Today was our longest day as far as both miles and hours driving, 624 miles, 8.5 hours. We made no stops except for fuel and food, if you can call stopping at a MacDonald's to microwave our leftover buffalo burgers from dinner the night before a food stop. We were still tired from chasing the buffalo over a cliff the night before and preparing the burgers. Although the KOA in El Reno provided us with a nice shady spot for camping, it was right on I-40 and that traffic did not cease all night. It thundered through the night but only a little sprinkling of rain dropped on us. It was clear and dry in the morning.
The trip through western Oklahoma, the panhandle of Texas and most of New Mexico was uneventful. Lots of wind turbine fields in Oklahoma and Texas which surprised us because both of them are big oil states.
We camped in the evening at El Morro National Monument. Until the railroad was built 25 miles to the north of El Morro, it served as a waystop for everyone passing the area. This included pre-historic Indians who lived at El Morro in the 13th and 14th centuries, the Spanish and Americans. Its attraction is a large pool at the base of the rock which provides water year round. The soft sandstone of El Morro allowed visitors over six centuries to carve petroglyphs, names and quotations into the rock. The earliest writing is by the Spanish governor of the region in 1605. To put it in perspective, this was 15 years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Today, there are more than 2000 inscriptions carved all over El Morro.
At an elevation of about 7500 feet it was a cold night. We had most of our gear on for sleeping. Dave was somewhat out of breath during our ½ mile walk to see the inscriptions on El Morro but did OK after taking it slowly. Tom was also challenged but just the slight uphill walk to the pool at El Morro. This is just the beginning of our high altitude travels so we better get used to it. We slept a peaceful nine hours with only the sound of the wind in the trees, night birds and coyotes howling and laughing in the distance to lull us to sleep. With just instant coffee and freeze dried eggs for breakfast we headed out.
Next: One of the seven wonders of the natural world.
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2 comments:
I was very envious of this trip and wished I could have gone until I read about the bison burgers and dried eggs. I think I will wait and travel with Janet. She and I share the definition of roughing it "a hotel without room service". You are in my thoughts. Love Ruth
Agree with anonymous about the dried eggs and bison burgers. I love the pictures and the short notes about what Tom and Dave are doing. Their trip to Oklahoma touched my heart. The sadness of those little chairs was overwhelming. As they continued to move west their joy returned as they witnessed some of the great wonders of this country. How are the folks of CA feeling about the auto industry. Do they care as they saddled with their own economic woes. Safe travels. The Wife
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