The Road to Colorado

Memphis to Eastern Oklahoma

After a stormy night that included strong winds, thunder, and lightning (but no rain), we left Memphis under a high wind warning.  This made driving while towing 34’ 5^th wheel a little dicey: but Pat handled the stress just fine.  Initially, Arkansas was just as I expected:  mostly flat, some rolling hills, not too interesting.  However, right before we reached Little Rock, we headed up and into the foothills of the Ozarks.  Little Rock itself sits on a river surrounded by hills and looks like a really pretty place.  From there across the rest of Arkansas to Oklahoma it was beautiful.  Lots of hills, rivers, and many trees still had very colorful leaves.   Pat and I think we really need to return and explore more of this area and Missouri (which we missed entirely).  We spent the night in another RV park set among trees which still retained a fair amount of bright foliage.  

RV park in Sallisaw, Oklahoma

Eastern Oklahoma to Western Oklahoma….oops, I mean Amarillo, Texas

Got an early start for a long, boring day traveling across Oklahoma planning to spend the night on the Oklahoma/Texas border.  It wasn’t the most exciting drive; but it was not as dull as we expected.  Rolling hills and rivers continued until we reached Oklahoma City and then it flattened out quickly.  We took a slight detour off of I-40 (which we’d been on since Knoxville, TN) to head ten miles south to Corn, Oklahoma.  VERY small farming community where Pat’s mom lived as a little girl (get this:  she was born in Maize (Indian word for Corn), Kansas and moved from there to Corn, Oklahoma!).   At this point, we realized we were going to arrive in our campground right about noon (and have nothing to do of any interest in this remote location).  We had planned a fairly short drive the next day to Amarillo, TX, so we decided to ignore our overnight RV reservation in Elk City, OK and push on through to Amarillo.  It didn’t hurt that I was helping out with the driving again.  We thought about it and realized that I hadn’t driven pulling “the 5^th” since the Maine Turnpike (back in September).  No particular reason, just shorter drives or places that Pat, being the nice guy he is, just didn’t want me to have to deal with.  So, together we hauled on to Amarillo (a total of 450 miles that day). 

Sunset in Amarillo, Texas

Amarillo, Texas to Pueblo, Colorado…….uh, I mean Loveland, Colorado

We had another long day of driving planned from Amarillo to Pueblo, Colorado; so, we got up early and left right at sunrise.  I have to say that the panhandle of Texas is pretty barren and pretty remote.  We drove and drove and FINALLY saw some hills in the distance.  I joked with Pat that they were probably in New Mexico.  Turns out, not a joke, they were in New Mexico!  Crossing the border into New Mexico, we got back into the Mountain Time Zone (gained an hour) which both Sara and Emily are in, so now we don’t have to try to figure out what time it is anywhere except in Oregon!  Went around a slight curve (road pretty flat and straight) and there were beautiful snow-capped mountains lined up in the distance.  YES, we are back in the WEST!!!  Finally, hit the Colorado state line while crossing a 7,500 foot high mountain pass in road construction.  After that, the freeway got flat and straight again, so we pulled over on an on-ramp and switched drivers (so now I’m driving).  By the next exit, we were headed up and down hills and around curves.  Then it flattened out again; however, we were in a “high gusting winds” section for the next 30 miles!  We switched drivers, as planned, at a rest area located about a quarter mile AFTER the wind warning area.  Due to our early start, we realized we would reach Pueblo at about noon.  Now, Pueblo is about 350 miles from Amarillo, so we had already driven a fair way (particularly when towing a vehicle).  Loveland, Colorado (where we stay when visiting Sara and Drew) is about 150 miles from Pueblo and includes driving through the heart of both Colorado Springs and Denver.  WHAT TO DO?  Spend afternoon in RV park located 10 miles north of a city that we knew nothing about OR spend the afternoon driving to our final destination.  We went for it and pulled into Loveland nine hours and 500 miles after we left Amarillo.  We are so glad we did; we’ve both commented on how much this feels like home (we spent a month in this park in the summer) and we are settled in for the next three weeks.  The weather forecast is for snow tomorrow night and temperatures are supposed to drop to the mid-teens, so we will be busy winterizing tomorrow.

Hope you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family.