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Friday November 6
Last night we set up in the drizzle and lots of leaves. I think they raked them into a pile right around the utilities and the door for the trailer. We got set up and went to bed. In the morning we woke up to crisp sunshine and cool temperatures. Wasn't it just a week ago we were burning up in Arizona? I miss it already. We dumped all the tanks and the hot water heater to get ready for winterizing the trailer.

The cat cleaned off all the condensation on the windows with her tongue.

It was a nice campsite. You can see the Tahoe sagging.

We spent about six hours on the road and as we went through Ridgeway, Ohio we stopped at S&K Pizza and picked up our favorite pizza. We all missed S&K it is our standard for comparison. We got home about five o'clock, turned the Dish off pause, ate pizza, watched a movie and then unloaded some stuff out of the trailer.
Is it good to be home? Yes in some ways but I miss the road and the travel and the warm temperatures. We have no date to get back on the road other than after the holidays and if all works out I want to go to Florida in March for some scuba diving.

Beggs, OK to Effiigham, IL the long slog

November 4 Becky spent the day with her new BFF Calista. Patrick and I took in some Mongolian BBQ and some television.

Horrible picture in the trailer. Plus it had to be cropped to make the wemens happy.

November 5, 2015 We left Beggs, OK and headed towards Ohio. We discussed going south into Louisiana for some boudin but decided that we would just push on to the house and avoid the rain. Plus we would get home with decent weather to unload and get the trailer winterized.
I wanted to take the scenic route home and enjoy the last few days on the road so we started going up 75 into Tulsa and took 244 to 44 and then got off on Old Route 66 going north. We then turned east on 60. I was thinking about taking 60 across to Kentucky then up but as we drove, a vibration set in to the car and trailer that I couldn't really diagnose. My best guess was that it was the fact that in New Mexico, Patrick and I changed out the one really worn trailer tire for the new spare and rotated the tires on the right side so that the worn tire would be on the back and the spare on the front.
Plus the rear springs on the Tahoe were really sagging after 30 plus thousand miles towing the trailer. That was putting more load on the rear tires and making them howl just a little bit. In Springfield, I got on to I-44 and we rolled hard on the four lane.
It was a long day driving and we all get moody and irritable so after some supper at Missouri Hicks BBQ in Steelville, MO (we all agreed that we prefer North Carolina BBQ to St Louis style) we cruised past the Gateway Arch and on to Effingham, IL.

They were out of root beer:-(

 Cruised past the arch on the freeway. I remember stopping when I was about 13 and my family was on the way to Mexico for a three month mission trip. I just can't shake this sand in my shoe. Thanks, Dad.

Crossing Oklahoma

11/3 Not much to tell you here. We left Elk City/Clinton KOA where we had spent a night on the last trip through and headed across Oklahoma headed for Beggs. Just a long day in the saddle even though we got here about one oclock.

We ended up at Tulsa RV Ranch. This place exists because of the massive horse arena that is here. Lots of long term people. The place is decent during the weekends they have a rodeo and horse shows. There is an arcade, go cart track and off road motorsports track. Nice club house, restrooms and laundry.
Becky's friend came over in the afternoon and then we went to her home for dinner with her husband and three boys. We all enjoyed an evening of company. Becky went out today with her friend and hasn't been home yet. Might have to send out the search team.

Searching for Bill the Kid on Becky's Birthday

11/2 Our first stop of the day was a block down the road from the RV park, Billy The Kid Museum. Started by Ed Sweet in 1953, the museum is now run by the third generation of Sweets. It had items from William Bonnie but really it was just a way for a guy to have people pay to look at his junk. It was nice junk and in a nice display.

 He wasn't a good looking boy and I could see why he turned to crime. This place would have been boring just working as a ranch hand. He needed the excitement and when the Lincoln County Wars came along he was a willing participant in killing folks.

little toys. the shelf below are keys for comparison size

 A replica of William Bonnie's gravestone. We saw where he was born in Silver City, NM on the last trip.

The finally got me in jail.

After we looked at the museum, I wanted to drive out to see the Bosque Redondo at Fort Sumner where the Navajos were put on a reservation but it is a state park and it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was disappointed because I wanted to complete the circle of seeing the reservation, Canyon de Chelly and the Bosque Redondo. We will have to come back another time.

 New Mexico was more of the same dreary dry grass, long hills and scrub brush. Then we hit the Texas border and it was like night and day. Suddenly we were in agriculture and oil.

 Lots of big dairy and cattle operations like these on the route.

 We stopped in Hereford, Texas and had Chinese. Becky decided that was her birthday dinner and then when we stopped for gas, she bought pie for dessert in the evening. We love pie.

Leaving Arizona

11/1 It was just a long driving day crossing dreary New Mexico. Its called Land of Enchantment but we can't find that much enchanting about it. The land seems so unused and empty, monotonous.
But here we go.

 Shortly after we passed Datil we crested a rise and could see for miles. Sounds like every rise, right? I clicked on the trip odometer and we traveled seventeen miles from ridge to ridge of this valley. In the middle was the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

After we got off of 25 and back on 60, I was seeing patches of these little yellow balls. I thought someone had spilled a bunch of apples but I could see that they were on dead vines. I had to stop and Becky picked up this little gourd. They were all over the place, thousands of them growing along the road.

Saw some large ponds along the road. I was surprised to see all the water.

We ended the night in Fort Sumner, NM.