Day 5
Hitchita, Oklahoma – Clayton Lake, New Mexico
I didn’t sleep too well last night. The wind was strong and steady and kept me awake. I guess my guard was still up, this being our first night in the tent. I was a little nervous given the pickup truck, beer-drinkin’ people we saw on our arrival here yesterday afternoon. I was up at dawn wrestling with the allergies and the birds, who were singing so loudly that returning to sleep was impossible.
Once the sun came out, the inside of the tent turned into an oven, so we got up, took showers, and got on our way. Stopped in this little bait, food, beer, and pool place on our way out. The woman who worked there was very nice. She told us a little about the area and filled our water jugs for us.
We left her little store and got back on US 266 west to Henryetta, Oklahoma, where we jumped back on I-40. We decided it would be a good idea to get a substantial breakfast; however, it was a long time before we found a decent place to stop. Eventually, we stopped in Shawnee, where we ate at a Best Western that was all the way on the other side of town. This place was full of old people who look at you funny and, I might add, we had an unenthusiastic waitress. I think she thought we were freaks or something.
Back on the road around 11 a.m., we passed through Oklahoma City which was nothing to write home about. No distinctive buildings, just the usual cluster of five to ten high-rises. It’s about 140 miles to Texas and the landscape bas become grassier and the trees are bushier and scant.
Texas panhandle
At one point in Texas, we stopped at a rest stop. The wind was gusting even though it was a clear day and we could see for miles. What did we see? Grass. However, it was becoming somewhat canyon-ish. The land was not flat in the close-up view. There were small, micro-canyons and tiny hills. But on the larger perspective there were no huge hills so one could see as far as the round earth would allow. No sign of civilization either—not a house, farm, or cow in sight.
If you thought Oklahoma City was bad, take a trip to Amarillo. The skyline only has one building, not as big a city as I thought, I guess.
At Amarillo we turned north on US 87/287. This road was straight and flat, and people were flyin’ on it. It also brought us closer to this new and interesting landscape. At Dumas, Texas, we refueled and I had a chat with the Exxon owner. He informed me that this was probably going to be the last Exxon station I would see for a while, he said they were, for the most part, bought out in New Mexico, Arizona and other western states. This was good seeing that I had an Exxon card (ugh).
US 87 turns west to Hartley which was the next town, 24 miles from here. A lot of farming along here. They farm in those circular plots too. We figured each circle to be about a mile or a mile and a half in diameter. All the towns here are just gathering places for farmers. There are grain co-ops and farming stores but no houses in these towns. After Hartley, it was 14 miles to Dalhart then 36 miles to Texline, Texas.
We were planning to camp in Clayton, New Mexico. We drove through the Rita Blanca and Kiowa National Grasslands in Texas and New Mexico but, by now, grass was grass. Around here there are isolated outcrops decorating the landscape. Turned up NM 370 heading for Clayton Lake State Park and found ourselves on the edge of a wide, shallow canyon covered in green-yellow grass. It was beautiful and we had to have a picture of it before we drove into it. In the distance was Rabbit Ears Mountain which was 5,940 feet but didn’t look it, the ground level must be pretty high.
After traveling for about 15 miles, we came to the park and it was starting to look like rain. I paid the fee and talked with a few folks who drove in with us about the setup. As soon as we chose a campsite it started to pour. The storm was rather violent and the lightning was very close.
After a while, there was a break in the action and we set up camp and got all our stuff in the tent just in time for the next storm to develop over us. By now it was dark so we watched this one from the tent. There was a lightning strike every five to ten seconds, often enough that Andy was trying to get a picture of one. The wind accompanying the storm was very strong and since our tent was on top of this hill overlooking the lake, there was no natural shelter to protect the tent and us. This weather, to say the least, was not conducive to sleep, especially since I was still getting used to sleeping in a tent. The rain stopped eventually but the wind continued on all night which made it hard to get a good night’s sleep.