sutak
Harrowsmith, ON, Canada
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Anne and Joe
Enjoy your trip. Fantastic pictures, keep'em coming. Fuel problems? I would recommend to add some fuel conditioner each time you fill up. The Gunk brand worked for me, but the most immediate remedy, I found, was replacing the fuel filter. Bit pricey but worked.
best wishes,
Larry and Maaja
2001 Chev K3500 dually, LT, CC, 8.1L, Ally 1000
1998 Bigfoot 2500, 10.6
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54suds
adk mts.
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Big Bend N.P. Texas
07 chev ltz ext,drw,4x4/ torque lift tie downs ,superhitch,36" ext
1988 Bigfoot / 1998 Bigfoot 3000 10.11 / 196? Idlewild
toad 2011 Jeep Rubicon Unlimited
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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We liked Sante Fe, but it was a bear to drive and park in as you know. Too bad you have made the turn. But it can't go on forever can it? You have to put the Northwest on your list, our waves go in the opposite direction from yours in Maine!
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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June 20 - Santa Fe via Tucumcari, NM to Palo Duro Canyon, TX
Today started out to be a travel day but we really meandered along.The absolute best part of being retired is not having a schedule. As Joe says, if we see a sign that says "World's Largest Ball of Twine" and decide to go see it, we do.
Santa Fe proved as busy in the AM as last evening and the RV slots were full. Rather than raise the stress level of trying to find a parking place, we hit the road east to play with finding and driving parts of Route 66. We'd bought a small book on Route 66 years ago and had pre marked a DeLorme route map. Well reality and maps/books vary widely! Route 66 often ends up as a private dirt road leading off into what looks like endless desert.
Or you eventually find that it has become only I-40. We decided to abandon the hunt for the moment and take Route 40 to Tucumcari, NM to
the MesaLand Community College's Dinosaur Museum. It proved to be a small but well presented exhibit and a good stop from hunting for Route 66.
Leaving Tucumcari, we again drove parts of Route 66 which in this part of NM, was beside I-40. For the most part it was a pretty good road but disintegrated after a while near San Jon into a white shell like rutted gravel path. It was still marked Route 66 but got so bad the fun was gone. Most of the old service stations and buildings are abandoned and quickly going back to nature. We backtracked to the last I-40 entry point, dieseled up for $4.59 which was the least we'd seen for a while (Love's Truck Stop) and continued east into Texas.
At Vega, Texas, on a whim, we headed south down 385 towards Hereford, TX. This route is wide open spaces, huge ranches and 25% of the beef in the US. Hereford calls itself the beef capital of the US and it probably is. Every where you look, are huge herds of cattle, feed lots, corn and what looked like wheat fields. The farms/ranches are spread out by multiple miles and at many points you can see the horizon. Texans don't fool around with wimpy speed limits so this relative small road was 65mph. We were driving about 60-62 and were passed constantly but every pickup that went by, slowed, waved and lots of them gave us a thumbs up. Friendly folk in a beautiful land. The RV.NET fellow's warning about not following a cattle truck came true. I thought it was for the odor. It is, but also for the fluids that trail the transport trucks. YUK!
We were headed for Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Canyon, TX in hopes that there would be an opening for an overnight camp. We got the last spot!! and it was at the end of all the roads, way back as far as you can get into the canyon at Mesquite Camp Area. This canyon is a much softer, greener, gentler canyon than most we saw in Utah. Very quite with owls and coyotes as night noise. Nice small museum with a lot of western artifacts. We hope to see the resident live longhorn cattle on the way out but in the live version.
There is another TC here, a Lance 1161 on a Dodge. They are from Illinois and are also touring the west. Had a nice time talking and gave them the list of fall rallies
Black rain clouds threatening. You cross six river crossings on the park road coming down to the campsite. Yesterday, there was a lot of rain and the TX DOT had to come and dig out the mud from the road to let campers out. The flood gauge is in feet. Wonder what tomorrow will
look like? A bit of rain will be most welcome and maybe force a down day if we cannot get out of here? Ranger said at least the danger of fire was down.
Only in the mid 80s for temperature today and we must be getting used to it and the dryness as we were able to easily hike a bit in the park this afternoon. Tomorrow we will head on into Oklahoma.
* This post was
edited 06/21/08 05:14pm by TwoMaineiacs *
2011 Chalet Double Slide on a 2010 Ford F-350 Diesel DRW
On the Road Again from Rural Maine
Our travel blog with photos
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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June 21 - Palo Duro mud to Oklahoma City, OK
Rained hard last night and we were quite restless from the heat, wild winds, lightning and thunder. Tired as we were, we did sleep some but woke wondering what the six flash flood road crossings would look like. The ranger said that four wheel would get us through fine and that only one guy camped with a travel trailer near us was likely to get stuck.
Rain stopped as we left the campsite. First crossing was not bad, just mainly dirty water running over the road. Then came the second one -
Doesn't look like much does it? It was about 8-10 inches of red ooze much thicker as you approached the flowing water than once you were in it. We debated putting the Ford into four wheel drive (hubs) but could see tracks where others had already passed. Man could you hear the mud hitting up under the truck! Was sort of fun sliding through all that mud especially knowing that there were several heavy pieces of equipment nearby that could get you out if you went in to the stream bed. We didn't and the next four crossings were about like the second one.
No place to wash it off so we drove on up to Route 40 and crossed into Oklahoma. We were very disappointed in never finding a Texas tourist information center on Route 40. That is a big road and most states have centers on entry points. We might have stayed longer in Texas if we had found more info.
Oklahoma has a beautiful, new center right as you enter with gracious women very familiar with all parts of the state. We came away loaded with places to go and see along our route. We'd planned a one day stay in Oklahoma City but after reading, we decided to make it two nights.
Headed to the Stockyard District in OK City and found a truck wash to get pounds of dried, hard red mud off. Poor Joe didn't know the ulterior motive of going to this area of OK City was a Navajo jewelry store. Ever since coming west I'd wanted an unusual piece as a memory. Got it! As a payback to his patience, we went across the road to the Cattleman's Steakhouse. I fully expected to have to shell out for a fillet mignon but we werent' really that hungry so had steak hamburgers. Inexpensive payback. Since this isn't about TCing, take a look at the piece on our blog at http://geocachingknitter.blogspot.com.
We're at Two Fountains RV Park outside OK City on the north side. We are close to the Omniplex where there is a model train exhibit and the Science Museum and Zoo. Truck and TC have achieved saucer separation so we will tour for two days or however long we can stand this 90++ heat. The main purpose in stopping here is to go to the Alfred P. Murrah National Memorial and Museum. Have to see how long we hold out in the expected 93-95F heat.
Truck and Host cleaned up nice didn't they? We're parked on a concrete pad in amongst half million dollar buses with toy haulers. We think we are prettier and a lot more nimble! Don't think they would have made it through the mud but of course, they never would have been down to that spot to start with!
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SoCalDesertRider
SanDiego, CA, USA
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Joined: 12/14/2003
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TwoMaineiacs wrote:Rain stopped as we left the campsite. First crossing was not bad, just mainly dirty water running over the road. Then came the second one -
Doesn't look like much does it? It was about 8-10 inches of red ooze much thicker as you approached the flowing water than once you were in it. We debated putting the Ford into four wheel drive (hubs) but could see tracks where others had already passed. Man could you hear the mud hitting up under the truck! Was sort of fun sliding through all that mud especially knowing that there were several heavy pieces of equipment nearby that could get you out if you went in to the stream bed. We didn't and the next four crossings were about like the second one. Great pictures! 
Glad you made it accross with no worries too!
I gotta say this-- When you're faced with a situation like that, lock in your hubs before entering the crossing, even if you don't really think you will need 4wd. That way, if, half way through, you find that you are losing traction, all you need to do is shift the lever into 4wd and go. If the stream is flowing faster/deeper than you realized, you definitely want to have the 4wd available in an instant to hopefully get yourself outta there so you dont get washed down the river!
Growing up part of my life in and around Phoenix, where there are always flash floods and also being a 4-wheeler around that area, I really hate to see that happen to anyone.
There is no harm in driving with your hubs locked and the transfer case in 2wd, it wont hurt the truck, and you never know what the next crossing might be like, even if it looks as tame as the first. Be safe out there, remember, its a camper not a boat!
05E350 6.0PSD
97F350DRW 7.3PSD 4x4 4.10 11' flatbed
98Ranger
69Bronco ATC250R CR500
20' BigTex flatbed carhauler
Callen Camper
92F350 CrewCab 4x4 351/C6
B&W TurnoverBall, Curt Magnum V
HD Springs Bilsteins,
285/75-16E BFG AT on 16x8 Stocktons
4.56's & LockRite rear
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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Joined: 04/08/2006
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Great advice and will take it next time. We sort of depended on the park ranger who seemed rather not worried at all that we could make it. Maybe he liked to push TCs out of the mud. It really was deeper mud than we thought.
Joe
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The Mad Norsky
Yankton, South Dakota
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Joined: 04/14/2003
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You guys are just having way too much fun for just one trip like this! 
Weight of the camper surely helped you at the low water crossing. I'd hate to think of what those duals would have done running empty. A straight line path would have been a miracle then.
I'll surely second the advice to lock in those hubs before trying something like this again. Remember, it is too late to drain the swamp once you are up to your you-know-what in gators.
The Mad Norsky, Doll, Logan, Korey & Rocky
2011 Ford F350 Power Stroke dually
RV'ing since 1991
We never know where we're going till we get there!
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TwoMaineiacs
Near Freeport, Maine
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June 22 - Oklahoma City Zoo, Gardens and OKC National Memorial
Can we have some of that cooler TX canyon weather back? Another sunny, bright, hot, dry day in the Midwest. Our cool, foggy days home in Maine are going to seem unnatural! Awakened this morning to the noise of about a dozen diesel engines firing off in big RV busses. This was a rally group headed on to their next destination with toy haulers, motorcycle haulers, car carriers, etc. etc. Made quite a spectacle pulling out - lot more noise and flash than a group of us TCs leaving.
We are camped close to the Oklahoma Zoo and went there early morning. Walked all the trails, looked at lots of hot animal and took the little tram back from the furthest reaches of the paths. Watched one of the grizzly for a long time and thought of Farctic Ox and his bear spray. Sorry Ted - this guy charges, you will die of fright long before you can get the bear spray in action.
We were going to the Omniplex to see a seven story tall theater screen presentation on violent weather tracking but decided to stay outside. Next drove into town to the Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge. Downtown OK City is pretty deserted on Sundays and we were able to just park on the street. Again, long walks up and through this tropical hothouse shaped like a tube. Can you say sweat? Today at least we had all the hats, water, sunscreen, etc. etc. and used it all. I think people in the western part of the US have to stay waterlogged to survive.
Mid afternoon we drove over to the OK City National Memorial for the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing. A lot of people around and you could hear a leaf fall. Even the children were strangely silent. Two arches to enter the grounds, reflecting pool in the middle, and sculpted chairs for each person who died - all 168 of them.
We spent several hours inside the museum looking at actual artifacts, film, photos, TV reports from the time, etc. It is a very sobering experience but the fact that the museum exists, to me, shows the freedom our country has to survive and endure. If you get a chance to go, do so.
Tonight once it cools down from the current 93F degrees, we'll load the TC back on the truck and get ready to head for Memphis tomorrow to see Elvis. JerBear gave us name of a good RV park within walking distance to Graceland!
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petekerwien
Camano Island, WA
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Good luck with Graceland. I will withhold comment until I hear yours. It draws a lot of people, but there is plenty of parking across the street. You have to take a bus from across the street. No walking up to the house.
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