Road Trip Part 2: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico

I remember road trippin when I was younger and at the Rest Areas there were people selling their handmade jewelry, leather items, knives, etc. I always loved these things and rarely had any money to purchase anything. When we started out on this trip I told Richard that I would really like to buy some handmade beaded jewelry this time. He liked the idea since my birthday was coming up.

However, since most of the Rest Areas on our route were closed, there weren't any people selling anything at them.

What there are now are places like this...

So we stopped.

It was not at all what I was expecting...

I guess my nostalgic memories were what I was hoping for and this was very different from what I was thinking a Trading Post would be. It is a store, a very full store, and a lot of the items are Made in China. Now I don't know if this is good for the local people or not so I'm not going to criticize, it did make me a little sad. But there was some authentic locally handmade beaded and turquoise jewelry and I did get a few things.

We drove through Midwest City and Oklahoma City...

And continued on I-40 W through Oklahoma...

 There is a huge "mansion" or Estate on the hill out there... I wonder who lives there???

 The I-40 has replaced the Old Route 66 in many parts of the country and runs parallel to it in others. I was looking for the old classic businesses, gas stations, cars, along the way. There really were hardly any. I got really lucky when I caught this one.

  I love this shot...

the overpass (we love the overpasses and walls that are decorated like this), the camper, the windmills... all in one photo.

 Then the windmills take over...

 It's pretty amazing how huge they are.

 This is one of those scenes that just grabs me and I have to take a picture.

Why is this cloud hovering over the tower?

We started to see red dirt..

 And then longhorn cattle...

And then we were in Texas...

This is a Rest Stop.

But we didn't see the sign so we didn't know what it was.

On the way back we stopped on the Eastbound side and it was very nice.

Thank you Texas!

 The hugeness of the modern windmills make the cows seem so small.

 It seems so weird to see horses and cattle and giant modern windmills together.

This does not seem right...

New modern windmills and this tower is dilapidated and falling over...

 And just across the highway is this...

I believe this is also a Rest Area.

We stopped for gas in Amarillo...

I almost missed this... I don't know what it is...but love the trucks!

The land between Amarillo and New Mexico...

A Pronghorn Antelope with the horses.

New Mexico... and Mountain Time Zone

I can't say I know why it is "The Land of Enchantment"

This is what we saw...

 We pulled into the KOA campground in Tucumcari, NM just as the storm was hitting.

Tomorrow...

New Mexico and Arizona.