June 7, 2020 Longview to Amarillo, TX

I went to bed early last night and slept like a log. We are SO ready to get away from the heat and humidity and get into some cooler, drier air. It’s been too hot to sit outside in the shade in the late afternoon, although our evening walks at 8 PM with Auggie have been pleasant. Our trip today would be 285 miles to Oasis RV Park in Amarillo, TX. This will be our last stop in Texas with one stop in New Mexico before arriving in Colorado on Tuesday. We traveled on Highway 287 all day. There was little traffic for a Sunday when we left at 9 AM. It was sunny, breezy, and it was already 82 degrees. The drive today did not take us through any big cities, but through the northern Texas prairie with a few small towns. The area was flat as far as the eye could see. The area was speckled with oil derricks and wind generators.

Oil trains over 100 cars long ran on tracks parallel to the highway. Many were pulled by 3 or 4 engines.

Oil tankers were sitting along the highway in many areas waiting to be moved .

We stopped in a small town called Chillicothe (pop. 400) for fuel because it was so cheap at $1.79/gallon and right on the highway. We turned on the generator again as we traveled because the day heated up and it would make Auggie’s ride more comfortable.

The topography changed from from vast wheat fields to rolling hills of scrub brush.

This wide load passed us carrying a wind generator blade. It’s amazing to see how large they are up close.

Out in the flats, the wind was really blowing at 25 mph from the southwest, so we were getting pushed around quite a bit. We arrived at 2 PM at Oasis RV Park and were glad to get off the road.

This structure stood at the entrance to the campground.

The office was closed, but every camper had their paperwork waiting outside for them when they came to check in. Bob said there were 25 to 30 names listed there. We were assigned site #90 next to one of the bathhouses.

Oasis RV Park is well laid out with huge sites nicely spaced, cement pads, and beautiful bathhouses. It is definitely an oasis in the middle of the plains. The bathhouses are built adobe-style and designed to look like the Alamo.

We got set up in a hurry in the wind and Auggie got a walk to stretch his legs. He loved being able to walk in the little grass there was. We watched the campers arrive all afternoon. I’m sure they were glad to be off the road too. The wind howled and shook our motorhome at times. The slide topper (the vinyl covering over the top of the slide) flapped in the wind on the large slide so hard and we were worried that it might tear. We decided it would be best to pull in the large slide and wait to see if the wind calms down a bit. The large slide houses the table and chairs, the kitchen, refrigerator, and pantry. Luckily, when it’s pulled in, we can still have access to everything we need in that slide and the rest of the bus. The aisle is just a little narrower, but it didn’t cause a problem. Auggie was a little freaked out by the new layout, but he adjusted.

We have heard how windy it can be in this area of the country and one guy Bob talked to said he hates Amarillo because it’s either storming or windy. We can now attest to the “windy” part. Bob found an alcove near the bathhouse where he decided he would try and cook burgers on the grill for dinner and hopefully be out of the wind.

The burgers turned out good and there was no problem keeping the grill lit. We continued to watch more campers arrive. The sign at the office said that all the “big rig sites were full”. Some “big rigs” pulled into the campground and pulled right out again. Maybe they didn’t have a reservation. Some bigger rigs who didn’t have a reservation might have chosen a smaller site and disconnected their tow vehicle in order to fit. The wind kept howling all afternoon. We’re hoping that it would die off a little tonight so that we can continue on our trip tomorrow without the wind to worry about. We did make an alternate plan in case it got too windy along the way tomorrow and we might want to stop early. It’s always good to have a Plan B. We took our evening walk around 8 and settled in for the night. The sky was all aglow as the sun was setting.