So evidently, high wind in the high plains of North Texas is a thing. But let me back up first.
We are Learning that every drive takes longer when pulling a camper. We are hyper vigilant about speeds having shredded 2 new tires within 2 weeks of owning the camper. I’m surprisingly ok with taking our time, never traveling above 65 mph, although after I dropped the trailer today and drove into Canyon, TX to look for a 30>50 amp adapter, it felt great to go 80mph again for a few miles! But Let me back up again.
We discussed our morning woes in Burkburnett with the wind and rain and hail already. We rushed to pop down in between showers after the brunt of the storm had passed. Of course, it started to rain again as we were putting the finishing touches on our load out. The temp dropped to 72 which was nice, but being wet didn’t allow us to enjoy the temperature too much. After finagling the clasps after a less than desirable pop down, we set out for Palo Duro Canyon.
Our route took us down back highways where we seldom saw another vehicle for about 30 minutes. We took a slight detour as we realized we were low on gas and in the middle of nowhere. Our left turn detour took us 6.5 miles out of the way down a road that had no markings whatsoever. No speed limit, no middle of the road hash marks, no shoulder...as a matter of fact, the grass from the plains were growing over the edge of the pavement and a couple of cows had found their way on the wrong side of the fence. Trusting our GPS, our detour took us directly to a gas station in Electra, TX and we got fueled up for the next leg of our journey.
After a couple hours we stopped in Chillicothe at a hip coffee shop called Tourquoise where we had beautiful iced americanos and breakfast burritos to go. We powered on through the plains filled with corn and wind turbines and sometimes absolutely nothing until all of a sudden the terrain changes and we are driving over a bridge that’s gapping a decent sized canyon. We have arrived.
We quickly learned that our pull through spot is only equipped with a 50amp outlet and our camper is outfitted with a 30 amp plug. This is important because the temperature here is now over 100° and without electricity, we have no A/C. After speaking with the “host” (in quotes cuz I’m really not sure what he is) he directed me back to town to an Ace hardware for an adapter that proved to be ill equipped for our needs. Maggie and August stayed behind to set up camp. The local RV dealership was closed so I headed back empty handed. I spoke briefly with the “host” explaining that I hadn’t found the adapter and, within minutes, one mysteriously shows up at our campsite. Now I’m not one to complain, but come on man, couldn’t you have opened with, “No problem, I have one right here you can use” before sending me on a wild goose chase? I did enjoy driving 80mph to that Ace though.
So with our adapter in place we were plugged in and set up, ready for our next adventure when surprise guests showed up at the campground. Our dear friends Marc and Katie caught up with us and booked an adjacent campsite for the evening. It was on.
Cold beers were flowing and shots were disappearing one by one as we caught up on each other’s last few days of travel. August made a couple friends two sites over and they threw the baseball and hooked up on switch. Everyone was happy. I pulled out the gas griddle and burner and we cooked ribeyes, sausage, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and caprese salad for the crew. What a great night. We polished it off with a couple choice Wheeler Walker Jr. tracks.
I now lay here in my bed at 3am and these damn North Texas winds are whipping us around again. I guess that’s just the way it is out here. We are looking forward to staying out here for another night here and exploring the beautiful canyon that we never knew existed. We are happy.
Until next time, be good to yourselves and each other.
Mike