Friday, 5-16-97

We had a pleasant surprise last night, the highway next to the campground was shut down during the night. As we looked for the exit last night, to get us to our campground, we saw a lot of detour signs that didn’t seem to really go to a detour. I thought the signs must have been for an old detour where the signs had yet to be removed. As it turned out, the signs were for the detour to get around the closed section of I-40 during the night.

The campground is located next to I-40. It has been under re-construction in Albuquerque for the last three years that we’ve been coming through the city. With the freeway closed last night for construction work, it was a very quiet night.

The temperature was pleasantly cool this morning. The weather report said we are going to be seeing more thundershowers today. We were on our way shortly before 8AM. The scenery, as we drove east, was pretty for a while, but after a couple of hours of driving, the view became very plain (Pun intended). I've noticed on this trip, there seems to be more hitch hikers than I recall seeing on previous trips.

For a while, we listened to the broadcast AM/FM radio for our entertainment. We were near Santa Rosa, New Mexico when I happened upon a pair of interesting radio stations. All the programming was in the language of the local Native Americans. The only thing being said that I could understand was the names of companies mentioned in commercials. It was fascinating to listen to the news, talk shows and music, all done in the local native tongue.

Notice vehicles in lower right corner

While driving across the Texas panhandle, we saw a familiar landmark. It is a giant cross made of some kind of sheet metal. It is so large that cars and trucks parked near the base of the cross look like toys. I have no idea why this huge religious sculpture is out in the middle of the prairie.

We also found entertainment in listening to the truckers on the CB radio. I even talked to one of drivers. It is the first time I've used the CB radio to talk to a trucker. I asked about the meaning of "Barrier Door", a label I’ve seen printed on the back of several semi-trailers. One driver came back and tried to seriously answer my question. He said, "Its one of them thar doors that closes real tight, .... ya know, REAL TIGHT." He was really trying to answer my question, but I still don’t know what Barrier Door means. Anyway, it was fun to listen to the drivers for a while.

In Oklahoma, we listened to the weather radio to get an update on the threat of thunderstorms. It sounded as if we were going to see some "Exciting weather." In the late afternoon we called my mother and Kay’s brother from the motorhome as we drove along I-40. We wanted to let them know we were coming into town late. Kay’s brother warned us that we were going to be heading right into severe thunderstorms. It sounded promising, we were looking forward to some "Natural fireworks." As it turned out, the weather front dissipated before we got there and we didn’t even experience any rain.

We did have a treat as we drove north on I-35 toward Wichita. As the sun set, the colors were spectacular. The multicolored rays of light were fanned out so the yellow rays were on the left and the blue rays were on the right. In between the colors were orange, red, and purple. As usual I tried to get pictures.

This picture doesn't do the sunset justice

We arrived in Wichita at 11:15PM. Jim and Steven came out to greet us. We talked for a short time and then it was off to bed. It has been a long day.