Our Last Days in Tucumcari

Last Sunday friends, Richard and Frances, came by the hotel and we all piled into DA TOAD and we drove out to Rich and Fran’s ranch. They have 160 acres that are being planted by a sharecropper who farms about 10,000 acres. We drove DA TOAD all around the property and walked to the only building – a boxcar.  The boxcar is inhabited by 2 barn owls.

		Richard & Frances’ Ranch VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We were treated to lunch at the Russell Truck Stop about 10 miles from the ranch.  It was good lunch, but the free museum inside the truck stop was real interesting. There were cars including a 69 Corvette and 4 Shelby Mustangs, collectibles – lots and lots of stuff, and history.

We then drove back to Tucumcari to sit in on another practice session of the Blue Grass Bank, Old Gray Cats. They were just great and we are sorry we will not be here for their performance.

Later that evening we went to Denny’s with Rich and Frances, Robby and Carol. We laughed and carried on so I thought they may ask us to take it outside. We’ll miss these great friends.

Monday we did some caching and had some unsettling and conflicting information from the insurance company.  It was later resolved and it was agreed the shop had to tear down the engine to examine the piston and rod on the number 1 cylinder. That lead us to Tuesday.

Good news. The insurance company agreed to pay for the parts and labor to replace the head, head gasket, and rod.  There are a number of things they will not pay for. They will pay for the oil but not the oil filter. What’s the logic there?  They started on the repair. After that news we went Geocaching. We had placed a geocache near the truck repair shop and needed the agreement of our friends, Rich and Frances, to maintain it for us. We decided to drive into Logan and get some caches and talk with Frances and Richard. We discovered a cache just next door to Rich and Frances’ house and they didn’t even know it was there. On our way out of Logan we placed another cache and picked up 2 more before eating dinner.

This is the saga of our dinner experience last night.  It was quite an experience getting dinner and desert in Tucumcari. We went to a Chinese Buffet only to find the buffet was only served at lunch. OK, no problem, we like Chinese food ordered off the menu. I ordered Hot & Sour soup and Crab Rangoon and Tom ordered Shrimp and Snow Peas. The family of the waitress came in and sat down next to us (we were the only 2 tables in the room). I was served my soup and rangoons and the waitress’ family was served shrimp, fried rice, and several other dishes. Tom was then served chicken and snow peas. He asked for shrimp instead of chicken. I ate my entire dinner; the table next to us with the waitresses sitting down with them ate most of their dinner. Tom was served his shrimp and snow peas about 25 minutes later.

We were going to stop at McDonalds for a couple of pumpkin pies. When we got there about 6 cars were in the drive thru so we walked in to the front counter. On the other side of the store a Greyhound bus had unloaded it’s passengers, about 50, for a dinner break at Mickey D’s and we couldn’t even see the counter, so we got back in the car and drove across the street to KFC for Apple Pie where no one was at the drive thru. We ordered, drove to the window, our money was taken and then we were told they were going to put the pies in the fryer right then and it would only be a few minutes. We waited about 10 minutes and the drive thru window opened and we were told the cook dropped our pies on the floor and they were cooking another batch… could we drive forward so the car behind us could receive their order. (timing is everything) Another 10 minutes and we had our pies and were heading back to the hotel room. So that’s how we spent a week in Tucumcari yesterday.

This morning we went to the free breakfast again that is served at the motel. Mary, the hostess, is there each morning to greet us; the variety of breakfast choices is terrific. Fruits, yogurt, eggs, sausages, biscuits and gravy, green chili potatoes, Belgium waffles, bagels and cream cheese, and sweet rolls.

Then we drove over to the repair shop and checked out the progress on DA PAD. 

We then went to check out some more geocaches.  We drove west on old Route 66 to 5 mile park.  This has been abandoned for many years and the main building burned down in 2010.  This was originally an Olympic size pool and is now beyond repair. This is typical of the result of the highway passing a thriving town by.

This is a recap of our caching time in Tucumcari: found-26, placed-2. 

Looks like we will be loading all the cat stuff, clothes, and technology back into DA PAD and we will be on the road to Albuquerque tomorrow. Hurray!

Stuck in Radiator Springs

We have been in Tucumcari, NM, for 6 days.  We have driven from the north to south and the east to west; we have seen almost all of Tucumcari and can’t help but think of the movie ‘Cars’.  I decided to look up the the towns that were depicted in the movie on this website. 

“If you are able to drive to only one Route 66 city that best resembles Radiator Springs, I recommend Tucumcari, N.M. It’s a small town that boasts a bunch of vintage motels, a Mexican restaurant shaped like a sombrero, lots of neon lights, a Route 66-themed grocery store, Tucumcari Mountain and the well-preserved Odeon Theatre, which still shows first-run movies.”

These are some of the scenes we found while geocaching in Tucumcari.  This was a challenge. If we did not have the GPS working on our cell phones, there is no way we could have found a cache in this “pickers paradise”.

 

Another cache was found in the iconic motel, Blue Swallow, also mentioned on the website. “Sally’s Cozy Cone Motel in the film is a composite of the historic Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, N.M., and the teepee-shaped Wigwam Motels, with one in Holbrook, Ariz., and the other in San Bernardino, Calif. All of these motels are restored, well-maintained, and worth seeking out for a night’s sleep.”

Blue Swallow Motel VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Of course the mountain shaped like a radiator cap that overlooks Radiator Springs is inspired by Tucumcari Mountain in Tucumcari. The mountain is the dominant feature in that region for miles around. Local high-school students repaint the town’s initial on the side of the mountain each year.

We looked for a cache called Zombie Town.  This was the huge Tucumcari Truck Terminal.  There was a restaurant, diesel pumps (where the cache was located), a Shell gas station and store. This was totally abandoned because the Highway passed the town of Tucumcari by.

While we are stuck in Radiator Springs … Tucumcari we have been reminded that like Lightning McQueen we have had been forced to slow down. Whether we like it or not after all the crazy travel from Kansas City to Montana to Sault St Marie back to Indiana and back to Kansas City in just 2 months we slowed down even if we did not want to, just like Lightning McQueen. 

We have seen the specialness of this small town from the friendly waitress in Pizza Hut that sat down to talk to us to the lady at the hotel breakfast room that greets us each morning with a smile and is sorry we are still stuck here.  While caching today we were sneaking around a little building outside a historic old home when the door opened and Robby, who we had dinner with last Saturday in Logan, poked his head out the door and asked what we were doing and then invited us in to listen to their jam session.  What a wonderful time we had with Robby, Carol and Bob.

I think we are resolved to look on the bright side of this situation and there are really some good things going on.  We eat a fabulous breakfast each morning, we have good internet, we take long showers, everyone is super friendly, and we have gotten almost all the available caches in Tucumcari.  Tomorrow we will get the rest of the caches.

The latest news on the repair is we are waiting for the adjuster to approve the recommendations Cummins suggests when a head gasket is blown.  If they do not the predicted failure will cost much more than the $9,000 of this repair.

Logan NM to Tucumcari Eventually

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.

Tucumcari Depot VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We checked out the vendors, demonstrations and even an airplane on a trailer.

Fired Up Tucumcari VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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.

Fireworks VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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.

Dinner at the Annex VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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.

The Tow VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

We said goodbye again and we were on our way to Tucumcari.

Leaving Logan VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

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.

Blown Head Gasket VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

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.

Our second visit to KC in 2012

After the Escapade we stuck around for a couple of days before heading west to Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta.  After talking to Sharon and Don DelRosario who were also traveling to the Fiesta, we decided to travel together and stop on our way in Kansas City. We spend a week or two each year in and around K.C. when working with SkillsUSA. We wanted to show Sharon and Don some of our favorite places. We arrived at our favorite county park, Blue Springs Lake, and got parked.  We wanted to have some real good KC barbeque. We chose jack Stack’s downtown right behind Union Station.  Once we were seated Don realized this was exactly the restaurant he wanted to show Sharon. The dry rub on our chicken, ribs, and brisket was perfect. This is a classic KC BBQ stop in a warehouse downtown.

The next day we drove to Independence and the Truman Presidential Library.  We have visited this Presidential Library 3 or 4 times and always see something new.  This visit the parking lots were barricaded off and there was lots of police presence.  We thought some important person was visiting, but no, it was the opening of the American Home Builders’ Association’s conference. Normally we park out front and walk up these steps, but this visit we parked around back because of their opening ceremonies stage was being prepared.

Tom was trying out his new camera and was very happy with the results. One thing new I noticed was the beautiful painting in the lobby of the library painted by Thomas Hart Benton. How could I have missed this?  After seeing the Benton painted mural in the legislator’s sitting room in Jefferson City, Missouri’s Capitol, I will never pass a Benton without noticing again.

Just look at the details he includes in his beautiful paintings/murals.

Truman didn’t have a big war chest for his campaign so he took his message directly to the people from the back of a train. It was called the Whistlestop Campaign.  No one thought he would win. Even the Chicago Tribune ran the headlines, Dewey Defeats Truman. Old Harry made lots of hay with that paper’s report.

Truman’s surprise win VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Tom couldn’t resist comparing himself to Truman. Maybe if we walked every day like Harry Truman did we would be as slim (left). The information on the duties of a president always impresses me; I sometime forget all the jobs of the President: Chief Executive, Commander-In-Chief, Maker of Foreign Policy, Legislative Planner, Head of His Political Party, and Chief of State (middle). The picture on the right brought back memories of my childhood, the TV, that chrome table, and Mom in her apron.

Inside the Library VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After leaving the Museum we went to downtown Independence and had lunch at the Courthouse Exchange. I’m sure we shared the room with some of the lawyers from the courthouse across the street.

Later that afternoon we went to the Salty Iguana, a Mexican restaurant near the campground that our daughter, Jennifer, and granddaughters, Jamie and Julie always eat at.
Our last day in K.C. was spent again in Independence. We visited the Bingham-Wagner Mansion. Our guides were very entertaining and knowledgeable.  This is a beautifully restored home that has over 90% of the original furnishings, unusual in museums.

Bingham-Wagner Home VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

There was an amazing display of quilts throughout the home on loan from the local quilting society.

Amazing Quilts VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We ate at a little café on the Courthouse Square, Dave’s Bakery and Deli. Was very good. Don and Sharon were our chauffeurs these 3 days. Don drove to downtown Kansas City and we pointed out some of the landmarks, fountains and the area where we hold the SkillsUSA competition, Bartle Hall, Alyce Square, Municipal Auditorium.

We went down to the point where Lewis and Clark camped at the confluence of the Missouri and Kaw Rivers.

Kaw Point VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Later we had Chinese dinner.  I won’t even talk about the crazy bad service we had at that Chinese restaurant. This was one of the very few times that I have never left a tip. I’m talking terrible service!
We left Kansas City and drove to Wichita, Kansas.  We drove south around K.C. into Kansas from the 470 to the 435 to the 35. It was an easy trip except for one little missed transition from the 435 to the 35.  My Zoom, running the Navigation app, very quickly rerouted us with a route that looked like 2 D’s back to back - off the freeway onto the surface street - onto another on ramp – merged onto the right freeway – all this with the DelRosario’s following us. Nice job Sharon!   
After having our fingerprints and pictures taken and I guess our loyalty status checked, we were able to stay at the McConnell AFB and Don and Sharon's guests at FamCamp. This was a quick overnight with a little afternoon shopping and dinner at Chipotle.

After departing FamCamp and parking in a large parking area adjacent to I-Hop the next morning we met friends, Larry and Melita Kinser for breakfast. It was so great seeing them again. We have kept in touch with email, Facebook and blogs after they left Fresno, but nothing takes the place of catching up over a meal cooked by someone else. Larry pastored our church for several years and Melita was the best pianist we have ever heard at our church.  Another treat was seeing their daughter, Lacy and her brand new 12 day old baby, Judah. I forgot how tiny newborn babies are.

We were then on our way to Liberal, KS.  I have to admit we were disappointed in Dorothy and Toto's house; kinda run down and too expensive for what you get to see. The Information Center across the street was nice and we found a place to eat dinner. There is not much in Liberal Kansas!
The next morning we left Liberal and Don and Sharon went to see her cousin in Texas and we went to see our friends, Richard and Frances Dahl, in Logan, NM. We did so much with the Dahls that will have to be in the next blog.