Amarillo, Texas

After 3 nights in Albuquerque, it was time to move on. Originally we had planned a night in Tucumcari but after looking at the driving time, we decided to head straight for Amarillo. We could have stayed one less night in Albuquerque but I’m glad we stayed the extra night.

Esme still had a sore throat today. She perked up with Tylenol for a couple of hours and then she would get “weak” and tired again. The usual Esme sparkle had been pretty dim the last couple of days. She napped in the car a bunch today and by the time we went to bed tonight she declared she was feeling totally better. We will see how she feels in the morning but usually you feel the worst at night so maybe this is a good sign!

Our first stop today was the Blue Hole. The original Route 66 came right past this popular stop and no wonder, with summer temps in the 80s-100s and no car air conditioning in many cars on the road in the 1960s, who wouldn’t want to take a dip in 61 degree water? That’s right, this spring fed pool is 61 degrees year round. The water comes from an aquifer 200ft below the surface. The water is very blue, very cold, and very deep.

It took a while to work up the nerve but Asa and I jumped in off a rock ledge about 15 feet above the water. Esme had said she would put her toe in if we jumped in. Nova went in up to her calves too.

We had eaten lunch when we arrived at the Blue Hole so after changing back into our clothes, we hopped on the highway and made our way to our next Route 66 stop, Cadillac Ranch. We lost an hour when we crossed into Texas which means we are finally back in Central time. I made a big dent in the 800 page book I’m reading (my 6th book so far on this trip).

Back in New Mexico, I had prepared for Cadillac Ranch by buying some spray paint. Cal did not like the idea of spray painting cars but I assured him it was a public art installation and totally above board. All of the kids really enjoyed this stop. Some of the Cadillacs had so much spray paint it was melting off of them!

We left Cadillac Ranch and went to Big Texan Steak Ranch.

This place is known for their steak eating challenge. If you can eat a 72 oz steak with sides in under an hour, you get it free. Asa and Cal both wanted to do it. Then I informed them if they did the challenge and failed, the cost was $72 and they would have to pay half. After that news, only Asa was still interested. We read some tips on how to win the challenge and it recommended using a very sharp knife. I suggested bringing ours from the camper because it is very sharp. Asa doubted they would let him carry that in. The title is my response.

In the end, Asa decided not to do the challenge. Nole and I were both worried about him doing it and feeling too ill after to travel so it’s probably for the best. The best thing about this place? The girls’ meals came in a cowboy hat! We all love steak so this meal was a big win.

There were several other customers who did attempt the challenge while we were there. None had won when we left but one guy looked like he might make it.

We decided to overnight for free at a travel information center. There were many truck stops around but this place has a separate area for RVs and cars. No offense to the truckers but in our experience they come and go at all hours, run their trucks all night long, and can be pretty noisy in general. A lot of RVers HATE parking lot overnights. I like that they are well lit, level, and safe. I don’t mind a little traffic noise and being able to read under a streetlight after the kids conk out is a bonus. You also can’t beat FREE!