Total Timber Tour

Relocation Day 2

Total Timber Tour Blog Day 15

9 hour drive north-west, through the Texas Panhandle, the top corner of New Mexico and on to our hotel in Pueblo, Colorado.

Today we crossed our second time zone of the trip and gained an extra hour of holiday moving into Mountain Time.

Road Trip 
HillIs that a volcano or just the clouds?

A bit of a shock to the system with weather not getting above a windy 55°F before lunch. Yes, we’re still suffering from the effects of Gustav as it rotates over land and pulls colder air from the north across western Texas.

Road Sign 
Road SignsWhich way now?

We found the way to Amarillo to stop off at another closed park for a photo op, Wonderland. This is home to one of the most well know loops on a coaster anywhere – just check your screen saver on your Nokia phone – look familiar?

WonderlandLook familiar?
Ian and Adrian 

Drove through a place called Dumas – pronounce it how you will, and driving out the other side we ran into one of the most disgusting smells ever – uurrgghhh.

Dumas Sign 

A bit about the technology used to get us from place to place. The whole route has been calculated using DeLorme Street Atlas 2009 and a TomTom 910. The 910 has a 20Gb microdrive, with a lot of spare capacity, so the months leading up to the trip were used loading about 3000 mp3’s onto it. This is then pumped through the car stereo.

Car Dash 

We have these playing on random with no repeat while driving – that is until the unit decided it wanted to reset itself this morning and we had to start all over again. One of the first songs was by the group Texas! So the chances of Tony Christie’s “Is This the Way to Amarillo” playing today were low to say the least – and yes, it played – spooky!

Ian and AdrianSorry Carol.... got a bit peckish en-route!
AdrianOk - I'm watching!
Road Trip 

Then a LONG drive through nowhere for hours on end. Got a bit brighter and warmer in the afternoon, before we found a very impressive looking storm driving into Colorado.

Storm Cloud 

It’s just amazing how much the scenery changed on the journey today. Because of the changes earlier in the week, we were able to get about 2 hours further north than planned today, meaning a much more relaxing morning tomorrow.

XIT Ranch MotelTonight's hotel isn't up to the usual standards....
XIT Ranch Motel..but they can tell what you are thinking...
Texas Tavernand at least there's a bar next door!!!!!!
Tour CarEven the tour transport looks out of place here.

Arrived early evening and decided on some more retail therapy. The mall was also home to a 36 hole ‘glow in the dark’ crazy golf course – just $7 (£3.60) helped pass an hour – well, when in Rome…….. (Btw, Ian insisted you know he won by 15 strokes).

Glowgolf 
Glowgolf 
Adrian'Glow in the dark' Adrian

Tomorrow is our 100ft Skycoaster over a 1000ft gorge – can’t wait!

AdrianAnother blog in the making.