CJ On The Hill: Day 6 Excellent Adventure

To The Big Texan! (370 ish miles)

Today, after a great big Texas breakfast prepared by Skip's sister, we started to wind our way to the Big Texan (are you getting the idea that everything is bigger in Texas?). From Bowie, the logical route would be to shoot straight up 287 and be in Amarillo lickety split. Since we rarely choose our route based on anything that resembles logic....we decided we would retrace our tracks from two years ago, when we were re-routed off of a flooded I-40 in Oklahoma. At that time, we decided it would be best to head back down through Texas in hopes of picking up I20 and getting back home. We found Rt 6, which was not on any of our maps, but this didn't stop us from taking it because at the very least it was heading south away from the flooding and we were lost anyway. It brought us right past the Quartz Mountains, a completely unexpected treat since the landscape had until then been rather desolate. Since that adventure, we've wondered if we could find Rt 6 again.....or if it really even existed.....the whole event of the flood and being re-routed, and getting lost was a whole lot like being in the Twilight Zone.

As luck would have it, we did find Rt 6 and it was just a beautiful as we remembered. And we were nearly the only ones on this road, much as it was two years ago.

Eventually (and sadly) Rt 6 ran into I 40 in Oklahoma. We then slabbed it the rest of the way (130 miles) to the Big Texan. Just as we arrived at our hotel....the skies opened up and rain flooded the streets. Most of Amarillo lost power....so we thought our trip from the La Quinta to the Big Texan wouldn't happen. Big Texan Limo to the rescue! The 'limo' was a big ole station wagon with a set of long horns tied to the hood. But it got us to the restaurant in the deluge. Unfortunately, we did not get many pics due to weather.....but here's the big Texan that drove us to the Big Texan.