Mary heads to the lobby to see if there is any breakfast food, but there is not.  Instead, she is surprised to find a lobby potpourri scented lobby, filled with knick knack-y items, which she assumes must be for sale.  She is surprised that Caryn had not mentioned this when she checked in night before.  We go next door for breakfast at the Santa Fe Diner, where we see some heavily tattooed patrons.  We have not seen so many tattooed and pierced people as we have on this trip.  It all began in Lincoln, NE, which has six tattoo/piercing parlors, and became more prevalent when we headed west.  Back at the Holiday Inn, we discover many “Do NOT touch” signs and family photos interspersed amidst the crafty crap, and realize that this stuff is not for sale.  Interesting . . . in a creepy sort of way.

We decide to drive thru town, and are glad we did.  As soon as we get past the homogenized section of town, well-worn signs of old hotels greet us. Farther into town we find an abandoned car in front of a garage, and park to take some photos.  It’s another hot day, and soon we have to return to the car for ice water, but we persevere, and find a lot of great spots in this town, which, by the way, changed it’s name in 1950 from Hot Springs, NM to Truth or Consequences, NM, or, as the locals call it T or C.  For more on the name, click here.

Caryn missed a photo op when she decided to wait in the car, while Mary used the facilities in a downtown park, which featured a rest room, but no doors on the stalls.

After a time we decided the only way to cool off was to visit the local grocery store, purchase a half gallon of sugar free, fat free ice cream, and eat it in the van.  We ate as much as we could, and then tossed the remainder before making ourselves sick.  Then it was off to the Mercado, where we perused assorted merchandise, then Caryn decided to purchase a parking meter, and Mary picked out a green ceramic water fountain, like the ones you’d find in a school. 

Then we were back in the van, and headed toward Socorro, NM to visit the Very Large Array of radio telescopes.  We stopped for an early dinner at El Camino before the drive out to the VLA.  We had some good New Mexican food, but no sopapillas here.  We also drank a lot of ice water, and as we headed up in elevation, we found our stomachs doing strange things.  Under any other circumstances, we would have stopped to digest, but we wanted to get to the VLA before dark, so we had a chance to do the self-guided tour.  We hit some rain, and stormy skies, which made for some interesting photos.  When we stopped for a photo, we noticed a herd of antelope amongst the giant dishes.  After a quick visit to the visitor center, we went out for a closer look.  It’s very hard to get a perspective on how large these things really are, but we did spot one in the distance that had a pick up truck parked near it, that looked like a matchbox car.

We also saw some jackrabbits, with very large ears.  When they decided we’d gotten close enough, they left, not by hopping bunny style, but running more like a cat than a bunny.

By the time we finished walking around, Caryn decided it had been a long day, and perhaps we should spend the night in nearby Magdalena, instead of going all the way back to Socorro.  We stopped at the High County Inn, and got a nice room with high speed Internet, but no TV, since a thunderstorm had hit the transformer earlier in the evening.

Monday, May 23

We wake up and pack leisurely, then stop in Magdalena for some ice, and to take a few photos.  Then we drive back to Socorro in search of La Pasadita, which we had read served great sopapillas.  Having decided the previous day that we would head back to Florida instead of traveling on to California, we knew our New Mexican meals would be limited, and we wanted to have a few more good ones while we still could.  We found La Pasadita in a residential area, and it did look like a hole in the wall from the outside, but it was very clean on the inside, and the food was great.  Caryn ordered the Carne Adovada, which was quite spicy.  Mary ordered a chicken chimichenga, which was good, except that it had a lot of dark meat in it.  The order of three sopapillas lived up to what we had read, and we were delighted.  After lunch we hopped on the interstate for the drive to Albuquerque, where we stopped at REI to buy an immersion heater.  We had purchased one when we visited Albuquerque before, but had returned it when Amy sent hers to us, along with Mary’s birthday gifts.  We decided it was time to retire Amy’s heater, after we were treated to a fireworks show care of it, at the KOA cabin.

After REI, it was time to make the turn east, and we hopped on I-40.  We arrived in Amarillo TX in time to visit Cadillac Ranch before dusk.  We took some photos before the clouds rolled in, and then Mary collected some chunks of flaking paint that had fallen off some of the cars.  When you look at these flakes, you can see layer after layer of paint that has been built up.  In an effort to preserve this place, we did not chip anything off the cars, but rather only picked off the ground what had already fallen.

When we finished at Cadillac Ranch, we drove off to find the Travelodge, but were side tracked by Gander Mountain, and outdoor store.  Before we knew it, they were making an announcement that it was 8:45 pm, and the store would soon be closing.  We checked into the Travelodge, and then walked across the street to Ruby Tequilas, where we had a good meal, and got 25% off with our room key.  We finished up with some sopapillas, served with packets of Kraft honey, which was quite delicious.

Tuesday, May 24

We decide to get an early start, and after breakfast we head back to Cadillac Ranch, to see if the local cows had gotten any closer to the cars.  We knew they did occasionally, because of the meadow muffins we spotted the day before.  They were a bit closer, but not close enough for any good photos.  We were back in the car, headed eastward.  Our next stop was the giant cross in Groom TX, which we had visited five years earlier during Road trip 2000.   Since our last visit, they have built a gift shop, with another building in progress.  Near the guest book there was a yellow legal pad, where you could write your prayer list.  A quick read revealed that people's needs ran the gamut from “make me a better person” to please pray for so and so, who “lost three small children in a car crash” to “Darlene’s job interview at @ 4:30 pm”. 

They had lots of pricey items for sale, but no postcards.  When Caryn mentioned the need for postcards to the clerk, she was directed to a small photo album of 3” x 5” photos, which was for sale for $35.  I had hoped she would break down in tears, and explain that she could not afford $35, but she’s just not the theatrical type.  Later on in her visit to the gift shop, Caryn had a sneezing fit, and received not one “God Bless You.”  She wondered if the outcome would have been different had she forked over the $35 for the photo album. 

 Next stop was McLean, TX, where we visited two antique stores, and made a few purchases.  One of the proprietors told Mary that she attends auctions each weekend in Oklahoma to acquire merchandise.  Of course, Mary wants to attend also, but since it’s only Tuesday, she knows that will have to wait for another trip.

We stop for lunch just over the OK border, in a place that was supposed to be Cal’s (as written up in the ROADTRIP USA book), but has now turned into a private, creepy cracker barrel knock off.  There is no place else around, so we stay and have a salad and barbeque sandwich.

We’re still headed east, with our next planned stop being Hot Springs, AR.  As we pass through Midwest City, OK, on I 40, we spot a great sign at Planet Bowl, and navigate our way back to take some photos.  It’s about 3 pm, so we won’t be able to see the sign lit up, but it’s so nice it warrants some daytime photos. Mary heads inside to check out the bowling alley, and after a few quick snaps, she’s walking back to the car when she hears a woman’s voice behind her say “Can I help you?”  Being a New Yorker, she interprets this as “What the ?&*L do you think you’re doing?” but she stifles the urge to run, and stops to tell the woman that we’re on a road trip, admired the sign, and stopped for a few snaps.  The woman tells her that they just recently bought the bowling alley, and in fact just had the sign fixed, so it is now working.  Mary wishes her good luck, and the woman is genuinely pleased that we admired the place.  Once again we’re struck by how friendly people can be. 

Around 5 pm the sky has turned dark, with a storm approaching.  We stop for gas, and then head across the street to Charlie’s Chicken, “Home of the All White Chunk”.  We order a seven-chunk dinner to share, and thoroughly enjoy it.  We travel on to Clarksville, AR, and spend the night at the Day’s Inn.

Wednesday, May 25

We have cereal in the room, then call Lake Ouachita State Park, and determine that they have one lakefront camping site with electric available for two nights.  After a brief discussion, we reserve it, then pack up, and start driving there.  Along the way, we pass “Hilltop Antique Market” which looks like it has potential, so we make a U-turn.  Mary purchases some books, including Balloon Magic, an instructional manual on how to make balloon animals, and a coffee mug bearing the logo of the Arkansas Baptist Secretaries Association.  By the time we finish up at the antique mart, we’re ready for lunch.  We drive through town, and pass the Tyson chicken processing plant, and it’s associated stench, then make a U-turn and head back to the US Cafe, where Caryn orders a barbeque sandwich and corn nuggets, while Mary, now turned off to chicken, orders the fish sandwich and hush puppies.  What she gets is something that bears a striking resemblance to a Filet-O-Fish, and THREE hush puppies.  Everything tastes great, and as we eat we read thru the Market Xpress, the local give-away paper, with such ads as “Five pet rats and large cage- great pets $45” and this one, which was mixed in with all the for sale and items wanted ads “SWF 61. Chubby little bundle of love.  Red hair.  Mean as a junkyard dog.  Looking for 65 - 80 yr old for dinner/dancing, etc.  Call, let’s see what happens. Long term relationship.”

We are stuck by the friendliness of the people here, from the older women who strike up a conversation with us when we enter, to the sheriff and his buddies at the both behind us.  Everyone seems to have time for some pleasantries, or to share a joke. 

After lunch, we complete the drive to the state park, and it’s a twisty one. We have a great gravel covered spot (#80 C) overlooking the lake, with water and electric.   We set up the screen house, and unpack some stuff from the van. Mary is headache-y and carsick from the drive, so she lays down in the van to rest, and ends up taking a nap, while Caryn putters around, setting up camp and doing some hand laundry.

For dinner we cook up some chili and rice at the campsite, then Caryn works on digital images while Mary goes to bed early.

Thursday, May 26

We’re awakened by birds after a good nights sleep to look out from our van bed, to the sun rising over the lake.  It’s beautiful here, and we have a very nice set up.  We slept with the rear hatch of the van open, and a screen in place, to keep out any bugs.  It’s nice to sleep in the fresh air, yet have such a comfortable bed.

Mary makes cheese quesadillas for breakfast, and then we head off for a shower.  We decide to take a ride into the town of Hot Springs AR.  We pass a great looking BBQ place called McClards, and wonder if this is the place Mary read about, which is a favorite of Bill Clinton.  We continue into town, and stop at the Pawn Shop.  They have a great selection of tools, and everything is well organized.  They even have a whole box full of chalk line markers.  Caryn picks up a Polaroid Big Shot camera for $5, and to her amazement, Mary can’t find anything she wants to buy.

We cruise the town, and decide to head back to McClards for lunch.  The place is packed, and we grab two seats at the counter.  We order two chopped platters, one beef, one pork, one with beans, one with fries, since they look so good.  We soon know why the place is packed; the food is great!  The bbq can be ordered with sauce on the side, which is a great idea, because so many times bbq is overly sweet, due to the sauce.  Not here, the sauce is tangy, even spicy, and the beans are great too, but the best by far is the home cut fries, which are crispy, and not greasy.  They sure pile them on!  This is Clinton’s favorite place, and by the looks of all the photos on the walls, it a favorite of many others, including Willard Scott, and Aerosmith.

We pack up our leftovers, and head outside to do some more photos of the place.  We’re invited into the rear smokehouse to take some photos by the fellow who mans the pits, and puts the meat up to smoke.  When we finish there, he takes us into the next room, where two people are rolling tamales, which are made with beef, and white corn meal, which has been turned brown by the addition of spices.  We vow to return the next day, to try the tamales.  We are told to try the Tamale Spread, which is two tamales, cheese, Fritos, and onions.  Sounds good.

We find Bathhouse Row in downtown Hot Springs.  This place was a booming destination in the early 1900’s for those with physical aliments, and those who just wanted to soak in the fabled hot springs for relaxation and good health.  Most of the bathhouses have closed, but the National Park Service has acquired them, and has turned on into a visitor center/museum.  We watch a brief film about the history of Hot Springs, AR, and then begin to explore the museum.  Mary quickly realizes that we’ll need the tripods, and heads out to retrieve them from the van.  We do the best we can to capture the beauty of this place in the hour and a half we have. Seeing how beautiful this place is, Mary is saddened to think of Berkeley Springs State Park in WV, which will soon be renovated, and most likely ruined, in the name of progress.

The building closes at 5:30, and by then we’re sweaty and exhausted.   We sit on the porch for a while, then decide to head to the ice cream parlor, to see if they have sugar free ice cream.  They have butter pecan, so we share a bowl, and then with the sun striking the exterior of the bathhouses, we are soon photographing again.  Mary presses her face to the window of each, and peers inside, wishing she could gain entry to wander around these magnificent ruins.

When we’ve done all we can on bathhouse row, we search out Hot Springs High School, because Mary had seen a photograph of a sign outside it, which depicts Bill Clinton in a marching band uniform.  We find the school, but we are unable to find the sign.  We decide to revisit McClards, and pick up a Tamale Spread, to go, which we’ll share at the campground.

Upon our arrival at site #80C, we see we have a new neighbor, an Airstream.  We learn from the owners that it’s a 31-foot, 1984 trailer, which they bought used when it was 10 years old.  We dig into our Tamale Spread, and it’s FAB!  We can’t finish it all, so we put the remainder in the cooler, to save for another day.

Mary assembles the Coleman lantern we bought so long ago, at the beginning of the trip.  We are amazed at how much light it puts out, yet we’re not sure how it works. 

We build a nice campfire, with the addition of some dry pine boards from the fellow in the Airstream next door.  Before bed, we head to the bathhouse to take a shower, since we’ve had a long, sweaty day.

 Friday, May 27, 2005

We have a leisurely morning at the campsite, thanks to check out time being 3pm.  We have some left over tamale pie, and putter about.

Mary heads up to the camp store around noon to buy a bag of ice, and some bottled water, and is surprised to find a loaded down pick up parked at our site, with a family standing around it.  She asks Caryn what is going on, and is informed that these are the people who will be checking into our site, when we leave.  They seem a bit perturbed that we’re there, and tell Caryn that she will have to “move that tent”.  She said, yeah, I know, by 3 pm”.  They stood around for about 10 minutes, and then finally left.  It was a bit odd.  (White trash)

The woman next door in the Airstream asks if we’d like to see what a 20-year-old Airstream looks like, and of course we jump at the chance.  It’s a good-looking unit, with lots of cabinet space.

We finished packing our belongings, then take a shower, and pulled out of the campground by 2 pm, headed to Hot Springs, and ORR Honda, for an oil change.  $24, 45 minutes and two free bottles of water later, we were leaving with fresh oil, and a freshly washed car.  By now it was 3 pm, grabbed a quick lunch next door at a Mexican restaurant, and then hit the road.  After lunch we’re on the road, trying to lessen the distance between us and home.  We spend the night at the Microtel in Jackson, TN.

Saturday, May 28

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then we’re on the road, driving, driving, and driving.  We get off the highway in South Pittsburgh, TN, looking for a BBQ joint listed in the GPS.  It’s no longer there, so we choose Oscars BBQ, which is located in a trailer near the highway.  The inside is spotless, and there are a few tables, so we’re all set.  We order a pork sandwich and a beef sandwich, and split the two. Mary also ordered some hush puppies, and the fellow taking our order was quite perplexed that we would order them with barbeque. (Either that or he was having as much trouble understanding my accent as I was his) “Hush puppies?  Like with fish?”  “Yes” I reply, “But can I get some with my sandwich please?”  We enjoy a great lunch, with hush puppies and a soda for less than $10.  This could be the winner of the best-unexpected food find.  We head back to the highway, and drive until we get to Valdosta GA, where we stop at Cracker Barrel for dinner.  We can’t find a hotel room here for less than $90, so we continue on, thinking that we may have to drive straight thru, arriving home at 4 am.

Caryn locates a hotel off the highway in Gainesville, FL, around 11 pm, and we’re glad to be sleeping in a bed. 

Sunday, May 29

We sleep until 9 am, and take our time packing up.  We pull out around 11 am, and stop to photograph a few old hotels on 441 before heading back toward the highway, and a breakfast break at Panera Bread, and coffee at Starbucks.  We continue the drive home, down I-75, hooking up with the Florida Turnpike, and ultimately the Sawgrass Expressway.  We arrive safely home around 5 pm, and are glad to know where we’ll be sleeping for the next few weeks at least.

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