5-31-18 Tucumcari, NM

On Tuesday the 29^th of May, the drive from Grand Island, NE to Dodge City, KS was long, tedious and challenging.  We had decided to take a more back way and avoid the freeway.  Then the bad weather reared its ugly head.  Our hope was that our route would circumvent some of the scary looking black skies ahead but, alas, some of it slammed into us head-on.  The windshield wipers’ “fast” speed could not keep up.  There was a bit of small hail, briefly.  Sharp lightning bolts stretched all the way to the ground and deafening thunder rumbled.  Two tornadoes came through Dodge City a few miles from our destination but the bastards missed us.  Ah, the heartland:  tornado alley.  In all the noisy chaos, the sound of the rock that hit the windshield was drowned out and the chip was found later that day.  We were sad.  Rob called the glass guy, he came out in the morning and fixed the damage in about 20 minutes for $55, which AAA paid in full immediately.  The Jeep never got unhitched so we were ready to roll quite quickly, yup, at 11:20AM.  This part of the plains states can be brutal, weather-wise.  Just before our arrival at the campground, the managers had gone around the campground gathering everyone up and transporting them to the shelter which happens to be the bathroom.  Handy when you’re scared shitless.  The glass guy told us that, a few years back, hail the size of golf balls literally totaled an entire dealership lot of brand new cars.  By the way, in the category of attention-grabbing signs, the one at the Winnebago factory customer service lounge reads, “Tornado shelter, employees only.”  Customer service, indeed!

I could have spent a week in Dodge City, I just love the place.  But we are on a mission and a time-limiting schedule so today, the Tucumcari KOA was the destination.  Once again, the prairie winds blew fiercely and that coupled with being passed in both directions by semis, meant no daydreaming behind the wheel.  The 290 mile drive took seven hours of tense, heart-stopping, wheel-gripping attention, mostly on slower two-lane back roads that pass through the small towns, by choice.  It is so much more interesting to travel through the farm country and in the gas stations and rest areas we meet friendly, kind Midwesterners.  They come in handy, by the way.  At the gas pumps, unfamiliar with all things diesel, we newbies were standing there reading manuals to see what kind of fuel to use, diesel # 1 or diesel # 2.  I’m sure the seasoned truckers were giggling at us.  We asked them about it and got several different interpretations but the most prevalent is that # 1 is for winter temperatures near zero and # 2 is for summer driving.  “Near zero?”  No worries, # 2 it is!

Noobee at the Tucumcari campsite

We touched four states today.  Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico and we’ve arrived in Tucumcari.  Last time I drove through Tucumcari was in January, 43 years ago, when I drove my Duster and a small U-Haul to CA on my big cross-country move.  This was when the Beach Boys wished they all could be California girls and I was trying to do my part.  It was also during Jimmy Carter’s gas crisis and I carefully metered my mileage and was on schedule to arrive in Albuquerque with a few ounces left.  Unfortunately, just outside of Albuquerque, I became stopped in a jam and a blizzard up in the hills from where I could see the city lights.  I learned from truck drivers who were on their CBs that a cattle transport had tipped over.  I had just enough fuel and so I turned the car off and on just long enough to warm Boo, my cat, and me.  After some time, I didn’t think I was going to make it to the city, carefully turned around and headed back to a small motel in Tucumcari.  Across the street was a gas station and in the morning, I made it there on fumes.  As I drove the same pass later, there were dead cattle strewn all along the roadside covered in blankets of snow.  My introduction to New Mexico!

Inside Noobee

Toonie time!