Our Wild West Vacation 2009

We now know why its important to lock the storage cabinets outside with a key and not just with the lever. After were on the road for some time, Tony noticed that the storage cabints doors were blowing in the wind. We had to pull over on the side of the road to lock them with the key so we wouldn’t loose any gear. The kids have been great so far.

July 13, 2009, Our first day on the road we make it to St. Louis Missouri. After maneuvering around the city blocks towing a 29” trailer, we finally found rv parking some distance from the arch. The walk was good after the long stretch in the truck. We touched the arch. We did not go up it the arch but did go below where they have a museum, theatre, trams and gift shop. During the museum visit, of course my allergies acted up. Nothing allergy eye drips couldn’t handle.

July 14^th, on our second day to, we traveled to Oklahoma. During our travels we traveled thru a rain storm. You think after all these years of camping we would remember to make sure everything was secured. Somehow, 2 windows were left unlocked and Tony once again saw the windows blowing in the wind, getting the kids bed/curtains all wet. By the time we make it to the state park, the temperature reached 100 degree and managed to dry them quickly. It was hot , but beautiful. We camped with full hook-ups for $21. The gas prices in OK were very cheap. We paid $2.19/gal.

July 15^th, we made it to Amarilla TX. After hooking up the camper, Tony took the truck to a Jiffy Lube and got the oil change. When he got back, we went the the Big Texan Steak House ranch. You can check it out at bigtexan.com. For those who haven’t heard the story yet, when I was around 10 or 11 my family went out west to see the Grand Canyon. My Uncle Joe kept talking about this steak house where if you eat a 72 oz steak you get it free. We kept seeing signs all the way down route 40. When we got there the place had burned down. I remember being so disappointed as a child. As I was planning this trip, I found the Big Texan Steak Ranch listed on RV camping sites. After going to their web site I found out this was the one that burned down so many years ago. I told Tony we just had to stop.

The kids really liked the steak house. Our waiter was very cute. I reminded Tony to order soda otherwise they might not know what we were asking for. The food was huge, enough for 3 meals. Josh got a combo plate with BBQ pork, beef and sausage which he enjoyed except for what they tried to call sausage. Both Tony and Josh agreed that the sausage is nothing like Raddell’s Sausage. They said it was poor substitute for sausage and didn’t even come close. Everything else was great. We really had a nice time.

July 16, we are on our way to Arizona. We tried to leave early but only were able to leave 1 hour earlier than we have been usually leaving. Big thunder storm kept us up. Once again, Tony realized that we didn’t lock the storage compartment with a key so we had to pull over at a rest stop and lock them before we lost anything.

It’s amazing how much land and cows we have seen in Texas. Just think we are only traveling in the upper part of Texas. It is BIG. We made it to Holbrook Arizona today. Kristen found a piece of petrified wood right out side our camper. I have now learned that you must be very careful while opening up a 2 liter of pop after its been traveling in the back of your truck for days. Be careful, open slowly away from all people or else everyone will be wearing it.

July 17 th we are a little bit confused with the time. The sun woke Tony and myself up very early this morning and we couldn't get back to sleep. We are heading towards Petrified Forest and then off to Williams AZ to meet up with my cousins later today. They are ready to escape the heat of the Phonenix are which is experiencing highs of 112 degrees this weekend.