Tornado Alley

Well... little did we know that we set up camp in the notorious Tornado Alley.

We knew a storm was headed our way, but had no idea what to expect. The wind picked up a bit before we hit the sack at 11pm. An hour later, I woke up to sirens blaring nonstop. I looked out the window to see a lot of campers heading into the clubhouse. By this time the wind was blowing even harder & it started to rain... sideways. Liam was having one of his a panic attacks, so Joe stayed in the RV with the dogs while I ran across the street to find shelter. The sirens were still blaring. About 30 people were huddled inside watching the weather channel for storm updates. A tornado was headed in our direction. It started to hail... grape-sized hail! Shortly thereafter, the sirens stopped, the hail stopped, and the rain stopped, but the wind kept blowing. The tornado veered off to the east. We never did see it, except on TV. Just the way I like it.














Some pictures of the dramatic evening skies in Amarillo.

What's Up with that Black Bird

I've had several people visiting the RV Park ask me about the peculiar black birds with the tail that looks like a fan. What do I know? Turns out these noisy birds are called Great-Tailed Grackles. You see, their tails are as long as their bodies and they are indeed "'V" shaped so they do look like a fan. They have bright yellow eyes and they whistle... loudly!

Ehausted!

This week I've been working the evening shift, 2 to 8 pm. OMG! It was so busy this weekend, I am totally exhausted. Nearly every site was filled & several monthly newcomers came in for a space. What I've noticed is that the wind plays an important role in the amount of spaces that get filled. Joe & I know all-to-well how difficult it is to drive a big rig with cross-winds blowing; it wears you out. Now I have 2-days off to recuperate. Yeah!

Workamping

After two weeks of training, I started working a full shift by myself. Joe volunteers from time to time showing campers to their sites. He enjoys driving the golf cart around the RV Park.

I picked up the computer part pretty quickly; the hardest part for me are the questions about the area -"Where can I find this' or 'How do I get to that?" I'm sure my knowledge of Amarillo will improve over time.

The dogs are getting use to the park - it's so dry here there's not much grass, just a lot of weeds with burrs that get caught in their fur. So once again (remember El Paso), I have to send about a half an hour every day removing the stickers. It's a love-hate relationship; they are happy to get rid of them, but at the same time they hate the pulling of their fur. They will be getting their summer cuts soon; that should help. Until next time...

Texas Panhandle

Howdy everyone!

We are now in Amarillo, Texas, a true cowboy town. Amarillo comes from the Spanish word for yellow (I hear there are a lot of yellow wildflowers in the spring). Amarillo is the largest city between Albuquerque, NM and Oklahoma City. It is the unofficial capital of the Texas Panhandle, and is 3,605 feet above sea level.

There is a local restaurant here called The Big Texan Steak Ranch. They serve up the World Famous FREE 72-oz steak dinner (if eaten in 1 hour). I'm happy to report very few people have accomplished this feat. They also offer a free limousine service (pick-up & return to your campsite). Notice the "Long Horns" mounted on the front of the limo.

Amarillo has the typical dessert high plains weather - Warm, very windy days & cool nights.
This video shows a typical spring day at the RV park (click on arrow to play).
My biggest complaint about the wind is that I can't cook outside on the grill. Can you imagine trying to light a grill in these winds? I hear from the locals that the winds will calm down somewhat during the summer months... we shall see.



We will be here at Amarillo Ranch RV Park for the next 5-6 months. This old truck parked next to the office represents the dust bowl, when people would pack up there belongings & travel west on Route 66.

I start my WorkKamp experience on Monday morning, greeting guests, imputing their info into the computer and assigning them a site. I'll work an alternating biweekly schedule - 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, followed by 6 hours a day for 4 days a week.

Until next time...

Cowboy Country

The wind blew us into Tinker AFB RV Park in Oklahoma City. We took a day trip down town; the city is a lot bigger then I thought it would be. There are a lot of beautiful city & federal buildings, museums & galleries, and sport stadiums. The oil boom must have something to do with this. In fact, there is a working oil drill in front of the State Capital Building.

We drove through Bricktown, once a major warehouse district, it is now a very hip & growing entertainment district.

We visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the site of the April, 19, 1995 bombing, one of the largest terrorist attacks on American soil - 168 Oklahomans died on that day. It's a beautiful, peaceful memorial, but very sad. We couldn't bring ourselves to go inside the museum; we've had enough sadness in our lives.

WOW! At the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, we spent hours looking at all the different exhibits. From fine art to pop culture, and Native American objects to historical western gear we watched the history of the American cowboy unfold.

This statue called The End of the Trail by James Earle Fraser depicts the "doomed fate" of Native American Indians as western expansion consumed their land.

Till next time...

Mammonth Cave, KY

Mammoth Cave National Park has the most extensive cave system in the world. With 400 miles of surveyed passageways, Mammoth Cave is over twice as long as any known cave, and Geologists think there could be 600 miles of yet undiscovered passageways.

An African-American slave, Stephen Bishop, was a guide to the cave in the 1840's and 1850's. He was the first person to map the cave & name many of its features. He is also credited as the first person to cross the Bottomless Pit, pictured above.

We embarked on the 2-hour, 2-mile Historical Tour on Sunday morning. Not realizing we were on central time, we got there an hour early.

In this photo we start descending into the cave entrance.

Visitors to Mammoth Cave were invited to carve their name into the cave walls, but anyone who did this after 1947 was committing a Federal Offense.

The discovery of salt-petre in Mammoth Cave became significant during the War of 1812 when the British blocked US ports, thus the import of salt-petre used in making gunpowder. The mining vats and wooden pipes are still visible today.

These wooden pipes were hand-carved & hollowed out to carry water needed for the mining operation.

Warning! Fat Man's Misery - a long, winding, narrow passage that is also at times low overhead.

Joe squeezing through Fat Man's Misery. Don't get stuck!

Watch your head Joe!

Climbing up the steep 138 steps of Mammoth Dome to get out of the cave was exhausting.

Until next time...