needs M&M – Jack needs treats too

Swampy – short trees

1030 – AR-I40:155 – Cloudy / 66

Downtown Little Rock in distance to the south west

Low rolling hills

Humongous First Pentecostal Church – very beautiful architecture

1050 – AR-I40:141 – a few large raindrops

1100 – AR-I40:130 - Jerry spots deer on side of road – just after small lake with trees all over it

Light sprinkles

More of the lake with the trees – Jerry thinks they look like Cyprus trees

Rain a bit heavier

1120 – AR-I40:108 – Rain lighter

1130 – AR-I40:90 – BIG HILL

Rain heavier

1145 – AR-I40:84 – Flying J Russellville - 17 gal @ $2.179 = $37.00 – 196 mi

1200 – AR-I40-72 – Rest Area – Light rain / 66
Jerry – 2 foldover chicken salad sandwiches, chips, 2 cookies
Shari – 1 foldover chicken salad sandwich, chips, 1 cookie
Jack – chicken, cookie

1320 – on the road again – Raining softly

Gently rolling terrain

1350 - low ridges

1300 – hills

1410 – AR-I40:24 – dead deer – rain stopped

All rivers in Arkansas swollen

1430 - OKLAHOMA

1450 - OK – I40:313 Rest Area – partly cloudy - windy

Very cute 'tepee' picnic shelters
tapioca, energy drink

1530 – On the road again – partly sunny – 68

Arkansas River – slightly swollen

Really bad road – concrete, heavily patched – left lane much better

Flat – low ridges in the distance

Dust

OK-I40:282 - Begin construction - EB completely torn up – just a web of rebar for a while and then piles of gravel (which used to be roadbed)

OK-I40:276 - End construction

OK-I40:264 – brand new road – very nice

1620 – sky getting very dark again – a little lightening in the distance

Here comes the rain – moderate but large drops

1645 – rain suddenly stops – clear blue sky – 65

Low rolling hills

WINDY

1715 – OK-I40:210 – Zero, cheese sticks, peanuts

1530 – OK-I40:202 – crossing Turkey Creek

Rolling plain - scattered trees and brush

Fields – dust

Huge smoke cloud coming from the SW (found out later 100 homes burned – kids playing with fire)

1800 – OK-I40:172 – Jerry had to pull off interstate to pour 5 gals of fuel in - the smoke is really thick

1815 – OK-I40:166 – finally even with smoke – Fire Marshall and 2 small fire trucks passing us with light and sirens (probably called in as support from small town nearby) - Holy cow – the second truck is trailing his fire hose behind him - Jerry has to dodge the nozzle

1830 – entering outskirts of OK City – sand/dust pelting us

1845 – OK-I40:140 – arrive Flying J - 27.7 gal @ $1.979 = $55.00 – 274 mi

WINDY / 74 - 471 miles today

2000 – Italian beef on baguettes with Clausen spears, Tagalongs

2200 – bed – Jerry is pretty beat up from fighting the wind most of the day – Jack is a good little camper – he is eating well

2300 – heard banging on side of camper – Jerry went out to investigate – sewer compartment door open and the wind was blowing it against the side of the camper



Day Three – 0555 – Overcast, WINDY / 45 – Friday, April 10, 2009

Wind still blowing like crazy – at least 40 mph sustained with gusts to 60

Pretty lucky I guess – thunder storms and tornados reported in AR & OK yesterday

Split a large coffee ($1.76), got donuts and a postcard to send to Trevor.

Jerry had to pump up his new 5th Airborne tongue this morning – too much rough road yesterday I guess – manager assured him they had 100 lbs of pressure and they did

0815 – on the road again

0830 – OK-I40-130 – didn’t make it too far – Jerry spotted something flopping under the trailer – turned out a bolt had snapped off and a piece of the underpinning was ripping off

Partly sunny

0845 - OK-I40-123 - the 2009 edition of the Good Sam “Interstate Exit Directory” said there is a Wal-Mart at the OK-I40-123 so we did 40 mph for 7 miles. Jerry went in Wal-Mart to buy a c-clamp to hold the camper together until he can make a permanent repair.

0930 – on the road again

Casinos are ubiquitous along the interstate in OK

White caps on the farm ponds!

0945 – still windy, but only contrails in the sky

Low rolling terrain, scattered fields and pastures

OK-I40-102 – begin construction - one lane closed each way

Creeks incised 10-15 feet, but water level very low – not much buffer – in fact, the only trees you see are along the creek banks

OK-I40-95 – end construction

Wind turbines dot the skyline on all sides of Weatherford, OK – they’re getting a workout today – easily 200 of them

Very strange terrain on the south side of the interstate – low irregular mounds of red dirt with scrub vegetation growing on all but the wind-blown crowns – went on for 2-3 miles

Just passed a sign advertising and RV park with ‘Cable TV’ and a ‘Storm Shelter’

Unusual water towers around here – look more like grain elevators – only taller & skinnier

Lots of farms with small Black Angus herds

More wind turbines 3 or 4 miles north of interstate – can see at least 100 perhaps more – they disappear into the distance

OK-I40-141 - National Route 66 Museum – we waved as we drove by

Evidence of several small grass fires all along the interstate – read recently that because of the continued drought conditions in OK the water table is 25 feet low

Not sure about the trees since they are just starting to leaf, but looks predominately like cottonwood, some other small trees with very gnarly branches and dark bark, and some even smaller trees with mostly small branches and light bark – many of them with a decided northerly aspect - didn’t think to bring a tree book

Jack has moved to the back seat for a while – he is lying on top of the bed pillow – needed a softer spot I guess – the pillow is on top of a fleece blanket that is on top of a large camera bag and the goodie bag so he can see out from that vantage point also

1115 - OK-I40-20 - Flying J – Sayre, OK - Clear 54 - 15.8 gal @ $2.019 = $32.00 – 120 mi

Time for a Zero and some peanuts

1145 – on the road again

Jack back on the pillow in the back seat

Holsteins!

Old Route 66 runs along north side of interstate for miles – appears to be in very good shape, but haven’t seen a single vehicle on it

Three C-130s passing overhead at a fairly low elevation

1230 - TEXAS - The 'Panhandle’

Called Clayton KOA – said they had plenty of room for us tonight

More black angus, some planted fields, some as yet untilled, occasional dead oil wells, lots of brush

Creeks are all dry - shallow, broad ones and narrow, incised ones

Now the creeks are all broad and deeply incised

Now more level terrain with both newly planted fields and freshly disked ones

Circular irrigation machines everywhere – they are reminiscent of dragonfly wings – we have seen some with as many as 21 sections

Have seen only small herds of cattle – less than 50 – with most around 20

Finally a very large pond – but not full

Last year’s wheat and cotton field stubble

Several billboards advertising a free 72 oz. steak – if you can eat it in an hour – ‘The Big Texan’

The state tree here must be the telephone pole! – and we suspect they are an exotic

Another turbine farm that vanished into the distance

Texas roads are excellent – but I don’t see why they beat TN this year in the trucker’s poll

1345 – TX-I40:76 – Flying J – Amarillo, TX – clear, calm 55 - 13.9 gal @ $2.159 = $30.00 – 121 mi

My first whiff of TX – smells like a mixture of diesel and manure

Second flat-bed we’ve seen full of what we assume are stock pen panels/gates

There is a 2005 Challenger here that appears to have the same floor plan that we do

1400 – on the road again

Tried unsuccessfully to have lunch at the Stockyard Café – stopped serving at 2 pm – our little sheet metal problem cost us an authentic TX lunch – still smells like manure

After some maneuvering from ‘Ethel’ we are on our way to Clayton, NM

Now on US 87 – four lane divided, limited access highway – ‘Texas Plains Trail’

A little more interesting scenery occasionally – everything is more close-up: sagebrush, our first working oil wells, another turbine farm – no wind here!

1534 – Dumas, TX – Burger King – Jerry was screaming for a hamburger fix – smells like manure here too – place has an air sanitizer inside

Jerry: ‘Tendercrisp’ chicken sandwich and onion rings!!!!! (what happened to the burger?)
Shari: Whopper Jr, sm fry
Jack: nada! (we left him loose in truck since we would be quick – he kept a lookout for us)

1615 – on the road again: north on US 87 – clear 59 – an AB day

Maple Nut Goodies

Pheasant flying across road

Lots of planted fields – circular irrigation going strong - a pasture with at least 100 head of

Angus

Just passed a pasture full of small deer – no wonder they’re small considering what they have to eat

Oil field – one well being drilled

Dalhart, TX - ‘Reinke’ irrigators (remember to check this out later)

Marty Robbins on the CD!

Grain elevator after grain elevator (rr track running beside highway)

Crossing Rita Blanca Creek

1730 – NEW MEXICO

1745 – Clayton KOA – Clayton, NM

Fair / 59 - 385 miles today

Pull-thru level site – did not even unhitch – jacks, water, sewer, power, cable

1900 – Sloppy Joes, chips and Clausen spears

Everyone is pretty tired – going to post this, send an email, shower and hit the sack

2230 - bed