Cattle, Camels, and Coyotes

We're now on I-40 west of Albuquerque. The land has finally begun to look like the real West, but I'm jumping ahead of myself.

Yesterday we had lunch with more friends in Dallas and then headed out for Amarillo. It was certainly a late start, but it was a good drive. On our way, we saw something truly shocking. Greg suddenly yelled, "Camels!!!" I told him he was crazy, but sure enough there was a herd of camels next to the road minding their own business. I wonder if they know they're in Texas rather than the Sahara. I guess you never know what you'll see on the road. We also hit a milestone, our 1000th mile. That makes one of probably eleven. We'll see.

We made Amarillo at dinner time and went straight to the Big Texan. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the Big Texan is probably the world's most famous pit stop. Their claim to fame is the free 72 oz. steak, if you can eat it in an hour that is. A sign in the restaurant reads, "The Free 72 oz. Steak. Many have tried. Many have failed." The sign is true to its word. We saw one guy try his best and fail miserably on the pedestal in the middle of the dining room. They display you, the steak, and the time remaining for everyone to see and either encourage or heckle. The steak is even bigger than I imagined. It's the full size of a platter and an inch and a half thick. All in all it's a unique experience.





We encountered a bit of a problem in Amarillo. We couldn't find a campground that would accept tents. You'd think that a tent was a menace to society the way some people looked at us, so we settled for a motel.

We woke up to see fog out the window. Amarillo is on the high plains, but blowing mist and fog were certainly not what we expected. The fog lasted all the way to Albuquerque, where New Mexico finally starts to look like New Mexico. We caught our first glimpse of mountains and several bluffs. This feels like the beginning of the Southwest we all know and love.

It's time to get off the highway to go explore, so Hasta Luego!