Amarillo By Morning

At A-OK Camping Park, Amarillo, Texas...

Okay, it's not morning, but that's how George Strait sang the song. We would never, ever be anywhere before noon when traveling in Phannie. Pertaining to us, the phrase should be, "Amarillo by Evening," which was exactly the case today.

I think Bubba has put a curse on us, because Miss Allen's Fried Chicken was closed for the holiday when we passed by it in Sweetwater today. This is the second time we've found the place closed when we've stopped by. You can read more about Miss Allen's here. Then you'll know why we were bummed; I was hungry for good fried chicken.

We fended off starvation by having a few tacos at a Mexican restaurant nearby, but it was pretty run-of-the-mill stuff and not worth mentioning.

The drive northward from Sweetwater to Amarillo is, unfortunately, one of the more tedious ones in my beloved state--250 miles of FLAT, treeless plain with 4,370 telephone poles passing by the window (according to Bubba). Who's Bubba? A longtime family friend who is also a motorhome owner. Just put his name in the search box on the home page and you can find out more.

The elevation climbs imperceptibly to 3500 feet by the time you get to Amarillo, the area being known, quite appropriately, as the high plains of Texas.

I was determined to get some use out of my Passport America lifetime membership, so I pulled in to the A-OK Camper Park east of Amarillo on I-40. To say that this place is a dump would be an understatement of historic proportion. The park was home to quite a number of ancient towable RVs in various states of disrepair. One of them even had a water cooler jury-rigged into one of the windows. However, looking joltingly out of place on the dirt sites were Phannie and two other late model motor homes that were obviously overnighters. It seems that I was not the only cheapskate driving through Amarillo today, but at a PA rate of $12.50, I can put up with a good bit of shoddiness, especially for just one short overnight.

We drove downtown to the Bangkok Tokyo restaurant, which was jammed with customers. We decided to go with the flow of the Thai/Japanese theme by ordering shrimp tempura and a Thai chicken and vegetable stir fry. The tempura was tasty, but a bit too greasy, and the stir fry was fresh and cooked well.

Afterward, we made an obligatory stop at Wally World to pick up a few things.

I made a mental note that Inland Truck Parts and Service has a facility here in Amarillo. In a previous post, I bragged on Inland about the good experience I had with them at their Irving shop, and I think I would give them a try if I ever had a mechanical problem in these parts.

Well, it's bedtime, and I have to get up at the crack of nine in the morning, so I better sign off. Tomorrow's destination is Raton, NM.

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I do not appreciate it enough each day.