Lubbock KOA, TX
Family, TX
Saturday, 11 through Monday, 13 December 2021
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| Flagstaff to Bernalillo, Day 1 (follow the blue line) |
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| Bernalillo to Lubbock, Day 2 (much of the line here is green - blue + yellow) |
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| Lubbock to Dallas, Day 3 (both green and blue) |
Saturday, the 11th
I guess it's because I don't usually spend much time on interstates, but I was surprised to see so many license plates from so many far-away states: Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, New Hampshire, Illinois, New Jersey, Tennessee, Alaska, as a sample.
Early in the drive from Flagstaff, there was snow and frost everywhere. But by the time I got to Holbrook, there wasn't any at all. That was reassuring for safe driving conditions.
I saw a license plate that said: OOHDEER.
Entering New Mexico I saw a sign saying: "New Mexico True Welcomes You." Not being real sure what they meant by "New Mexico True" I looked it up and learned it's an advertising slogan and (as far as I can tell) the state's not real clear on what it means either. But they say it means to embrace the local culture and anticipate having adventures along your own lines of interest here. They say people often see New Mexico as barren, and they wanted to suggest visitors look a little deeper for what's here. Not sure that slogan gets us there but ...
Then I came to the rest area at the state's Welcome Center, where a sign said "New Mexico Welcomes You." The only problem with that idea is that the rest area and welcome center were closed for covid.
The number of tractor-trailers on the road was staggering.
I wasn't able to get to Gallup during my month in New Mexico, but I tried to find a place here where we could stop and take a walk and have some lunch, which turned out to be really hard to do. I guess I just got off at the wrong exit, but the only place I found was an empty Mexican restaurant parking lot - I couldn't tell if the place were closed for covid or just not open for lunch.
I saw a sign saying Gallup is the "Most Patriotic Small Town in America." Turns out that title came from Rand McNally (the map people) and is based on the numerous services and honors for local residents who were (a) WWII Navajo Code Talkers, (b) Korean War Medal of Honor recipient, (c) surviving members of the Bataan Death March - a fair basis, considering this town has only 21,000 residents.
Numerous billboards along the highway extoll El Rancho Hotel, which is a National Historic Landmark as well as being a still-operating hotel. It was built in 1936 by the brother of the famous director D.W. Griffith. It gradually became the center of the Western movie industry, and many many Hollywood stars stayed here: John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, Spencer Tracy, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Ronald Reagan and Katharine Hepburn among them. After color movies came out in the 1960s, this area fell out of favor (not Technicolor friendly, I guess). But the hotel sits on Route 66, so you can get all kinds of connections here.
I could tell by the traffic I was back in New Mexico: 3 cars and a semi all decided to enter the highway in front of me and I had to come to almost a complete stop because the fast lane wouldn't let me move over. I really don't like driving in this state because people are so rude and apparently oblivious to danger or driving courtesy.
A semi with the UPS logo roared up to tailgate 3 cars that were stuck behind another semi in the passing lane. He tailgated them for a while and when he passed me I saw he was texting while he was tailgating. So incredibly dangerous.
And to be fair to NM drivers, a semi from Indiana was so casual about how he changed lanes that he was still very much in my lane when he started to pass me. I wasn't completely convinced he'd be able to make it without scraping my side or bashing my mirror until after he'd passed safely.
There was an incredible amount of traffic, and at least as many semis as cars. I never did figure out why they were all out here on a Saturday or where they were all going.
I passed the Continental Divide (again) where the elevation was 7,275'.
I saw several signs here and there that said "High Profile Vehicles Use This Exit." I tried hard to figure out what on earth those signs were about and never did. They didn't explain what constituted "high profile" but I never saw any semis exit so apparently they weren't high enough. And I never could figure out why they should exit in the first place because none of the subsequent overpasses seemed unusually low. Odd.
The terrible NM roadways along part of today's drive were as bad as I'd remembered. At one area the road level was so uneven I saw semis having trouble not tumping over.
Bernalillo bills itself as The City of Coronado, apparently because it's just a few miles from the state's Coronado Historic Site where, in 1542, the Spanish explorer Coronado came upon a Native village that had been there for 200 years. These folks were part of the Tiwa-speaking tribe, and it was 1 of 12 such villages in the area. These Native villages were likely the only reason Coronado and his men stayed alive, ill-prepared as they were to live off this land. Of course they never found the gold they were looking for, though I suppose you could say they found it after all in these villages where the folks kept them alive - assuming a person's life to be worth more than gold.
I stayed at the same KOA I'd been to about a month ago when I was in this area.
Sunday, the 12th
Gasoline in Flagstaff costs 65¢/gallon more than in Bernalillo. That's quite a difference.
About 40 miles or so outside of Bernalillo, I noticed the semis way outnumbered other vehicles. I've never seen as many semis parked on the shoulders of exits - both yesterday and today. Sometimes there were as many as 5 at an exit. Possibly it's a result of the state rest areas being closed, which should make NM officials want to rethink their decision to close rest areas for covid. Which doesn't make much sense, when you think about it, because the only indoor public venues at a rest area are the restrooms, and you could just post warning signs on the doors to remind people they should still be wearing a mask indoors.
I passed a tow truck pulled up to the trailer part of a tractor-trailer. The trailer had been completely destroyed by fire, and the tow truck had a sign that said, "Money For Junk Cars" or something similar. They sure got a junker that time.
I passed a billboard with a picture of a hearse, and the caption read: "One Way or Another, Someone Will Be Your Designated Driver." They should post those in bars.
I counted 13 trains during today's drive: one that was 2 trains hooked together, with 3 engines part way along the chain. One of the 2 trains was all filled coal cars, the other containers. The result was a very long wait. I saw other trains with filled coal cars, and still others with cars.
Near Clovis I passed a New Mexico historical marker about Ida O. Jackson, and looked her up. I couldn't find a photo of the actual marker, but I did find this webpage explaining why she well deserved a historical marker. It looks like one of those "bloom where you're planted" situations. https://www.nmhistoricwomen.org/ida-o-jackson
Just over the border in Texas, I found cotton fields scattered for miles and fields dotted with both square and round cotton bales. I passed a herd of cows grazing in a beautiful green cropfield. Don't know what they've planted there, but I'd guess it wasn't intended to be cow food.
In Muleshoe, not far from the Texas border, gasoline was 40¢/gallon less than in Bernalillo, just over a dollar/gallon less than in Flagstaff. That's a big difference.
Near Lubbock I passed a business called Hoot-n-Annie Pecan Co. With a picture of an owl by the "hoot" part and a picture of a redheaded girl in pigtails by the "annie" part.
I made it into the Lubbock KOA, where I've stayed several times before, about 8 hours after I left Bernalillo. That's definitely more driving than I prefer to do, but I need to be there for my eye doctor appointment Tuesday morning at 8:00.
Monday, the 13th
Passing all those little West Texas towns, with populations ranging from 286 (Dickens) to 2,157 (Idalou), and all obviously dependent on the constant stream of cotton fields I saw.
Crossing West Texas reminds me of crossing the Florida Panhandle: interminable. It doesn't matter what the scenery looks like; you still think you'll never come to the end of it.
We stopped for a break at a Catholic church in Seymour (pop. 2,908), shaded by lots of pecan trees. Nearby I saw the Whiteside Museum of Natural History, and this seemed like an odd place for such a thing so I looked it up. Turns out that near Seymour are some of the best Permian skeletons in existence and one of the greatest Permian bone beds in the world. We're talking 288 million-year-old dinosaurs here, and this museum apparently does a great job of translating them for regular folks like me. Sounds like a place I should visit when I've got time.
More huge fields of green with cows grazing on them.
People shouldn't use retread tires in Texas. My cousin who owned a tire shop taught me that. The roads here get too hot and the retreads come apart, which is a problem for the owner and also one for the other drivers who follow along trying to dodge the pieces that are thrown all over the roadway.
We passed through Olney, pop. 3,285, and I was impressed to see an old but active and even vibrant downtown.
I saw 2 sheep with a lamb that looked like it was just barely old enough to eat grass.
At Jacksboro, pop. 4,533, I learned that the town was originally called Mesquiteville (for the large number of those trees) but was changed the same year the Jack County courthouse was built there. And the name came from the Jack brothers (William and Patrick) who were Georgia lawyers who moved to Texas and fought for independence from Mexico.
Which is all okay but I was really interested in a sign that said this was the Birthplace of 4H. About 50 years after the town's founding, a resident organized something called the Corn Club for local boys, and he distributed a gallon of a new type of corn seed to each of 111 area boys to grow. The next year, at the first county fair, corn exhibited by the boys was so impressive that the farmers started using their same techniques, and the first Texas 4H Club was born from the Corn Club.
Near Decatur, I passed a nice-looking place with a big sign saying "American Patriot Ranch.com." I don't know if I found the right website, but it seems to be the right place. I'm afraid I expected something like survival training, and in a way that's what I found but not how I expected. It's a private place that, among other things, tries to help veterans through various activities and equine therapy (which I understand can work well). Apparently this place also offers various kinds of training for civilians and law enforcement, though that's discussed on their Facebook page which I can't access.
We came to Runaway Bay (pop. 1,104) on Lake Bridgeport, then Bridgeport itself (pop. 6,045), and then Denton (pop. 139,869) which marked for me the beginning of the Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex (as it's called). And from that point on I didn't have the ability to notice anything but the traffic. Really glad I don't live around all these cars on a regular basis.
And then to the home of David and Anna. Dexter was ecstatic about seeing Anna again. He knows where he is when we turn on their street, and he sits next to me and absolutely quivers with delight. It's really sweet.
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