Thu - Dec 29/11
On the road by 5 a.m. This isn’t as bad as it seems – this is really like 6 a.m. home time. Today we will enter another time zone as we cross into New Mexico (Mountain Time) making the early start like 7 a.m. to our body clock.

Travelling was good with little early morning traffic. We approached Oklahoma City, OK as daylight set in. We opted for I-240 as traffic was heavy during rush hour on I-40 even from 25 miles out. I-240 was a great decision. It was only a few miles longer with much less traffic even after rejoining I-40. Joining on the west side of Oklahoma City had us now going out of town on I-40 as most of the workforce was now fillling the eastbound lanes as they came in to work .

We filled up at the Flying J at Sayre, OK about two hours after leaving OK City. Less than half an hour after filling up we were crossing into Texas.

Amarillo, TX was an easy transit. Although the I-40 has been closed already this year due to blizzards, the road was just wet in places from the last of the snow melt. There were two foot snow banks in places but nothing on the road. We have always had good traffic flow through Amarillo no matter what time we passed through. Dallas, TX is always busy, but orderly. El Paso, TX, my least favourite, is always busy and wildly chaotic. Thankfully, we avoided these two areas on this trip.

It took less than three hours to cross this narrowest part of Texas and enter New Mexico and a new time zone. We fueled up at the Flying J in Tucumcari, NM. Texas is mostly a high, flat plateau where we crossed. In New Mexico we will cross several mountain ranges as we head to Arizona. There was less snow here even at the higher altitudes.

The early start and time zone change got us into the Albuquerque area just as rush hour was starting. Instead of staying at the Wal-Mart here (2550 Coors Blvd NW) and filling at the Flying J we opted to take I-25 south to Socorro, NM. It would probably be a similar time line by avoiding the slow rush hour traffic through most of Albuquerque. We would also avoid the morning rush as well with the bypass.

I-25 was a dream as it was newly paved for most of the distance (75 miles) from Albuquerque. Entering Socorro we fueled at the KW express at about 4:30 p.m. This is one of the gas stations I had previewed on Google Maps Street View. It was an easy in and out.

A few stoplights later on I-25 Bus (Business) we turned onto Wal Street. You guessed it – Wal-Mart! This is a favourite stop for the evening  when we come this way.

We parked following the usual RV (unofficial) protocol. We parked at the far corner of the parking lot. The entry door faces Wal-Mart and their security cameras. We then check with the duty manager to see if overnighting is allowed. Some communities (mostly all of Florida, Arizona and California) pass local ordinances that do not allow overnight parking. Where this is allowed we stay at Wal-Mart Supercenters that are open 24 hours. If there is any possible local security issues there will be a night patrol in the parking area. It is a good idea to also check with the patrol. Get them a coffee and they will take special care to watch your RV as you sleep.

We checked-in and then, as usual, walked across the street to the El Camino Family Restaurant. It is open 24 hours, the food is great, the service is good and the prices are reasonable. We always look forward to this part of our trip.

There was still a foot of snow on the ground in places. They were also part of the last storm that hit Amarillo. We took US-60 west from here last year. After 4 hours of clear blue sky and no snow we were hit with a blizzard and whiteout. It took 2 days to travel what should have been a half day trip. The weather is now clear but we are going further south tomorrow. Although longer in distance, it will be actually be a little quicker.

After supper we picked up essentials for the RV from Wal-Mart. The refrigerator has been running on propane for the past 2 days so it is set for storing meat, milk and veggies. This way we won’t have to go shopping when we arrive at Canyon Vistas tomorrow.

This was a great travel day made even better by the improved road conditions. Again, early to bed and early to rise makes the travelling easier.