Wichita Falls Texas & Laughlin Nevada
Retirement Celebration Trip #4
Wichita Falls Texas & Laughlin Nevada
This trip is very similar to Trip #3 which was one year ago. I like visiting Sean and Michelle during the HHH bike race because there are always "extra" Burns' there :-) I also enjoy the drive across the desert and the Laughlin area.
Saturday, 22 Aug, 0330.
Semi-early start. I had plenty of room in the trusty old Dodge Caravan, so I loaded my now-never-used (Shame on me) Schwinn mountain bike. It's hard to believe how corroded it got while hanging there on my car port for a year. That is one of the prices you pay for living on the water in Florida. I'm hoping that Sean can get it cleaned up and get some use out of it. As circumstances would have it, Sean is switching to a recumbent bike, and is thinking of selling his road bike. Maybe he can use the Schwinn for family cruising.
Everything was normal on the drive up US-19 to I-10. No deer this time at Chiefland. Bummer. I hit light fog around Chiefland. By the time I got to Tallahassee, it was thick enough to slow me down. The sun burned through at about 0830.
First gas-up was at the Pilot station in Marianna Florida. Gasoline was $1.599, only one cent higher than in Holiday. This is unusual. The price of diesel is significantly lower than gasoline.
Just past Biloxi at about Waveland, there was a disabled school bus along the road. The kids on board seemed to be having a good time. I stopped to see if I could help, but they said that help was on the way. I wonder what a school bus was doing out on Saturday???
On I-12, the northern route around New Orleans, there was an older dressed-out (fenders, saddle bags, etc.) Harley with a couple on board. He was an XXL, and she was about twice that size. I noted that when he accelerated, the Harley was laboring. I never heard a Harley "Hog" labor before........
According to GPS/StreetFinder data, my speedometer is reading low now. Is this because of the now properly inflated tires?? They are probably a little larger now..?????
Opelousas La. 1530, 745 trip miles:
I checked into the BW there. Despite what the AAA TourBook says,
this is not a three diamond motel, but it is OK. Opelousas seems
to be a friendly place. I found a "Sports bar" that did
not open until 4 PM on Saturday???????? The owner was there and
he let me in for a couple of cold ones and some friendly
conversation. 4PM???? On Saturday???
0430 Sunday, 23 Aug:
Back on the road again. I goofed up at the I-20/I-635 Dallas by-pass AGAIN! Maybe some day I will figure this out. It appears that there are two access exits which are close together(I-20 and I-30?). The first "I-635 exit" road sign on I-20 is not the one on the AAA TripTik. I think that is what messes me up. Sunday morning is a good time to hit the Dallas area.
I stopped at the same rest stop on US-287 in Texas as last trip. They had it cleaned up now, so I am posting a pic to show how much better it looks. Not "Florida Rest Stop" quality, but much nicer.
A shot of the cleaned up rest stop, and the trusty Caravan at rest in the shade:
I was way ahead of schedule, so I took my time. No camels along US-287 this trip. Pfooey! I wanted to get a better shot of them with my new zoom camera. Somewhere just past Dallas the car power supply for my PC failed. The green LED on the plug tells me that it is getting power from the cigar lighter, but there is no output to the PC. Tom picked one up for me at a WF Circuit City and everything worked OK the rest of the trip.
Wichita Falls. 1330, 1270 trip miles.
Too early to check in at the Holiday Inn, so I went by Sean's
house first. I unloaded the Schwinn there. I hope that he can get
some use out of it.
Everyone looks great. It is always a treat for me to see so many Burns' all together. Tom is there. He rode the whole HHH bike race yesterday on his recumbent. Tom did the 100 miles in 5 hrs, 5 min this year, another personal record for him. He looks great, so bike riding must agree with him. I'm sure that Emily has a lot to do with him looking so good too.
Sean is making the switch to a recumbent bike because of his back problems. He just made the switch a couple of weeks ago, but he is doing very well with it already. He completed 60 miles in the HHH. I'm betting that he will run the entire 100 miles next year.
Thanks to Michelle, I have photos of Tom and Sean on their new bikes. Here are pics of them preparing for the big race. Those bikes might look funny (they do to me), but remember, Tom finished the 100 miles in just 5 hrs, 5 minutes, in 100 degree heat:
From Michelle, here is a pic of Tom and Sean together on their strange looking bikes:
Tom played his wedding video VHS tape for us. What a treat it was for me to see this. It was professionally and VERY well done. I wish that I could have been there, but I still feel that it was best that I did not go. Sean made a warm/wonderful toast, which he authored, to Tom and Emily. His experience as an instructor has turned him onto quite a public speaker!
At about 1530, I was checked in to the Holiday Inn. The suite is directly under the room that I had last year, and is equally as nice. I caught a quick nap, and then the "gang" came over for a swim and a visit. Michelle brought a "Care package" for me, which consisted of a complete spaghetti dinner. She is such a sweetie! The "Care package" was my dinner and my breakfast the next day. Yumm!! The girls all had a ball in the pool. It is fun for me to watch them all have so much fun.
Here are pics of a thorn amid three roses, and a close up of some blue-eyed cuties:
Here are pics of my three bathing beauties:
And here is Rebecca wearing her swim goggles, and getting an after-swim warm-up from Mommy. Sorry about the red-eye:
Thanks to Michelle again, here is a shot of three Burns MSgts lounging around the pool:
I finally got a decent night's rest. A nice cup of coffee and a stogie out at the picnic table was a great start to a great day in Wichita Falls. After dinner everyone came over for a visit and another swim. Always fun. Tom went swimming this time too. The girls have a lot of fun with him. He is very good with his nieces. I wish that he had better access to T.J. and Jennifer. Bummer. Rebecca refers to this Holiday Inn as "Grandpa Burns' house". Too Funny..
Tuesday, 26 Aug:
We went to Matlock's for lunch and I found out that his chicken fried steak is too much for me to handle. That thing is huge!!! I had to surrender to a "doggie box". How embarrassing.... Next time I am getting the half order.
Here are pics of Matlock's and me with the chicken fried steak that whooped me:
Everyone came over to the motel for one more romp in the pool, and then it was time for good-byes AGAIN. Not as hard on me as it was in June.
Wednesday, 27 August, 0535, 1288
trip miles. I'm back on the road west again. Light fog
and the sun came out at about 0800. Normal day on the road. At
about 1020 (1584 trip miles), I crossed the Texas/New Mexico
border. I'm not sure why, but I like this country.
My laser detector began going off.
I never did see any patrol cars(???). At about 6900 feet, my ears
started popping. I hit rain at about Gallup. Desert rain is
always a treat. It causes the wildflowers to pop up: 
The sun was shining through the clouds
at spots and lit up the red desert rocks. I hope that my camera
does this scene justice. It is beautiful!
Here are some Painted Desert shots. It is too bad that the sun had not come fully out yet. These colors would really be bright. My camera did not do justice to these scenes. The actual red is much brighter:
Here is an interesting shot where new meets old. That is I-40, the old Rt-66, and the even older Union Pacific rail (look close, it's to the right of Rt-66), all three right there together. As I mentioned on my Trip #2 report, I drove this same route on Rt-66 back in 1962 while going TDY from Altus AFB Oklahoma to Vandenberg AFB California:
1500, 2043 trip miles: I got to
the BW Adobe Inn at Holbrook. This is not the motel that I
thought it was, and it is disappointing, so I made excuses to
change my reservation and to move up the road to the BW
Arizonian. This is where I stayed last year. Very nice. I'm happy
now.
Thursday, 28 Aug 0430, still 2043 trip miles:
I'm back on the road. 50 glorious, refreshing Holbrook-in-the-morning degrees. Tell me again why I don't live out here somewhere. The high desert is indescribably beautiful this time of year. Sunup at about 0700.
Incredible rock formations along here. I may have figured out why I love this area so much. As I am awed by the natural formations out here, and I realize that the attraction is that the hand/mark of modern man is marginal /insignificant out here. In fact, in many areas, if it were not for the highway, it would be absent. The rocks and trees all show the artistic hand of nature in their formation. I am in awe of it all. Damn, there is that sign that says "20 acre ranches for $990" . I know that the land must be near useless to sell at that price, but what a dream..............
Here are a couple of those fascinating (to me) desert rock formations. I call that one "finger rock". I don't know why:
A train stopped me at a crossing in Flagstaff. I think I was the only one in line who enjoyed the delay. I don't care what they say, these modern "container" trains just ain't real trains. Besides all of the fake cars, there was no caboose!!!! Pfooey.
A "fake", caboose-less train:
Rain again at Seligman Az. Lucky me! At a point between Flagstaff and Kingman, I was at about 7000 feet and actually above the clouds. I could "look down" on the clouds up ahead. An impressive sight for this old flat-lander. It was cool to drive down into them:
There were wildflowers in bloom in many places. Like I said, rain in the desert is wonderful and wondrous!
Here is an example of a wild desert flower after a rain. That is a 20 oz water bottle in the middle that I put there for size reference:
There are road signs out here
warning to "Watch out for the Elk". 
I have yet to see one. Bummer.
1400 hrs, 2322 trip miles: Arrive
at Edgewater hotel in Laughlin Nevada.
Friday, 29 Aug. Morning at the Edgewater Hotel. All is well. This morning's breakfast special was steak and eggs for a whopping $2.49!!! Three eggs, hash browns, and the steak was even perfectly done to order. How do they do this so cheaply??
I tried the $1 slots and the quarter slots this morning. They both whooped me. Oh well, gotta pay for that breakfast, I guess. They have a slot that is new to me. It is a video poker machine where you play three hands at once (and lose three times as fast):
I am always shocked at how hard the water is here. I don't feel clean after a shower.
No luck at the race book. I picked a couple of winners, but could not pick an exacta. The Calder feed was late coming up. And that kinda threw me off. I never could get "grooved" after that and none of my bets felt comfortable . In fact in one race, I picked a last place horse. I don't remember doing that before.
I found the Dairy Queen and the Krispy Kreme here in the hotel. The Blizzards here are better than back home. Oh dear!
3PM, I woke up from my nap with leg cramps and a pain in my side. I don't need this on vacation!!
Saturday, 30 Aug: The pains from yesterday are gone. I'm glad, but a bit concerned.
The ponies had their way with me again today. 10 to 12 horses in each race today. That is too many for me to sort out. I got $100 ahead on a Mega-bucks slot machine and I cashed out just so that I could be a winner at something ;-) I guess I am a wuss. I just can't even imagine myself winning the $15,000,000 jackpot anyway.
Too many folks here now for the Labor Day weekend. Lots of kids. Lots of noise. Too much. No more holidays in here for me.
There is no 13th floor in this hotel. Is this normal for all hotels, or just those associated with casinos?? What is the origin of this custom?
Sunday, 31 Aug: Steak and eggs again for breakfast this morning. I know that I shouldn't, but at $2.49, I just can't resist.
The race book was tough on me again today. Many races had over 10 horses. Too many for me to sort out. I did pick one $70 exacta, but I only had a paltry $2 on it. No courage, so, time to take a break from the ponies.
Everywhere I go there are a zillion kids running around. Pfooey! Gambling and kids sure don't mix. I just don't get it. Observations:
Monday, 1 Sep:
Not as crowded in the casino this morning. I guess some folks have already gone home. The ponies beat me up again. I guess I spent all of my luck last trip out here.
I woke up from my nap with side pains again. Starting to worry.
Tuesday, 2 Sep:
Made a run over to The Reserve to get my deposit money back (less 10%). Then I went to the Arrowhead 55+ retirement park, which I found in the local phone book. Not quite as nice as The Reserve, but with the price difference, it is a better deal. There is a used Manufactured Home for sale at $59k that interests me. I should make an offer.
Wed, 3 Sep:
Thursday, 4 Sep, 2356 trip miles, 0630 EST, depart Edgewater, homeward bound.
Goodbye to these gasoline prices:
Back on the road at:
As usual, I am enjoying the drive across
this desert. The road out of Laughlin (US-68) climbs quite
impressively. It went up 3600 feet in just 14 miles. The road
signs say that it is a 6% grade, but it certainly seems more like
90 degrees to me :-) After that initial climb, there are a series
of hills and declines. Accelerating through 75 mph while coasting
into the black of the desert night is quite a thrill for this
flat lander. I'm a tad intimidated.
Near Flagstaff, I was enjoying the natural wonder and the scent of the rain-freshed desert, and remembering all of those cowboy and Indian shows that I watched as a kid. The terrain in those old shows was just like this. When I hit "scan" on the radio. It landed on a Hopi Indian radio station at 880 Fm. The music was authentic Indian ceremony music. Since I was kind of mind-traveling back to the Lone Ranger days, this was very weird. The station was entirely in Indian language. I was fascinated. I had no idea what they were saying, but I listened until the signal was lost. The only thing that was in english language was numbers, like telephone, time, temperature, addresses, etc. Maybe the Hopi language does not include numbers(????) They did play a couple of tunes in english. One had a lyric that went: "Run Indian, run. Run while you can. Run Indian run. Here comes the white man". I suppose thay still have a grudge. I found this upsetting. There seem to be Hopi, Zuni, and Navaho tribes involved in this broadcast. Like I said, I was fascinated and mezmerized by it all.
I think that all of the Rest Stops in Arizona and New Mexico are closed. I wonder why. It ticks me off because I like to stop along here and soak up the desert.
Out here where the dinosaurs actually did roam, they have set up some eye-catchers for a dino-display tourist stop. They are really neat. Here are a couple of examples. I guess T-rex is the star out here:
More laser alerts on my detector, but I still have not seen a cruiser associated with them. Air conditioner on at 2:30 pm.
3040 trip miles(684 mile delta), 1730
EST, RON Tucumcari New Mexico. I bought a four pack
(Yes, I mean 4-pack. A first for me) of Bud tall boys at the
local convenience store. Guess what: They carded me! Not only
that, but they actually had to enter my birth date into the cash
register . I guess NM has gotten serious about underage drinking.
I stayed in the same BW in Tucumcari as on the last trip. Nice
place, but there was a fly in the room that would not let me
alone, and I could not smush him. It was one of those tiny
houseflys that are quick as lightening. It made it tough for me
to get any rest. When I woke up, I turned the night-table lamp
on, and that blew a fuse or something, because the room went
totally black. No one at the front desk, and no one answers the
operator's line. That made check out difficult. Oh well, I guess
that is life in the boonies. A cool fact about this motel is that
it is on the "old" Rt 66:
5 Sep, 0530 EST:
Back on the road. I crossed into Texas at
about 0610. #$%&^#$**&ing Dallas roads/traffic did it to
me again. Actually, it happened before Dallas. I missed the
US-380 turn off of US-287, and ended up lost in Decatur Texas. A
couple of good-old-boys who were "sitting around" a gas
station (in Goober&Barney fashion) set me straight. Then, I
got onto I-35E, and AGAIN missed the AAA recommended turn off to
I-635. I had to exit and ask directions again. Dallas area in
rush-hour traffic: What a wonderful place to get lost. The
problem is that damned I-20/I-30 mess again. As it turns out,
I-635 ends at I-20, so all I had to do was to get back on I-635
and follow it to the end. Man, I HATE driving in the Dallas area!
3735 trip miles (693 delta), 6PM Est, RON Longview Texas. I stayed at the LaQuinta here. This was the nicest motel room that I have EVER seen. What a pleasant surprise!!! I'll be looking for more LaQuintas on future trips.
6 Sep, 0440 EST, depart Longview. Heard an ad on the radio for a "phaser"/ radar detector/jammer. Need to check this out.
Alexandria Radio station 96.9 FM, is a
riot. "The 100,000 watt flame-thrower". More funny,
risque stuff. Great way to wake up! They play a normal tune, and
then they play one of those spoofs. This is where I heard that
funny "enormous penis" tune on trip #2. I heard it
again today, and it is still a riot. If you're ever around
Alexandria La during morning drive time, you have to tune this
station in.
4380 trip miles(645 mile delta), 1530 EST,
RON De Funiak Springs, Fla. Older BW motel, but kind of
a nice spot. Tucked back in the hills. The place just needs some
uplift. Nice lounge. Motel lounges are becoming rare. The bar gal
told me that the no-smoking law has really hurt her business. Her
customers all snuck out the back door for a smoke. Tough call.
The TV had a local cable network called "The Hallmark
Network". I have never seen that one vefore. They were
running the old Lone Ranger TV series. What a hoot that was. For
a shoot-em-up, that was good clean fun. In fact, in the two or
three shows that I just watched, the Lone Ranger never actually
shot anyone and there was always a lesson to be learned in the
story.
7 Sep, 5 Am, Depart DeFuniak Springs. The drive home from here was standard, uneventful. Saw a campground along US-19 called the "Yellow Jacket" campground. Yellow jacket??? Ouch!! I guess they don't want anybody to stay there.
Arrive home to my castle in the swamp.
Trip miles 4726(346 mile delta) . End to another
wonderful trip out west. No matter how great the trip, it is
always nice to get back home.