Monday. Trouble part 2

The panhandle of Texas is a study in horizontal lines....

and a lesson in perspective

Sometimes driving on Interstate highways is interesting, sometimes boring, sometimes exciting and sometimes dangerous.  Today the drive became dangerous for just a second, but that was enough.  As we headed on I-40 west toward our destination south of Amarillo (Palo Duro Canyon State Park) we encountered a large 4 x 4 post in the middle of our lane.  Dave couldn't avoid hitting it but he was able to straddle most of it to avoid damage to our jeep behind us.  We immediately pulled over and Dave checked out the motorhome as best he could on the busy highway shoulder.  Nothing obvious, so we continued our drive.  When we stopped for lunch he was able to go over it in more detail and found that a coolant pipe under the radiator had been smashed by the lumber strike and was slowly leaking antifreeze.

We located a Freightliner dealer just a few exits from where we were and decided to have it looked at before it failed while we were in a less convenient place (such as driving down the highway at 70 mph)  Arranging a tow and repair in an emergency situation didn't sound like a good thing, so we drove to the repair shop and waited our turn in the parking lot.   After a couple of hours it was determined that it could be fixed and the parts would be available tomorrow after 11 a.m.   Phew.

We couldn't drive the remaining 30 miles to the canyon so we found a campground right around the corner and checked in.  Not our usual kind of place, very crowded, but they had room for us and it couldn't be more convenient.

windshield view as we waited our turn in air conditioned comfort!

This was a big facility that takes care of lots of trucks

Three of us stayed inside Beluga while one of us crawled under with the service guys...

Safely off the road awaiting our new parts.

We took advantage of this unplanned location to have dinner at  a real, honest to goodness tourist trap, The Big Texan!   We ate there with Kay and Maureen over 40 years ago when we drove them across the country from Rochester to Scottsdale Arizona.  Back then, we were driving on Route 66 and it passed right in front of this Texas steakhouse.   We were staying in Amarillo for the night and had dinner at the Big Texan, one of the only restaurants in town then.  What a hoot that place is.  More, tomorrow.