Well we’ve taken off on our long-planned Alaskan Adventure! We did so on Monday……well, sort of! We had planned to depart around noon, but, as I was having my morning coffee and perused my many weather apps (like I do every morning), I quickly found out that a set of severe storms were headed our way and we would be smack in the middle of them if we left at noon. However, if we left by 10:00, I figured we could outrun the storm and get safely to our first stop in Hillsboro, Texas (near Waco). But, now I had another challenge – telling Susan we needed to depart 2 hours earlier and thereby accelerate the prep time for leaving the house for 5 months. As you might have guessed, the news was not well received! But Susan was quite the trooper, met the challenge and wheels were up at 9:40 am!
We did out run the storms (barely) and made it to Hillsboro without a drop of rain on the windshield! But, the truck cab was pretty quiet for the first hour or so………..
…..however, the drive got a little sweeter as we dug into some creative and yummy send-off cookies that our neighbor Bill brought over before we pulled away from the driveway! He had his friend and owner of Marie’s Makery (Katy, TX) design and bake them for our journey. MariesMakery
We try to follow the 3-3-3 RV travel rule: drive no more than 300 miles a day, arrive at your destination by 3:00 pm and stay for 3-days. There are numerous variations of this, but this approach definitely is more relaxing, provides an additional level of safety and allows for more exploring and taking in the sights.
Our 1st stop was Hillsboro, Texas, where we stayed at the North Texas Airstream Community and visited Amy and John, fellow Airstreamers from the West of the Pecos Airstream Caravan we enjoyed this past October. We had a delightful dinner at their house and afterwards they toured us around the property, introducing us to other Airstreamers and showing us the variety of homes in this Airstream-only community. If you’re curious to know what an Airstream Community is all about CLICK HERE.
Three hours and 200 miles up RT. 287, we stopped in Wichita Falls, Texas and enjoyed dinner outside with Kent and Barbara on a picture perfect Texas evening at the oldest pub in town – P2 The Duece. There we were introduced to the “Home of The Red Draw” drink which was created in the 1950’s. The 4 of us reminisced the West of the Pecos Caravan we experienced together and shared other Airstream adventures, while we enjoyed this tomato juice/draft beer concoction!
Our next stop in Amarillo, Texas was not complete without having a good’ole steak at The Big Texan. I didn’t attempt the 72 oz. steak for which it is famous, but a juicy strip steak, bake potato, salad and an Old Fashioned were perfect after the drive from Hillsboro to Amarillo!
The above photos tell it all from the middle of nowhere New Mexico….an impending storm rolls past us yielding a beautiful rainbow and an awesome sunset at a quirky little RV Park!
Next we stopped in Pueblo, Colorado to visit Carlton and Barbara who we have not seen in many years. Carlton and I were graduate school classmates at Washington University back in our St. Louis days over 30 years ago! Even though time has flown by, it seems like yesterday that we were slaving away in study group together! Besides having wonderful meals at their house and getting caught up on friends and family, they surprised us with a train ride to explore the Royal Gorge Bridge from within the canyon. Constructed in 1929, The Royal Gorge Bridge is the highest suspension bridge in the US and it towers 956 ft. above the Arkansas River. Meandering through the curvy, majestic canyon walls with the Arkansas River flowing next to the rail line provided a unique perspective of this engineering feat.
Our first week comes to a close in Denver, Colorado where we camped at Cherry Creek State Park – an urban state park near the city. We spent time with our former Katy, Texas next door neighbors, Kurt and Melissa. Besides hosting us for a fabulous Thai dinner, we were able to get some much needed exercise cycling around the Cherry Creek Reservoir. We hope to see them again in July as they will be exploring Alaska in their RV as well!
Our first week on the road and we’ve travelled 1,000 miles, connected with friends, new and old, and explored and experienced new food, vistas and countrysides…..the meandering continues…….