Elk City (4), Oklahoma to Santa Rosa (6), New Mexico (NM)

Our drive today took us part way through 3 States (the northern part of Texas as well as those above) and was along the I40 (Interstate 40) heading almost due West for over 500 kilometres.

The scenery changed quite considerably and the slow rolling hills of Oklahoma started to increase in size the further West we went. Not dramatically, but certainly noticeable when driving (more about statistics below).

Wind has also been a significant problem today, not mine but outside the vehicle! It’s been blowing quite hard from the West all day and with the size of the front of the Sierra, it sure slows us down and increases our fuel consumption.

As we moved into and through northern Texas the rolling hills were replaced by huge prairies as far as you could see.

New Mexico brought changing scenery again and you could envisage the ice age era where there were enormous flat lands with jutting mountains either side. It sort of felt like you were tiny and were travelling on a road with gutters either side. Some rocky outcrops were obviously too hard for the ice to push away and they looked majestic sitting atop the land around.

The old Route 66 runs parallel to the I40 for hundreds of miles and for most of the day was easily visible as we drove, a huge contrast of what was and is today. However, the shear length of the old 66 (over 2400 miles long) and how and when it was built is staggering.

Yesterday we were told to keep a good look out for a Cadillac Farm just West of Amarillo. Just as well we were keeping a close eye because it would have been so easy to miss, the prime thing to get our attention was a few cars and RVs parked in a group alongside the road.

And there the farm was, 10 old Cadillacs buried face down, on an angle in the middle of a paddock!! All of them had been sprayed by graffiti artists and there was a well trodden path leading to them from the road. Once we got there, and much to our surprise, someone had left many spray cans of paint and you are encouraged to add to the colour and spectacle.

Statistics as mentioned above. For those interested, we’ve been keeping track of our diesel consumption. During the first stage of our trip from Dallas to Elk City, we averaged 9.4 mpg and diesel cost $2.89/gallon (1 US gallon = just under 3.8 litres). Today the price was the same but due to the headwind, we’ve only averaged 7.3 mpg – sure not looking forward to going through the Rockies, particularly if there’s a headwind also!! We’ll need to tow another trailer for the extra diesel.

Tomorrow, Santa Fe