I 40 East

The Ranch (SKP) campground we stayed at was 15 miles outside the town of Artesia, New Mexico.
There are bronze sculptures placed around town representing the areas heritage. 

 

 There is a lot of oil exploration here and this area, known as the Cleveland Plain,  is one of the largest oil producing regions in the country.   These wells can go as deep as 19,000 feet.    

It was time to move on so we said our goodbyes to our new friends and headed East.

Heading out.

We crossed the border into Texas. 

We saw miles of feed lots, each with thousands of cattle, vast fields of hay bales, giant grain silos and trains two miles long as we travelled. 

We stopped in Amarillo for two nights. 

We ate at The Big Texan.  They came and picked us up at our campsite in a limo.

 They feature a free 72 ounce (that's a four and a half pound) steak if you can eat it in an hour.  It also comes with a roll, small salad a small potato and 3 shrimp. 

 It all has to be eaten to get it free.  They sit you at a table on a platform in the middle of the restaurant with a timer overhead.  If you can't finish it, it will cost you $72.00.  While we were there, two tried and failed.   About one out of every 13 men and one out of every two women succeed. 

The record holder.

The Cadillac Ranch.  It was 37 degrees out with a 30 mile an hour wind.  It was making me rethink my decision about taking I 40 instead of I 20. 

You are encouraged to spray paint your name or whatever strikes your fancy on the cars.  

Look how thick the paint is.

This sign was outside the fence to the field.

So, they painted the posts.

This was a very interesting place and another hall of fame off my list.   

The grand hall.

Moving east again, tomorrow.  Next stop, Oklahoma City.