Where lines collide

Not Wheeler Peak, Not 13,161 ft.

After reaching another high point, we directed ourselves towards our most ambitious high point to date, New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, 13,161 ft.

Only problem we went the wrong direction.

Which was cool cause we accidentally landed at the place where Colorado, New Mexico and Oklahoma meet up.



Standing atop 3 states



Lourdes of all she surveys



A little Karate Kid action

Had we gone the "right" way we never would have crossed paths with these Big Horn Sheep



On the other hand we saw many pronghorn sheep over the course of the day, both on the right path and wrong route.



After going the wrong way again, we ended up with this after miles of rough dirt road on a "short cut"

We opted to toss out the high point of Wheeler Peak, another trip.

We turned ourselves south, to Carlsbad Caverns and the Guadalupe Mtns of Texas via alienville Roswell.

We brake for ...........butterflys?

After nearly being blown back to LA the night before, we arrived early at the trail head and went after yet another high point. Keep in mind that prior to our Florida diversion several days into the trip we had no idea about high points, now they were leading our destinies.



Some friendly visitors in the morn.




One of the nicest trail heads and best maintained High Point to date.


This bench overlook happened along at mile 3. They had placed benches as mile markers all the way up, 4.2 miles. It ended up being and 8.4 mile jaunt. I was really impressed with how easily Skye handled it.




Skye came upon this little butterfly on the way up to the summit. It had a broken wing and didn't look so good, but Skye was determined to help it out and ended up carrying it to the summit and back down to a nice spot. I think she probably carried it for 2 or 3 miles.

Yes, it did slow us down.





The summit calls..




Really in the middle of nowhere, but to date the most beautiful marker yet, in fact all in all the best high point trail yet.



Beautiful and with so much info, too.



Yes, another high point reached.



So official looking.



Heading down.





The butterfly "whisperer"




Anybody know what kind of fruit or plant this is??




This guy, I know you can't see anything but my shadow, which is why we almost stepped on




This rattlesnake.

We stood in awe and let this little guy pass. Skye was more than a little freaked out by our encounter.

I admit it, so was I.





Small world.

The car next to us had New York plates and was camping next to us, the night before.

Only person for miles, pretty weird, sort of.

Did the Race, Now What? .....And Where?

Skye getting her email fix before we went into camping mode.



We headed into Texas' panhandle, an area I barely knew existed, but there was supposedly a bison herd there and a stone's throw away was Oklahoma's high point.




The timing of this road runner and its perfect path in front of the parks entry sign seemed almost like anamatronics were at work.




After checking out the herd that was "pastured" there and then these bizzarre cutouts, maybe I wasn't that far off.



All said though, it was another beautiful and well tended Texas state park.

Borders

A little aside here, but one thing that I've noticed while on one of my latest whimsical quests, is borders. They are so ridiculously arbitrary. Amoung states it's not so harmful, funny often. But you know when it comes to countries and such, well it can really mess things up. But I have been more than aware of this kind of stuff as Skye and I go off and out of our way to grab "High Points", the highest elevation in a state. So many times we are barely within the border of said state. Florida for instance; the area we were in was much more Alabama than Florida and now here we are headed towards a tiny sliver of Oklahoma, that could have just as easily been in Colorado or Texas and then the little bump of Black Mesa that makes it an Okie high point would not even be the highest elevation on that geographical platuea.

But borders are borders and so we would be headed off to Black Mesa Oklahma, through the Texas panhandle.

Google "experts" damn you!!

I have been reading a lot about the death of journalism and other "professional" agencies that have been undercut by the "free" reporting and advice giving by internet types.
Well after googling for culinary recomendations for Amarillo Texas, I am chiming in whole heartedly on the side of the professionals.

The whole Iphone convienance, with its entirely inconvient tiny key pad and less than speedy internet and sometimes not there reception, almost sent me into a tailspin as I googled for lunch recomdations and then GPS'd these locations only to land a boarded up BBQ.



Amarillo's Best....Really?

So we headed across the street for some good home cookin'.
I've always wondered about how you can have home cooking at a restaraunt. Doesn't that by definition cancel out the "home" part of the claim.



After checking out the menu, I realized that even in my current "goin' native" eating stlyings, I was gonna have a tough time. Finally, we both decided to go with the Vegetable Side Special.




The salads that came first definitely had some green in them, but the rest of our choosins were questionable to say the least.
Chicken fried corn on the cob, sweet corn, onion rings, carrots(ruined in two different ways), macoroni and cheese round of the 8 different types of veggie sides we had.

Random Road Sightings



Good to know, I guess.



Is that why Vampires are seen as being in league with the Devil?






Some of the best street signs I have ever seen, in the absolute middle of nowhere.



Skye doin' a little cotton pickin' theivary. It is amazing how soft raw cotton is.




Today we allowed for all sorts of side tracking.




A lovely anachrid indeed.
We just barely missed our destination


After blasting our way to Atlanta and then back to Dallas and missing out on way too much we gave into many diversions along the way to where we didn't know.



We "rescued" this little guy from the middle of the road and placed him off to the side of the road in the direction it looked like he was heading.


Clouds so beautiful they looked like they were painted.

When we finally did remember we had a goal to reach, that being Oklahoma's high point we were slowed by.....cows.





An amazing pic, eh?



Okie cows rule!!

We reached the trail head with not quite enough time to make it up and back so we set camp. Or so we thought....



Enjoying hot dogs and s'mores.



Home sweet home.

Until the winds kicked in and practically blew our tent away.

Really the whole "Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plain" is no joke. We had to break down camp after attempting unsuccessfully in tornando like conditions (yes a little exageration, but key on the "little") We latter relocated to a less windy area in the camp just this side of midnight.

Fort Worth

I was changing my socks when I told Skye to get out of the car and see why all the tourists were taking pictures. After being yelled at by cowboys riding horses wielding lassos, we had a clearer idea.

We followed the long horn to their pens.



We certainly do like to mess with nature, don't we.


When I was growing up I got my learning permit for driving when I was 15. I taught myself how to drive a stick shift and when I was 16, my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to visit my grandparents who lived in Stephenville, close to Fort Worth.

Being as rebellious and as independent as I was I was all in.

I think that it planted a seed for a love of the road that continues to thrive to this day.

Anyhow, at the time I also had a lust for steak. And it was always properly quenched in the stockyards of Fort Worth.



I remember this place from my youthful travels.

This time around was no different, unless nausea and hot flashes are normal reactions to lunch.





They openly and proudly advertise their "Fat" bulls.

They also promote their stock being "corn fed" which has become such a no, no, since cattle are not supposed to eat grain, they're just not built for it, but oh well, too bad for them.

Celebration???

I was not the best example of "sportsmanship" for Skye after taking a 30 minute deduction at the GUR in Dallas. I was cool and not crazy upset, but she had just put in several miles of running and my obvious frustration with our placing, due to a stupid oops by another team did not help make her feel positive about the race experience. So to try to balance this we headed of to the Texas State Fair, the largest event of its kind in the entire country.

I DON'T LIKE FAIRS.

I DON'T LIKE CROWDS!!!

I AM BY FAR THE MOST SOCIAL MISANTHROPE I KNOW.

That is probably the most significant proof of my love for Cindy Carr.

BTW she hates fairs too!

Skye at age 11 loves them.





This was the first attraction we came upon, a slovenly(not his fault) immense pig of something like 1700 lbs, again I am not sure of the weight but the pig was BIG!!!!




OK the view from America's biggest Ferris wheel was incredible, I suppose the the distance makes fat Americans seem smaller.



Yes incredible.

And then the rest of the fair happened.






Celebrating, after a pig race, America knows how to have fun!!!!



"For me this fair SUCKS!!!!"




There were not a lot of people attending the R & B session.



FRY FUCK

Everything that is edible apparently can be fried, including butter, which by the way won the most creative use of frying. How bout fried liposuction, that would be in the spirit, no?

While in line for parking, I realized that I had not put the rain fly on our tent. I realized this because it was raining.

But maybe it wasn't raining at the camp ground.

Why wouldn't it be raining there?

No reason, which is why it did rain there.



It sure seemed like the perfect camping site.



This was the morning after. We got the rain fly on and the damage was not too bad, I had laid our towels over the top of the tent so that they could dry, ha ha ha.




Coming out, one foot at a time.

Actually we got pretty drenched. It rained all night and we were literally sleeping in puddles.

It would end up taking days to dry out.

Luckily were headed out west, to deserts and there lack of humidity.