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The Southwest up to Omaha
  • Sophie White
  • Eric White
  • Sophie White
  • Eric White

The Southwest up to Omaha

Our first trek out to the Berkshire-Hathaway Annual Meeting in Omaha. Read more
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  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    The Organ Mountains

    April 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today we went down to the (huge) White Sands Army Base to see the missile museum. Along our drive we had a great view of the Organ Mountains, which we figure earned their name by resembling a massive pipe organ. Eric (lucky duck) spotted several cacti with blooming red flowers and a roadrunner.

    We drove along the White Sands National Monument, which is the world’s largest deposit of gypsum sand (which evidently stays cool to the touch regardless of the blazing sun overhead).    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha
    Howitzer

    White Sands Missile Garden

    April 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The building next to the museum housed a massive V2 rocket that had been on display for years (way too big to photograph). The garden outside the museum had a ton of different missiles, rockets, other weapons, and other scientific and military equipment. What a sight!!Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    On to the next stop

    April 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We checked out of our campground this morning because we are heading out to Roswell now that we’ve seen White Sands Base. We’ve got to move over to the eastern side of the state, but first we are going north.Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Entering Roswell

    April 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Roswell turns out to be a good-sized town of 35,000 people. There’s an eclectic mix of dynamics: small-town vibe, alien themes, industry from days gone by, and southwestern style. There is something here for everyone and we can’t wait to see it tomorrow!Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Bottomless Lakes SP

    April 28, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    We arrived before dark (yay!) to a cute little loop set right next to a lake. To our surprise, a truck and mini trailer were parked in our reserved spot, and after a conversation with a nice couple from Quebec we realized the reservation system was VERY confusing. In any case, they moved over a few spots to an unreserved site and we pulled into our beautiful lakefront site.

    We took a few minutes and sat out to watch the sunset over the lake through the trees. The bats were swooping all around by the shore eating bugs and the wind started picking up. Later the wind was howling and we brought in the chairs before they blew into the lake! Even inside the RV we could feel the gusts shaking us back and forth.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Lea Lakes

    April 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So our campground is actually at one of the bottomless lakes, called Lea Lake. As we read more about the park, we discovered that each of the lakes is a sinkhole that developed due to soft ground. Since it’s only about 15 minutes outside of town, the lakes are a popular destination for local families wanting to swim and picnic.Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Roswell

    April 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We started our day off at a cool little diner, The Chapparal Cafe where we both ordered the Truckers Special (excellent choice). Next we have ourselves a little self tour of Roswell, where we found a UFO-shaped McDonalds and a ton of kitschy stores selling alien gear. We especially enjoyed all the little touches: the alien eyes on all the lampposts and the little green men in random parking lots and gas stations.

    It rained for a couple minutes when we were walking outside and for the rest of the day wherever we drove there were lakes of water covering the streets. All the locals could talk about was how much they needed this rain! California should stop complaining about their drought in my opinion.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    UFO Museum

    April 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    This cool museum had the entire history of what happened at the Roswell crash, completely with newspaper clippings, sworn affidavits from locals, and video interviews with people who had participated at the site of the crash and with the cover-up. It was VERY well displayed and we were impressed.Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Robert Goddard

    April 29, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We headed next to the Roswell Art & Science Museum to see the display on Robert Goddard, the pioneering engineer and physicist who contributed greatly to the scientific knowledge on building missiles and rockets. His dream was to send a rocket to Mars, and he spent decades finely crafting different experiments here outside of Roswell.

    His work was largely ignored in the U.S. but was blatantly stolen by the Germans to create the V2 rockets they used to bombard Europe during WWII. The museum had a phenomenal display that recreated his workshop.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Breakfast

    April 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    For breakfast we headed back to our new favorite spot, which conveniently is also a truck stop so we can “fill ‘er up”. Most gas stations have a max limit when using a credit card. At this gas station we had to use THREE credit cards to fill the tank! Then it was goodbye to Roswell and on to Texas!Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Leaving New Mexico

    April 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Leaving New Mexico we saw a plethora of local attractions, like the Taco Box, tons of cattle and horses, lots of locomotives, grain silos, and new and old farms and industrial equipment. We saw our first oil pump, which is how we knew we were getting close to Texas!

    Our favorite was a sign welcoming us to Portales that proclaimed “Home of 17,000 friendly people (and 3 or 4 grumps)”.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Entering Texas

    April 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Entering Texas was uneventful at first. We were in town and drove past a road called “Stateline”, then suddenly we saw the small state sign. About a mile down the road we saw a Welcome sign, and then the scenery started changing. The American and Texan flag were flying high over tons of buildings and the cattle ranches were bigger, more organized KFOs (and waaay stinkier). Surprisingly there were more trees and less desert already!Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Canyon, Texas

    April 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    This beautiful town is right outside Amarillo and (I imagine) is named for the Palo Duro Canyon, where we will be staying for the next two nights. They have big Texas-sized houses on big properties with healthy horses. Hopefully we’ll get to see a little more of the town tomorrowRead more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Palo Duro

    April 30, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Arriving at this campground was like a dream. They call it “Grand Canyon of Texas” for good reason. The rocks are red and multicolored, and the deep canyon is covered with trees and lush ground cover. After wandering around having difficulty finding our campground (due to it being unmarked! No signs!!) we pulled into a killer spot with tons of privacy and million dollar views. On the way we spotted a lazy deer, two wild turkeys, and a bunny rabbit (the latter had claimed our campsite for his own). This is going to be great!

    At night we watched a lighting storm in the distance light up the sky. Too far away for thunder or rain, but still fun.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Amarillo by Morning

    May 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We wanted to see what Amarillo was like, so we drove through the Historic Route 66 District complete with shops, restaurants, and bars. Next we headed out to see Cadillac Ranch, where multiple spray painted Cadillacs are half buried into the ground. The RV Park next door had an attraction all of its own: the 2nd amendment cowboy (he was 22 feet tall and used to advertise a Texas BBQ steakhouse).

    Along the way we were entertained by the TONS of American & Texan flags, and the quirky gas stations. I was mind-boggled by the drive-through window at the liquor store! Eric was in love with the huge brick home with tons of land.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    RV Museum

    May 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    First we headed to the RV Museum, which brought on Eric’s skepticism when he discovered it was located at a huge RV dealership. Lo and behold, behind the sales office there was a two building warehouse filled with restored RVs, from as early as the ‘30s!

    It was really amazing because most of the RVs were open and you could go in them. They still had the period wood paneling, curtains, fabric, and stoves and fridges. The owner of the museum (who also owns the dealership) had decorated each interior with period accessories like games, catalogs, ice chests, etc.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    RV Museum, continued

    May 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    The most unusual vehicle the museum had was probably the 1948 Flxible (first two pictures), which was used to film the Robin Williams movie “RV” (it belonged to the Gornicke family). Eric and I love that movie so we got a real kick out of seeing it and walking through it!

    All the other trailers and RVs were so iconic; it really seemed like we stepped into a display of Americana.    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Tyler's BBQ

    May 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We got hungry for dinner and were headed to the Texas Roadhouse, a popular tourist attraction when we decided we should try a local BBQ joint instead. I pulled open Yelp and three blocks away we found Tyler’s BBQ. And boy were we glad we did! It’s gotta be one of the best, if not THE best BBQ joint in Amarillo. The brisket was slow cooked and delicious and we were super impressed!!

    The strangest thing is that we found out one of the employees used to live in Sacramento...he worked two blocks away from Kaiser in Roseville and painted the mural in the tunnel on the way to Old Sac. I know its a small world, but seriously?!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Our campsite

    May 1, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    We headed back to our campground while there was still plenty of light so we could enjoy sitting outside with the peace and quiet. It’s pretty awesome because the campground is actually down on the canyon floor, barely visible from the top. The switchbacks in the road are a doozy, but well worth it!

    We had a great time sitting and watching the wildlife and sunset. There was a roadrunner that came right up to Eric’s window and posed for several minutes, then got ran off by an impressive male turkey that walked right through our camp. After the sunset we were able to watch bats swooping around furiously. This place is definitely something special!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Goodbye Texas

    May 2, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We left our canyon and struck off Northeast, ready to drive through Oklahoma and on into Kansas for the night. The industrial sized farms are so big they have their own signs and streets to direct the semis around. We saw hundreds of oil derricks, painted all colors (my favorite was the green), and flat expanses of crop fields.Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Oklahoma, aren't you glad to see us?

    May 2, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    We turned up to Oklahoma and immediately big fat raindrops started covering the windshield. Within 5 minutes the roads were flooding and we pulled over at a gas station to ride it out. The rain quickly turned into a downpour, and before long the lightning was flashing across the sky directly overhead and the thunder was LOUD. We waited for 20 minutes or so until it died down, then pressed on.

    Unfortunately, the direction we had to head was back INTO the storm, and after about 10 minutes visibility was so bad we had to turn out again. We took cover at a truck stop with other truckers and even a police officer. The lightning was so rapid it looked like a strobe light in the sky, flashing every 1-2 seconds from all directions. The thunder was so powerful our motorhome was rocking back and forth. We checked the weather radar and discovered we were on the edge of a severe super cell thunderstorm with a tornado warning, and we’d have to wait for the whole system to pass over us. It was the craziest lightning storm either of us had ever seen, and later the news reported wind gusts up to 90 mph.

    Needless to say, we did NOT make it to Dodge City at our predicted time! We were delighted once we were able to drive through Oklahoma though, because it turns out everyone driving a passenger truck waved at Eric. How friendly!!    Read more

  • The Southwest up to Omaha

    Hello Kansas

    May 2, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    After our ordeal we finally made it up through the Panhandle and popped out into Kansas. The scenery mostly continued, with cows, wind farms, and grain silos dotting the landscape. The 4th picture is the perfect example of so many small towns we passed through in Texas, Oklahoma, and now Kansas. A large grain silo positioned between the road and the railroad, a train awaits its cargo, and all the while semis are barreling through trying to make good time.Read more

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