Alanreed, TX / Review / Short Changed?

As we travel across country, certain things will remain with us for a long time. We stopped in this little town where the signs say population 52. From where we were all I could see was a motel, gas station and gift shop.

The pumps are at the top of a fairly steep hill -even more noticable because of how long our rig is pulling the minivan. The way back to I -40 is down the other side - which is just as steep and then straight onto the highway.

I am collecting magnets for the RV so I had to check out the gift shop. The man behind the counter was on the phone and there were 2 other folks int there as well as me.

When he hung up he stayed behind the counter waiting for one of us the check out. One man did, then me. My total was $8.43. He plopped the change into my hand - the coins and 2 fives - and walked away toward the back.

I looked down and said hey wait a minute, this is not right. He came back and said oh yea, here is the other $1.00.

Now was that on purpose or not? I don't know - but I would suggest to be cautious when purchasing something for cash in the little gift shop in Alanreed, Texas.

Day 4 Sat. 2/7/09 RV Travels

The Big Texan, Amarillo, TX Buried Cars, Conway, TX

Cross & Church(?), Groom, TX

Ooops, Water Tower, Britten, Tx

When we pulled into the RV park in Santa Rosa, NM it was almost dark so we couldn't see what was around us. About 10PM we found out. The back of the lot was against the railroad tracks where the long freight trains go through every few hours. But since we were tired we slept through any that went past during the night.

The day was typical SW - Huge blue sky, no clouds - just beautiful. (Most of NM has over 300 days of sunshine a year and it is highly unusual to have more that 2 days in a row without the sun.)

As we were approaching Amarillo, TX we saw a wind turbine farm that we suspected provided some power to the city. There had to have been nearly 100 of those very tall, wind turbines. Pretty amazing. The temperature as we went through Amarillo it was 77 degrees!

Last June on our way to Houston we stopped in Amarillo. When we got to the motel our room key had an ad for free limo service to the Big Texan. This is the steakhouse that serves a 72 oz. steak and anyone who can eat it all in 1 hour gets it for free. The limo was a white stretch car with 6 doors and the huge long horned steer horns on the hood. The big tall cowboy driver got out and opened the doors for us.

The meal was great - NO we didn't try the 72 ouncer and after shopping in the gift shop, the limo took us back to the Comfort Inn. Our table was next to the elevated table where the challengers eat. There was a pail next to the table in case they would barf and if they do, the bet is off.

Back to the present - We stopped for lunch along side of the road at an exit to Conway, TX and there were 5 different cars buried with their noses in the ground including a VW bug and a small pick up truck. They had all been spray painted with graffiti - we couldn't tell if it was intentional or not.

Then off on the eastern horizon was this humongous cross made from pipe. The nearest town was Groom, TX. I think it might have been on the grounds of a church but the building was all boarded up like it was being renovated.

From the NM border to the OK border the panhandle of TX is 180 miles across. We did pass the processing plant for Bar J foods (cold cuts; hot dogs etc - I think).

Our goal for the day was Oklahoma City and a WalMart parking lot. Part reason for having the RV is not to pay to stay someplace over night. Even tho' the RV park in Santa Rosa, NM was only $22.00 it was still $22.00!

Lots of folks (including truckers) stay at WalMarts. With their security and other RVers and semi's it is really safe. It was already dark when a I spied a WalMart in El Reno, OK just 20 miles west of OKC. We pulled in there and asked inside at the customer service if it was OK to stay there. The answer was a very polite 'of course'!

We did some shopping, restocked the Pepsi and BEER (much to Gene's delight), came back and ate the tamales, our family gave us before we left NM and settled in for the night.

Miles traveled - 404

Average MPG = 7

We did some calculations and figure by the time we bought gas, stayed at the motels we like (Comfort Inns - average price $60.00); ate lunch and supper with a tip we are at break even and perhaps even saving some $$ too not having to buy snacks and cold drinks &/or coffee everytime we stop.