2024-4-15 Snyder, Texas to Fort Collins, Colorado

We woke up early this morning and were on the road before 7am which turned out to be a good thing because we were battling strong winds all day long! We had commented that we had seen so many wind turbines, but no power plants. Well ... that changed! We passed several of these along the way through Texas.

We also reminded ourselves to try to practice what the sign said and get to our "happy" place.

When we got to Amarillo, we did make a stop at Cadillac Ranch. What, you may ask, is Cadillac Ranch?

In 1974, an art group, Ant Farm, came up with the idea of creating an interactive art installation that would pay homage to the American automobile culture. Inspired by the aesthetics and symbolism of Route 66, they chose a location just west of Amarillo. Route 66 was known as the Main Street of America and was essential for cross-country travel, connecting the Midwest and the West Coast. It was a symbol of adventure and freedom. Originally placed directly on Route 66 allowed the installation to become an attraction for visitors across the country. In 1997, the installation was quietly moved from the original wheat field to a location two miles to the west in order to place it farther from the growing city limits. Today, visitors can buy spray paint from the Cadillac Ranch "merch" store and add your own artistic flair to any or all of the 10 cars.



No, we did not buy any spray paint, but we saw people who did! Quite honestly, there was so much paint on the cars, it was difficult to know if they were Cadillacs or not!

Our lunch stop was just south of Channing - where we spent our first night before moving on. The wind was still blowing! While it was a tail wind part of the time, it was a side wind every time the road turned to the west, so we were rocking and rolling down the road - especially when big trucks went by in the opposite direction. Not long after lunch we discovered that the refrigerator blew a fuse and wasn't working. Tobey replaced the fuse and it blew almost immediately. Needless to say, we didn't have another fuse, so our decision to head home quickly was made for us. I moved all the ice we had down from the freezer and that helped keep everything cold, but wouldn't last another day.

We continued our northward journey through lots of small towns, stopping in Bennett, Colorado for a quick dinner. All across Colorado the dust and dirt blew and we never really got a view of our Rocky Mountains. We encountered a little rain near Fort Lupton but it was brief, thank goodness!

The wind never did let up! Look at those flags!

We finally pulled onto I-25 near Longmont and were soon watching ominous storm clouds.
Fortunately, we made it home with just another brief rain shower and pulled in about 8:45 pm.
700 miles in 14 hours of travel time (one hour time change, too) is TOO long to spend in the RV fighting wind and semi trucks all day. We were able to unload part of our stuff and will finish it on Tuesday. The poor old RV is anxious for a rest!