It wasn’t long ago that I wrote the advice to aspiring Airstreamers that they should “make a [trip] plan, then plan to change it.” That’s exactly what we’ve done, and it has worked out nicely.
In the previous blog entry I noted that we were watching the storms in Colorado and trying to time our arrival to miss the rain. But once we got onto the road in Missouri (departing Stevyn & Troy’s place) Eleanor suggested we just slow down and forget all the interim goals I had in mind. I thought about it for a moment as we were chugging west on I-70, then agreed. We would just take it one day at a time.
This led to another decision: forget about Colorado this time. The rain on the eastern side of the Rockies was persisting and we were just going to end up mostly re-tracing routes we’ve driven before. Looking at the map, we saw lots of routes and stops in New Mexico that we had never explored, and suddenly we heard New Mexico calling to us. One spot led to another, and soon we had a list of potential places to visit.
So we are still winging it with a rough plan that changes daily as events (weather and interest level) warrant. We’ve abandoned the Interstate for “blue highways” across Kansas and that decision alone has made the trip significantly more interesting. There was one long day in there on I-70, ending up in a restaurant parking lot for the night, but since then we haven’t seen the Interstate and certainly haven’t missed it. It may seem strange to slow down in Kansas, a state that usually causes people to speed up, but a slow meander across the countryside does reveal a lot of rural charm (and occasionally interesting mid-century architecture) for those inclined to see it.
After that overnight in Junction City KS, we wandered southwest past Dodge City. Eleanor has begun training as a driver of the Airstream, and this relatively quiet route gave her a good chance to drive 120+ miles, for which I am proud of her. She didn’t enjoy it much, especially the construction zone … and the rotary … and a few other things … but she did very well. The Airstream has no damage and I found it so relaxing to have her drive that at one point I nearly fell asleep.
Quite a while later, with Eleanor recovering in the passenger seat, we ended up at a remote oasis in amidst the sorghum fields called Lake Meade State Park. Whoever thought of damming this little valley and making a park out of it was a genius, because it’s just a wonderful thing to find a lake nestled amongst tall shady trees after hundreds of miles of flat vast dryness. We celebrated with a turn on the swingset by the lake shore.
And better still, since it’s off-season we were virtually alone in the place. You have to want to go here, since it’s many miles off Rt 54. Put it this way, it’s about mid-way between Dodge City and Liberal KS, and if you want to go get a quart of milk you need to drive about 16 miles just to get to the highway. Sometimes the places that are incredibly inconvenient are great.
Today was another long leg, but we’re already slowing down. While at a fuel stop in the small town of Hooker, Oklahoma, we encountered the principal of the high school. Emma was snickering at the sign across the street which identified Hooker as the home of the “Horny Toads” (a sporting team), and he said (good-naturedly) “Are you making fun of our town?” I thought it would be a nice ice-breaker to ask where we could get lunch in town, and he not only directed us to a good spot, but actually led us with his truck to a place on we could park the Airstream. I wasn’t entirely sure we needed to stop for lunch, but this was a local recommendation and a red carpet to boot, so we had lunch in town and ended up killing over an hour of the day.
After lunch we cruised through Oklahoma’s panhandle and toward the continental divide to Capulin, NM for a visit to volcano country. There are supposedly something like 200 extinct volcanoes here, but the best known is Capulin Volcano National Monument. The plan at the moment is to explore this area for a while and then meander down into New Mexico further. That’s as far as it goes. We’re all cool with that.
By the way, if you are in Tucson in early October, check out Tucson Modernism Week. It’s a relatively new event, only in its second year, but already growing and full of interesting talks, architectural tours, parties, and exhibits. I’m not one of the organizers (friends are), but I will be speaking at the event on Oct 5 on the subject of “Amazing Vintage Trailers,” and I helped them get started on a Vintage Trailer Show too. (If you have a trailer that might be good for the show, check their ad on Craigslist to get an application.