We drove from Liberal, KS, on Hwy 54 to the little village of Logan, NM. We have stayed there before because 1) the State Park is a very nice stop, and more important 2) our friends, Rich Dahl and Frances Langley live there. We tried to call when we arrived at Ute State Park, but we had absolutely no signal, no data signal and no phone signal so we were not able to contact Rich and Fran. Fortunately, Richard drove up only a few minutes after we were parked. Frances was suffering from severe allergies so she begged off. Richard took us on a tour of Logan and then we had lunch at one of only two local eateries in Logan. We had burritos. This is a very eclectic place with lots of ‘stuff’ hanging on the walls. Tom said it was a picker’s paradise.
That afternoon Richard drove us to Tucumcari because there was a local celebration, Fired Up. This celebration brought back the fire-based exhibits of last year as well as music, performances and railroad-theme attractions that highlighted Tucumcari's restored Rail Depot. One of the music groups was the Blue Grass Band that Richard and Frances play with, Blue Grass and Old Tyme Music.
Because of Frances not feeling good, Richard had not planned on attending so he just enjoyed the show with Tom.
We toured the RR Depot which is being beautifully restored.
We checked out the vendors, demonstrations and even an airplane on a trailer.
Of course Richard tells Tom all about the world according to Richard including lots of factoids.
We then took a tour of Tucumcari; I thought often of the movie, Cars. This town was once a thriving vibrant community that when the highway passed it by, it almost died. We saw lots of Route 66 iconic motels and businesses and also many murals that have greatly improved the run down areas of this town.
Then we went back to the Tucumcari Depot and watched fireworks.
We planned to leave the next day so Rich and Fran brought us breakfast burritos and played some Blue Grass for us. What a treat; we had no idea they were such talented musicians.
Then we said goodbye, pulled in the slides, and started to leave. There was a stop engine light shining brightly on the dash of DA PAD. We’ve never seen that before. Remember we had NO PHONE service. We did try to call out using the State Park Wi-Fi and Skype, but we could not keep the connection. So we drove over to the Dahl’s to use their phone. We called Cummins then Coach Net and it was determined we should not move the RV. A tow truck would be arranged for on Monday, the next day. By this time it was 2 hours later and we went back to DA PAD, paid for another night, pulled out the slides and settled in for another day. Later that evening we went to dinner at the same restaurant, The Annex Bar and Grill, we ate at on Saturday. We were joined by Robby and Carol, another Blue Grass band couple. We were entertained by Robby and Richard exchanging zingers all through dinner. We laughed and talked all evening.
The next morning the Dahl’s came over so we could receive phone calls from Coach Net and the tow company. Finally, the big tow truck came and hooked up DA PAD. This was quite a lengthy process and these guys were really good.
We said goodbye again and we were on our way to Tucumcari.
We were towed to John’s Truck Service, but because Steve, the head mechanic and John’s son was not going to be back until Tuesday, we stayed in our home on wheels that night. Tuesday, yesterday, was very stressful. We did not know what was wrong, how much it would cost, where we would be staying, what about Pansy? Steve arranged for us to stay at the Best Western at a reduced rate.
We found out today that what caused the Stop Engine light was a blown head gasket.
We will know more tomorrow about the insurance coverage, our costs, the motel coverage, and when we will be able to go to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We should have checked in today at the Fiesta, but sadly we are missing the fun camaraderie of our Boomer friends.
We consoled ourselves by finding 7 geocaches and repairing 2.
We are posting information on our Facebook pages so if you are interested in any updates to this saga, tune in there.
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