Where Are We? - (Gladstone, NM)

I slept in the recliner last night since I was up late due to my earlier naps.  :)

Linda slept soundly in the bedroom with the noise of her little fan drowning out everything else.

I, on the other hand, heard the children that were up a little bit too late yelling.  And the numerous trains going through the town of Woodward.  And the owl hooting.  And the racoons fighting.  Yep, with the windows open and no white noise, the campground was not quite as peaceful as I first reported.  :)

Linda was up early and ready to go.  I was the one dragging my feet today.

But we did manage to get on the road by 9:45.  The plan was to make it to Clayton Lake State Park in New Mexico.  It would be about a 235 mile drive.

It seemed pretty simple as I printed out the directions and gave them to Linda.  She's the navigator in the Jeep since she can get ahead of me in the tricky areas and let me know where I'm supposed to be.

We stayed on U.S. 412 to Guymon, OK.  It was an inconsistently bad road.  The route from Guymon to Boise City, OK (U.S. 64 & 56) was consistently bad.  We had been warned, but going around it seemed too far.  So we suffered through.

Once we got to Clayton, NM we were supposed to make a turn and go about 10 more miles to the state park.  But we never saw any signs, and my navigator didn't see the details in the directions.

So we kept driving.  We were now on U.S. 56 headed west.  We had already said we would stop for the night in any RV park we found.  The road was good, so on we went.

Eventually, after going through a little storm with some strong winds, Linda needed gas.  We would stop at the next gas station.

Well, just before the running-out-of-gas panic set in, we made it to the Gladstone Mercantile after 284 miles.

There was only one problem.  Their electricity was out and the gas pumps weren't working.  :)

BUT, they do have four or five RV sites with water and electric.  Of course, the electric runs the pumps for the water, so there was neither electric or water when we arrived.  :)

The owner of the Mercantile told us we were more than welcome to just park in a large parking area out by the road for the night, or we could back into one of the RV sites and stay for free since the hook-ups were out of commission.

Not exactly an "it factor" location.  :)

But it would fit the bill for tonight and we could certainly boondock.

However, the electricity came back on so we took advantage of it.  We will offer to pay in the morning.

As we were settling in, Linda noticed that the movie The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz was on TV.   We had never seen it and had been waiting for it to show up.  We hit "record" and watched.  I'm glad we hadn't seen it before - it's much funnier from our current perspective.  :)

It was interesting that there was a scene in the movie that very closely resembled our situation today.  :)

After the movie, I checked emails.  Hey, we have quite a bit of early interest in an RV-Dreams Cruise.

Regarding the possible cruise, I need to make a couple of clarifications.

First, it is not a planned substitute for a rally.  We have no intention of making it rally-like.  We are still looking at doing a 2009 rally even if we do the cruise thing.

The cruise is simply an additional way for the RV-Dreams Family to spend some social time together.  Just good people having fun in a different way.  :)

Second, we understand that a cruise is not financially feasible for everyone.  It's not financially feasible for us either.  Except for one little thing.

In the interest of full disclosure (as you have come to expect from us), we will only do the cruise if we get enough others to join us.  As organizers or "Tour Conductors" we can get a heavy discount on our own cruise fares if we can get a certain number of cabins sold.  From a personal financial standpoint, we wouldn't do this without that little perk.  :)

With the quality of the folks that read RV-Dreams, we feel that we can be completely up-front about things like that.  And it's not like the Tour Conductor program is a secret.  Anyone that can get enough people together can do it.  :)

So with those two points made, here is a link to a flyer about the RV-Dreams Family Cruise.  :)

For questions or more information contact RV-Dreams reader Beth Christie at Cruise Vacation Outlet.  Her email address is beth@CruiseVacationOutlet.com and her phone is 800-797-4635, extension 122.

In addition to trying to find a place for us RVers to park and a local pet hotel for the furkids, Beth has also offered to answer questions in the Chat Room one night if folks would be interested in communicating that way.

Well, that's about it.  Not much happening out here in the middle of nowhere.  Just trying to decide where we will be staying tomorrow and checking out a lovely sunset.  :)

         

Comments

[bob schmader]

Howard, I sure wish you would have made it to Clayton SP. The Dino tracks in the stone there are awesome. Especially after a rain they really show up. We also missed the turn off road the first time.
Bob

[Howard]

Bob,

We might have made more of an effort to go to Clayton Lake, but the website said the dinosaur boardwalk was damaged and not open. :)

[Jerry/Carol]

Gladstone, NM certainly brings back memories. I looks like the town has grown. When Carol and I went through there in the mid 80's, we wondered where the people who lived there worked. We concluded the all worked at the Post Office. Now they have a mercantile and RV Park. A web serach said there are 38 people in town. And I though Texas had small towns. Travel Safe. Jerry

[Snackmaster & Jan]

We are very familiar with those roads you referred to. As we head south from our house, we always encounter the decision about how to get across the OK panhandle without traveling 412 or that stretch from Elkhart, KS to Boise City, OK to the Texas state line. We usually just "tough it out", but we certainly have to "batten down the hatches" for the trip :-) Good thing - Boise City, OK has one of the best and friendliest truck stops we have been in. Very nice people there. You should have just swung north to our place again. We are not home, but you know where the hookups etc. are and you would be welcome. Have a safe trip to CO.

JanC

[foxriverguy]

A cruise with RV-Dreams family would be a blast. We can't make it, but since we have been on a cruise, I want to encourage those of you who have not been on a cruise and who can afford it TO GO. Cruises are so much fun when you can share the adventrue with others.

[Teresa]

I must say, though, that New Mexico has some of the most beautiful sunsets !

[Fran]

Trailer Brakes First!!!

How funny is that movie?

We have it on an old VHS tape and watch it from time to time.

I tease Kenneth about all the jam and jelly we make when we are in Oregon...

Thank goodness we don't collect rocks...:)

Happy and safe travels...

Fran and Ken

[Terry Miller]

Howard and Linda,

My wife and I had taken our 26 foot fiver to Keyes, Oklahoma this last weekend for my sister's 50th wedding anniversary. (There were going to be so many there, we decided to take our own bedroom.)

On the way back to where we live in the Oklahoma City area on Sunday, we apparently met you just east of Hardesty, OK. The first thing I noticed was that your camper was a Cambridge, followed with a very quick notice of a beige colored dually, and then noticing a small SUV type vehicle, complete with bicycles, following behind you. I remarked to my wife, Jo, that we may have just passed you. The only thing I wasn't sure of was whether Linda's vehicle was a Jeep or not. I don't know my vehicles well enough to know.

Anyway, it was about noon on Sunday, June 22 when we met (and quickly passed) celebrities.

Sorry we couldn't make it to your rally in Branson. I had written and asked if walk-ins were welcome, but it turns out that other committments prevailed that weekend. Maybe next time.

One last note: we have put up our home for sale with the intention of eventually becoming full-timers.

Good Luck to both of you and may God bless you everywhere.

[Terry Miller]

This one is posted a little late, but it is appropriate to this thread, especially considering the highway (US 64 - 412 - State Hwy 3) through the Panhandle. That stretch of road has paved shoulders. If one has to go through that area, consider the following.

Most of the traffic on the highways are centered in each lane. Thus that area gets beat down worse than elsewhere in the lane. I found that when traveling on such highways, if I drive to the right of the center of the lane, the road will be much smoother. Keep in mind, this should only be done on roads where there are paved shoulders.

Many years ago, when State Highway 3 was upgraded, the governor of Oklahoma had gone to the Panhandle to inspect the roads because of the number of complaints that he had received from local Panhandle residents. When he arrived and drove from Guymon to Boise City, he found that some enterprising local citizen had hung a sign that read, "Primitive Road - Travel at Your Own Risk". Appropriately, that sign was attached to one that indicated that Hwy 3 was "Oklahoma's Northwest Passage."

Gotta love Okies.