Great Trip to the West Day 1: Interstate Travel

Today began our great trip to the western part of the United States.  We traveled from Memphis, Tennessee to Amarillo, Texas.  It was a long and for the most part a boring trip.

I have to say the state of our interstate system is horrendous.  Large tracts of interstate are in disrepair.  It was like driving over a washboard.  Other parts of the interstate were closed down, causing traffic to slow down to a crawl.  It wouldn't be so frustrating, but I've been on better roads in the Philippines.  What's up with that?  I know states have problems with funding and such, but our infrastructure is seriously in need of some tlc.

Arkansas was pretty nice.  Drove through some hills, had some nice forests to look at as we drove by.  As soon as we passed into Oklahoma it all changed.  The forests gave way to grasslands and sparse trees.  It became worse as we passed Oklahoma City.  As far as the eye could see was endless grasslands with maybe a house or silo out in the distance.  It made the trip very draining.

One cool thing about Texas is that the speed limit is 75 mph.  It was pretty sweet getting to "speed" legally.

It was a bit eerie at how far towns can be in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.  You definitely want to make sure you keep your fuel level well above the "E" mark.  Though I had plenty of gas I decided to fuel up about 30 miles outside of Amarillo.  It's pretty desolate out here.

Amarillo is definitely worth the trip.  It's not much more than hotels and restaurants, but this little town has character.  I really like it here.  The people are extremely friendly and welcoming (like they are all over Texas).  My main reason for coming here was the Big Texan steakhouse.  It's claim to fame is the 72 oz steak challenge.  The challenge consists of a 72 ounce steak, a salad, a baked potato, shrimp cocktail and a roll.  If you can eat it all in an hour, it's free.  As I sat down at my booth I noticed someone was doing the challenge!  I had to find out who this guy was.  He was Ron Lee of Amarillo.  He was already well into the challenge.  Though he gave it a valiant effort, the challenge won.  I am glad to have met him.  Seeing him up there really made me want to give the challenge a go, although I doubt I can finish half of the beast.  Perhaps one day I'll make it back to Amarillo and will give the challenge a go myself.  Ron, thanks for making the Big Texan experience more awesome!  (Please note that the challenge isn't as easy as it sounds.  The steak is huge and no matter how hungry you think you are, it'll give you a run for your money.  Even Adam Richman couldn't finish it).

The Big Texan also has a decent brew pub.  They had 11 of their beers on tap.  You can get a sampler of them (11 4oz beers) and then decide what you like.  I particularly liked their Pecan Porter.  It was very tasty.  The sampler is 11 bucks and well worth it.

My final note on this leg of the trip:  There's something about Texas that makes you wish you were Texan.  Don't know what it is, but it's a nice feeling.  I actually miss being in Texas.

Summer plans finalized

One of the nice things about being a teacher is the summer vacation.  I'll get roughly 2 months off and it is something that I will greatly enjoy and treasure.  I don't want to just sit around my apartment watching Netflix all summer, so the wife and I are going to do some traveling.

We toyed around with several possible destinations like Yellowstone National Park, Florida, Colorado and Mammoth Caves.  However, we settled on San Francisco, California.  We couldn't decide on a destination.  Until this past Sunday.

Talking to my cousins about my upcoming parenthood the discussion came to our trip (we were originally going to California, but money was becoming a problem).  My cousins offered us a gift of money in order to make the trip.  I was floored.  I hadn't expected this at all.  My excitement level jumped and I had a hard time staying focused.  I wanted to start planning.

Since we are driving I wanted to see as much as possible without doing too much.  We decided that our first stop for the evening will be Amarillo, Texas.  At first it was just a reasonable place to stop and get some sleep.  However, after looking around on the internet I discovered that Amarillo is home to The Big Texan.  We will definitely dine there on our first night out.  I always enjoy eating at famous places or places that have a novelty.  Besides, I hear that the steak is good.  I will, however, not be doing the 72 oz. steak challenge.  I know when to quit.

After The Big Texan we will have a bit of a drive to our next destination:  The Petrified Forest.  I've wanted to see this for about 15 years and finally it seems that I'll be able to see it.  Since the wife's condition we will not be doing any super hiking or anything too strenuous.  I figure we'll spend an hour, two at most at the Petrified Forest.  Our second bed spot will be Flagstaff.

Day three will see us at the Grand Canyon.  I've seen it once, but it's definitely worth another look.  It's also on my wife's list of places she wants to see in the US.  I wish we were able to hike down to the bottom, but that will be for another time.

Our last leg alone will be from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas where we'll meet up with my cousins Mike and Ben.  From there it's up to the Sierra-Nevada Mountains, Yosemite and then finally San Francisco.  I'm sure it'll be a great trip and I'm very excited.

If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me.