Day 10 - Tucumcari to McLean
Started the day with a proper barista coffee (4 shots) at a cafe attached to the motel, a rarity over here that kept us pretty well wired for the morning.
Today we followed Route 66 along a dirt road for 18 miles leaving the Land of Enchantment (New Mexico) to cross the border into the Lone Star State -Texas and picked up a piece of the old seal from long ago alongside a long forgotten and abandoned motel.
A lot of wind turbines estimated in to the 1000s, have been erected north of the I-40 that stretched far into the distance for around 1-1/2 hours of driving.
Traversing the Texas Panhandle Plains, we passed through the small town of Adrian where we stopped and dined at the Mid Point Cafe (the one in the movie Cars was based on this) for a classic 'Diner' meal. Got the obligitary photos at the Midpoint marker (the midway point of Route 66) across the road.
Back onto the I-40 after a stretch of 66 passing through Vega on our way to Amarillo to visit Cadillac Ranch (a row of 10 Cadillacs planted nose down into the soil and legally covered in graffiti) where we added to the art(?) by some kind bikers offering us their spray paint cans.
Next stop the "Big Texan" where you can buy a 72oz steak meal (including salad, roll, shrimp and baked potato) for $72 - but you get it for free if you can eat it in 1 hour! We were not tempted.
Time was moving on as we had lost an hour going over the border changing to Central Standard Time so we decided to go the rest of the way to McClean on the interstate (with 66 flanking us most of the way) apart from a short deviation on 66 to Groom, the home of the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere, at 190 feet tall.
Checked into the Cactus Inn in McLean at about 7pm, then walked down the road to the Red River Steakhouse for a genuine Texan Steak, although no beer or wine as the town is 'dry'.
Highlights: checking out a tornado shelter in a "Safety Roadside Rest Area", seeing a long horned bull.
Miles travelled today: 197.1, Hours driving 4:48 . Tomorrow: leaving Texas and traversing the State of Oklahoma.