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Okay, first of all I am SOOO sorry for the delay in posting this, the latest and last update to FindingTheOx for this trip. As you’ll soon see, it was a chaotic, exciting last few days full of changes and last minute decisions. Some were a relief, some caused a lot of extra stress, but as this trip has certainly proved, everything happens for a reason under a Guiding Hand and a Greater Plan. So come on, let’s get back on the road.
Day 13: April 9, 2009 – El Reno, OK to Shamrock, TX
After rejuvenating myself with a couple days of R&R in El Reno, it was time to cross over to the next state, the great land of Texas. The sun was shining, the temperature must have been pushing 75*, and the Route along this stretch was often dirt, gravel, washboard, farm road, and even abandoned two-track with 18” of vegetation sprouting in the middle of the road. Off and on, it meandered back onto nice two-lane blacktop, and passed through some nice little towns. Elk City, Oklahoma was a destination of mine because of a famed National Route 66 Museum – which ended up less-than-noteworthy and entirely overshadowed by Pedro’s Mexican Grille. I strolled into this little cantina to find cafeteria-style seating and a menu with almost nothing over $7. As I contemplated my meal, a lovely Hispanic woman approached my table and loaded it with chips, salsa, cheese dip, and handmade tortillas. I chose a Tecate from her list of available beers in an effort to remain authentic in this experience, but was taken aback when she returned with a margarita glass on steroids. This sucker must have been ½” thick glass and stand 8” tall, filled with my frosted selection but topped with a rim of salt and two limes. Not that I needed more sodium with my meal selection, but the tequila-esque adornments on this drink made it impossible to not have a few more as I stuffed myself senseless. I had ordered a combo of a Chile Relleno, a Tamale and a Taco, served with beans and rice. For $7 I was not expecting the Pablano pepper to be as big as my fist, nor the tamale to be handrolled and certainly made fresh daily. So if you ever find yourself rolling through Elk City, make sure to stop in and see Pedro… but just remember they deduct 20% gratuity when you pay your tab (this I failed to notice, so when I left six bucks on the table to thank my server, she must have been pleasantly surprised to have totaled over 50% of my tab!) Back on the road and crossing into Texas, the wind kicked up to nearly 50mph and made a dust storm like I’d never seen. (Jake, who you’ll meet when we get to Amarillo, enlightened me with the cause of this. Why is the panhandle of Texas so windy all the time? ‘Cuz Oklahoma sucks and New Mexico blows!) Tired of wrestling the Vista against the crosswind, I decided to stop 90 miles short of Amarillo and try out one last motel, the Cactus Inn just west of Shamrock, TX. I’m tellin’ you, some days it just seems like everything goes your way – this forgotten little haven is run by an elderly couple that obviously pours their love into this place. The small room ($38/night) was clean and fresh, the mattress was covered in decorative sheets and a pillowed comforter, and the bathroom had designer towels and sparkling marbled tile. Then, in the small space not used by any appliance you could need, was a leather recliner. I’m not sure how they make enough money to keep this place up and running like this, but another recommendation from the road is the Cactus Inn! By far the best night’s sleep I had on this trip.
36. The “Mother Road” long forgotten… 37. A beautiful example of John Deere’s 2cyl diesels, the brute 830 38. Route66 Museum, worth the picture but not the stop
39. Texola, OK Water Hole 40. Art Deco Station in Shamrock, TX 41. Best Lodging on the Mother Road
Day 14: April 10, 2009 – Shamrock to Amarillo, TX
The travels of Day 14 lasted 90 miles and got me to another town that has come to feel like home, Amarillo, Texas. Along the way was The World’s Largest Cross (“Come Visit for a Truly Spiritual Experience!” – I’m sorry but gift shops and merchandising don’t exactly bring me to my knees in humble gratitude), a heartbreaking example of a farm overrun by technology as 40 windmills towered over the old homestead, and the beacon of Amarillo, the Big Texan, home of the free 72oz steak if you can eat it, all the grizzle, and the sides within 60mintues. Yes, the scene from The Great Outdoors with John Candy is a pretty accurate depiction of what this tourist- debacle entails. Do yourself a favor and go to a real steakhouse if you want something edible.
As I reached town around 2pm, I got a call from Chris, a friend that drove up from Lubbock to stay the weekend with us. Chris and I drink too well together, as the last time we had the opportunity to partake resulted in a 4am stop at Whattaburger and somehow chasing an opossum through the neighborhood with pocket knives ensued. Oh yeah – and 7am the next morning we were supposed to be prepping brisket for the Chamber Cookoff! Anyhow, that was last September and this is the present: Chris called and we met over on Jake and Yasmine’s patio to have a few brews and wait until either Jake or Yas got home. As the afternoon rolled on and the longnecks disappeared, I was reunited with these wonderful people one at a time and the catching up brought on plenty of laughter and good times. Eventually we went back to where it all began, the Texas Roadhouse, for a couple of 18oz Ribeyes.
The Texas Roadhouse: A chain restaurant that some of you may have seen scattered across the country. But this Roadhouse, four years ago, wrote the prologue to what was to become a significant chapter in more than a couple of lives. I had flown down to Texas for work to set up a Dialysis Clinic just outside of town, and was hungry for a serious Texas steak before I checked in to my motel. I strolled in, ordered a Shiner Bock, and was cut short by a man two seats down with “hey man, get a Ziegenbock it tastes similar and is only a buck during Happy Hour”. I changed my order, introduced myself to Jake and we started chatting. And laughing and drinking and carrying on. Six hours later there was a small group of us sitting out on his patio drinking Kentucky Beau bourbon and laughing like childhood friends. So that first night started a friendship that kept me coming back to Texas every year for the Amarillo Chamber Cookoff, a barbeque competition of such a grand scale that all you northerners can’t even fathom. But even the barbeque isn’t the pinnacle of this tale, as four years later (a month ago) I got a call from Jake inquiring if I wanted to move to Texas and start doing nuclear security deployments. Well as it turns out…
42. The Worlds Largest Crucifix 43. Overrun by Technology
44. Home of the Worst Overeating Experience 45. Roadhouse, the Beginning of it all… 46. Grillmaster and friend, Chris
Days 15-18: April 11-14, 2009 – Amarillo, TX
… I got the job. I guess we all have to grow up sometime, don’t we? Well even this isn’t my time because my role in this field involves three weeks onsite, anywhere in the country, managing the deployment of a nuclear security system on a military base, and then seven weeks off to do whatever I damn well please. So although I did have to cut my dreads (12 hours of miserable cutting, pulling, and generally mutilating my scalp) I’ll still have ample time to get back out on the road.
Okay, so the three days in Amarillo NEED to be put down on paper. Seriously, this town and the people I know in it … well I’ll let you be the judge. So Saturday morning began by finishing up the dread removal process. By noon Jake rolled up in his heavily modified RX-7 to take me to a salon to begin my makeover. An hour with Pama and I was looking somewhat respectable, so we picked up Chris and headed out to the mall. I’m sorry, for all of you that have known me and my aversion to the retail sprawl, to confess that I even entered one, but Jake and Chris were having WAY too much fun directing me from Express to Dillards to The Buckle and so on. I’m not going to expound too much on my shopping experience, but lets just say that I wound up with a lot of brand names I’ve never worn, and mostly never even heard of, before. But as the comedy show of dressing me up continued, we walked past a display of CK briefs. Jake, being the selfless individual that he is, offered his opinion on just how … soothing… these underbritches were and that I should think about trying a pair. Now, I’ll take a lot of advice into consideration, but 1. I draw the line when another guy makes a recommendation on skivvies and 2. WHO SPENDS $34 ON A PAIR??? I may be extreme enough to pick them off the shelf at Goodwill, but I can get six for $10 at any Hanes retailer in America. Okay, I think I talked enough about male underwear. So we finished shopping and I went to get cleaned up and get Rachel from the airport. She flew down for the weekend so we could celebrate her birthday and my new job… but as with too many flights, she had a cancellation in Dallas (after actually departing for AMA, but turning back due to weather) and was told she had to spend the night there and fly out in the morning. Jake and I worked quickly and got her rebooked from nearby airport, she took a cab 20miles across town and was in Amarillo four hours after her scheduled arrival, while every other passenger on that flight had admitted defeat and was hanging around the DFW airport. Suckers. The look on her face was priceless as she departed the plane, having seen me two weeks ago as I looked at the start of this trip, and now was dressed to the nines looking like someone else entirely. The rest of the night was spent dining on smoked buffalo burgers (Jake’s recipe and Chris’ smoker talent combined to make a cookout that heavily influences my love for Texas), drinking whatever pleased our palates, and lounging in the hot tub as the rain came through intermittently. The five of us carried on until 4am, wished each other a Happy Easter, and headed out.
47. 48. 49. Before, during and after the painful process of pulling dreads out…
Easter Sunday started around 2pm with breakfast at Dennys, and then instead of making a trek down to Palo Duro Canyon or the Cadillac Ranch Rachel and I decided the best way to get to know my future hometown was to experience dive bars around town. So we turned left here and right there, perusing the sidestreets around town for anyplace with graffiti, no windows, and a reasonable crowd of regulars gathered to celebrate Easter. From the Spotted Pony to Hoots to a driveby at Duke Tracy’s where we decided NOT to visit, and then finally to the Roadhouse, we met a few people at each locale and generally had a lovely afternoon. We turned in early as I had to spend Monday morning at the office for meet-and-greets and paperwork.
I did get the news today that I am again an uncle – my sister Erin just had her baby, a little angel Samantha Grace. Congratulations Siwy Ryan and Hailey, can’t wait to come visit!!!
After the office on Monday we all met at BL’s for happy hour, then Rach and I stayed for dinner. Fortunately she’s as classy as I, so we were both lost when our appetizer of “Lamb on the Rock” was delivered. It was a plate full of raw meat and garnish gathered around a chunk of 100million year old earth. Eventually we figured out the rock was hot and that’s how we were supposed to cook it – and it was delicious. Next came my veal scaloppini and her quail, which having been served uncut, promptly jumped off Rachel’s plate under the guidance of her fork and preceded to dance around the table. With all the proper English tablemanners, we gorged ourselves on fine food and drink until it was time to head over to Jake and Yas’ place to share a bottle of Far Niente and visit awhile on our last night in town.
50. Rachel, Me, Jake and Yasmine – a night of celebration 51. Niece Hailey, Mother, and newborn Niece Samantha Grace. Congrats Erin!
Days 19-20: April 15-16, 2009 – Amarillo, TX to White Lake, MI
By 4pm on Tuesday I was headed back north, needing to make it to Chicago by April 20th to begin my formal training in Motorola’s MWFE course. I drove 500 miles Tuesday, crashed in a Motel6 for seven hours, and then drove the last 982 miles back to White Lake on Wednesday. I spent a few days shocking everyone around town with the new style - the ladies have unanimously agreed that, although I wore the dreads well, this cleaner look is “more desirable”. And now, here I sit in a Hilton suite in Chicago, having trouble acclimating myself to this cushy new lifestyle. Fear not, I will keep the Vista, the Angus, the Camper and the redneck toys and repair them faithfully long after anyone normal would have retired them to a junkyard.
So, I would like to genuinely thank all of you for following along as I departed on a classic American roadtrip with a Camper Dan twist… I am sorry that it didn’t last the 10 weeks that I planned but I am confident that I made the right choice in pursuing this opportunity for personal and professional betterment. If you haven’t already, and feel so inclined, drop me a line on Facebook or at BlueOxD350@yahoo.com and let me know what you thought … if I should keep these blogs as I make other such trips or if I can leave the internet behind and just travel for the experience of it.
Thanks for Riding Along! To be Continued SOON...