<– Day 33 – Thu. May 14th: Leaving On a Jet Plane | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 35 – Sat. May 16th: The End of Texas –>

This was my view for much of today. The Grass covered prairies of the Texas panhandle stretch for miles and the roads are straight and fast.

Today was the first day of the Midwest Willys Reunion, so I hope every has a good time there! I do have a few books and t-shirts available through Bob Christy. If you see him and can slow him down for a minute, he’ll help you.

Today’s drive to Amarillo, Texas.

I began today knowing I’d be on the road longer for a longer span of time than I had since the early part of our trip. (Yes honey, read long lonely roads!). Fortunately, there were a few stops and surprises along the way.

Only in Texas would you find a Texas-shaped waffle maker. We saw these at several motels.

The first surprise was west of Wichita Falls. When I saw this CJ-3A, I braked immediately. I *think* it is for sale. It’s got rust. It also has some allstate front hubs.

Not much longer after I saw this 3A, a truck pulling a trailer with an M-38 whizzed past me. I couldn’t pull out my camera in time to capture that one.

After about four hours of driving I pulled into Lubbock, Texas. I figured downtown would be historic with all kinds of western themes. Maybe I just looked in the wrong place, but the only rough and wild part of town I saw were the bricks used to pave long stretches of the city. I’ve driven over less bumpy cobbles stones. To whom it may concern: The bricks are not working!

Just an example. There were much worse sections, but I didn’t want to drive back to photograph them. Lots of downtown was paved with bricks.

On the bright side, they did have a neat tribe to Buddy Holly:

Look at me with my throwback Texas Flag shirt :-)

Perhaps the best part of Lubbock is the American Wind Power Center and Museum. This place was cool. It would be even cooler if I had experience with windmills. They have all kinds of wind mills and lots of them.

One of smart things they did with the museum is place a bunch of the windmills into large troughs. That made them much easier to see and gave the room a great feel.

In another large room there is an enormous mural. I think they use the room for special events. To get a sense of how large it is, look for the people near the doorway in the first photo. The mural fills two whole walls.

There were lots more windmills outside. This one was brought in from Virginia. An exhibit in a nearby tiny house explains how they did it.

From Lubbock I headed north for Amarillo. Instead of going straight there, I decided to take a detour. According to my maps, Highway 207 was a scenic road that ran north and south. So, I cut back east a little ways. As soon as I got off Interstate 40 I ran into the town of Tulia. There I found a few interesting things. First, there was a storage locker with cool vehicles painted on the doors. One of them appears to depict an M-151 (second photo).

Next I spotted this big arrow in the park. I must be back in ‘arrow country’.

Then I noticed this monument in the middle of an intersection that forced drivers to go around it. I found a plaque that explained why it is there.

Other than that, Tulia was a sleepy town where not much was happening (notice how busy the streets are).

From there I drove east to a town called Silverton. That’s where I spotted this truck. It was part of a yard art business. All in all there seemed to be only surface rust. Apart from that, the truck looked pretty straight.

When I was done in Silverton, I headed north on Highway 207. Despite what it depicted on the map, most of the drive wasn’t all that scenic. It was just flat prairie. However there was one large canyon that reminded drivers they weren’t too far away from the start of New Mexico Mesa country. I took these photos at a neat little picnic stop.

When the canyon ended, I was back driving on the plains until I reached Amarillo. It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been through this famous Texas town. Here’s one unusual place that can be seen from Interstate 40. It’s classic Route 66 place.

Saturday is my last day in Texas. I haven’t determined my final path.

<– Day 33 – Thu. May 14th: Leaving On a Jet Plane | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 35 – Sat. May 16th: The End of Texas –>