Two Beers and a Pretzel

Before I made it to Texas, there were still a few things to see in Oklahoma – like the “national” Route 66 Museum.

Some interesting roadside signs…

And a few wind turbine farms.

I stopped at a fairly well reputed local BBQ pit for lunch and has a beer brisket sandwich big enough for three people.  Then at the next rest area, you have no choice but realizing that you’re in Texas…

Some of the town here have creative ways of grabbing your attention.

One of the best preserved Art Deco gas stations is on this part of the route.

I made it to Amarillo just before dinner time, but I was still full from lunch, so I met my cousin Dan at a pool hall, and a night of revelry commenced…  In fact, that night, I got really sick.  Since most of my lunch from 10 hours prior made a re-appearance, I’m assuming that something in the brisket was the culprit.  I had a fair bit of alcohol, but that was nothing compared to how much I would consume in the average night with 20 year old British kids in Australia.  That, and getting sick from alcohol is usually a puke once or twice and you’re done – while this was 5 hours of hurling and heaving – more like food poisoning -ala Honduras or India.

Anyway, It turns out that I’m not the only semi-permanent traveler in the family.  My cousin Dan has perfected the art by eschewing the brick and mortar house for an RV and officially earned himself the title ‘Drifter’.

The next day I woke up late and dropped Dan off at his friend Jake’s house to start ‘working’ on preparing dinner using Jake’s home made tow behind smoker grill – SMOKEZILLA

After a while, I opted to drive out to Palo Duro Canyon state park to find a few twisty roads to drive, get some use out of my infra-red camera, and see the local sights.  Palo Duro is actually the 2nd largest canyon in North America behind the Grand Canyon.  It’s quite stunning, and truly erie in Infra Red…

You may want to click on this 5 image panorama to see the larger version…

I made it back to Jake’s house just in time for a Smoked Ham and Pork Tenderloin dinner and then about 5 hours of great conversation with Dan, Jake, and their friend Dwayne.  I’m liking Amarillo.