Day 30: Cochiti Lake, New Mexico to McLean, Texas

 Day 30: Cochiti Lake, New Mexico to McLean, Texas

• Miles: ~370 miles
• Left: 9:15 AM, Arrived: 4:45PM Central Time
• Weather: Sunny, High 99F, Low mid 60's

Again we were up shortly after 6AM. I took a shower while Steve got a short Saturday morning run in to keep the streak alive.  The women’s bath house was OK.  It was clean & well stocked.  The showers were OK. The water was a push button with no pressure or temperature controls.  It was warm water.  The shower head was a spray that was hot at the nozzle but cooled off quickly.  Decent enough shower but would have been a pain to shampoo hair.  Curly girl problems, LOL

We had instant oats in giant bowls for breakfast. Last stock up I inadvertently bought the largest paper bowls they sold - so it made the instant oats look ridiculous in the huge bowls. We were all packed, hooked up & on the road by 9:15AM.  We only used 8 gallons from the fresh water tank over the two days so we decided not to fill up & dump since we could make it another night.  

We were about to start the multi day & state drive home. We planned to stay at a Harvest Host in McLean, TX which meant for a longer driving day (~6 hours) but a shorter drive the next day.  Most of the drive was on I-40. The road is mostly bumpy with some smooth bits. Still so many semi’s.

We made a picnic lunch stop in Tucumcari, NM at the Route 66 sign.  We drove a few miles of Route 66 & there were so many abandoned buildings. Sammie was having another rough poop day and was not riding well in the truck.  Belle is still doing great though!  After lunch our next stop was briefly at Cadillac Ranch.  A row of buried cars that people graffiti. Didn’t realize folks are still actively graffiti’ing them.  We pulled up but didn’t walk to the cars.  Steve took several shots with his long lens & that was enough. We were very unimpressed. It was so hot, 99F in Amarillo.  Good day to spend driving.  

The Mother Road is 100 this year

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Cadillac Ranch iPhone picture - not worth the stop. 

Grafitti Everywhere - They sell spray paint at the entrance

We arrived at the Cactus Inn around 5PM. It is a Harvest Host location & originally we were just going to plug into the truck generator but since they had electric available for $25 we got it. Good thing because the air ran most of the night & it would have been annoying to listen to the truck starting all night.  We didn’t unhitch since we didn’t plan to drive anywhere.  Red River Steakhouse was a restaurant within walking distance that we went to for dinner.  Steve got a burger & I got the salmon & rice with a side of broccoli & corn on the cob. The meals came with cobbler for dessert - peach or plum.  Overall the meal was good, not the best but far from the worst we had on this trip.  We had enough for leftovers.  There was a women playing guitar & singing cover songs while we were there who was pretty good.

We spent the rest of the night in the camper. There were 3 or 4 other RV’s there. The Cactus Inn offered 5 or 6 pull through full hook up sites in addition to the Harvest Host site under the sign.  Nothing glamorous but good enough for a quick overnight.

Dinner!

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

• Lodging: Cactus Inn - Harvest Host
• Rating 4/5
• Grass site next to sign.  Had picnic table 
• Campsite: NA
• $0 / night with HH membership, paid $25 for electric 
• Full hookups for $25
• I-40 hum all night long
• Sunny, hot! 99F high, lows in mid 60’s
• Road conditions: Bumpy
• No facilities