We got the RV to Stratkus early in the morning as rush hour traffic proved to be less of a problem than I anticipated. Of course I made a wrong turn on Los-Whatever street and thought for a second I was in trouble…again. However, after a quick phone call we realized that I made a left instead of a right and ended up on the wrong end of the street. After arriving at the garage, I briefly repeated the trouble I was having with the Turd to the owner and he said it would be at least an hour before we would know something. So we packed up the kids and took off in the jeep to explore Albuquerque and Route 66. I have to tell you that under the circumstances, it was a pretty enjoyable morning. Route 66, particularly through the Nob Hill section of town was fabulous! Old diners and hotels, refurbished buildings and gas stations…what a sight. I can only imagine what it all looks like at night with all that neon glowing, I bet it looks spectacular. I really wanted to have breakfast at the Route 66 Diner but they didn’t open until 11:00am. So we ended up at the Grove Café & Market instead, a real swanky open air café in Nob Hill. The food was fresh and delicious. We enjoyed breakfast alfresco, watching traffic pass by on the old mother road while waiting for a phone call from the mechanic. After breakfast we decided to head back up towards the garage to see if they had even moved the RV into the shop. Halfway up 66 the garage called and said that they couldn’t find anything wrong with the RV. He was certain that it was an electrical problem and not a fuel pump problem, but until it acted up again he would not be able to determine its exact nature or location. He said he could start replacing things but all we would do is spend a lot of money without any guarantees that it would fix the problem. So our only viable option was to head east and hope for the best. I asked him to look at the blinkers as I noticed that they stopped flashing. He said he would do it immediately so give him another 15 minutes or so. We made a semi U-turn in the general direction of Rio Grande Boulevard and stumbled upon Old Town Albuquerque. It what was possibly one of the neatest places we visited. Old Town is to Albuquerque as the French Quarter is to New Orleans. That is without Mardi Gras, out of the closet transvestites and those seedy little strip clubs. This place is steeped in history and the architecture is amazing. Driving thru, you could really get a sense of life back in the days before electricity. We were torn between wanting to stay and explore this great treasure and needing to get back home. Unfortunately Old Town will have to wait for our next visit, but I can tell it will be worth the wait.
We got back to the garage to pick up the Turd. Surprisingly, Jim could not fix the blinker problem because we would have to replace part of the steering column and getting the parts would take a few days. So now I hand crank the blinkers so they manually flash in the direction I want to turn. Unbelievable! While finishing up the paperwork I asked the owner if there were any laws on the books for people who take advantage of stranded visitors. He asked why and I told him about my experience the day before. He said, “You took it to Rout 66 Truck & RV?” When we said that the RV Park recommended them twice, he said that he has heard so many horror stories about those guys that he was surprised that they had not been shut down by now. According to the Jim, the Frito Bandito has his wife cruising the interstate looking for stranded tourists in RV’s. At that point we decided to stop the credit card payment, complain to the owners of the RV Park and report Route 66 Truck and RV to the proper authorities.
So when all was said and done, we crossed our fingers and finally left Albuquerque headed for Amarillo and a date with the Big Texan. We made pretty good time even though we hopped off and on Rout 66 every chance we got.. The drive to Amarillo was relatively uneventful, that is until we encountered one of those southern plains, tornado producing thunderstorms you hear about in the news back home. I remember it well…the Cadillac Ranch was on our right and a developing F-4 was on our left. Talk about your big entrances. As we pulled in to the RV Park, the storm roared into Amarillo. Now I have been in big storms in the past, really big storms. Hurricane Andrew would be an example of a big storm. But until you have experienced a storm with sustained 40 mile per hour winds while trapped in a 36 foot recreational vehicle that is parked in a barren Amarillo, Texas KOA, well you haven’t experienced a big storm. I never knew it was possible for a person to get sea sick in a parked camper in the middle of Texas…but I guess you can. Anyway, after the winds died down and the pouring rain subsided a little, we headed to the Big Texan. Seeing it up close and personal it was hard to believe that it could actually be tackier in real life than it is on line. A big yellow building with a huge cow parked out front, it more than lived up to its advanced billing. Everyone sits family style in long tables that are set in rows. I contemplated accepting the 72oz Steak challenge, but after seeing the steak in person I decided that it would not be in my best interest nor would it be in the best interest of my family to partake in said challenge. OK I was scared but you should have seen the size of this thing. I saw three people try and none finished half of the steak, although they did get a check for $72 bucks and a real tacky Big Texan tee shirt as consolation. The food was surprisingly good, the deserts were incredibly large, and we even had a few songs played at our table by a wandering cowboy string trio (I’m not sure but I think they work there). Back at the RV we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of numerous trains as they passed a few planes as they landed, and another storm as it zeroed in on Amarillo. I love vacations.
We got back to the garage to pick up the Turd. Surprisingly, Jim could not fix the blinker problem because we would have to replace part of the steering column and getting the parts would take a few days. So now I hand crank the blinkers so they manually flash in the direction I want to turn. Unbelievable! While finishing up the paperwork I asked the owner if there were any laws on the books for people who take advantage of stranded visitors. He asked why and I told him about my experience the day before. He said, “You took it to Rout 66 Truck & RV?” When we said that the RV Park recommended them twice, he said that he has heard so many horror stories about those guys that he was surprised that they had not been shut down by now. According to the Jim, the Frito Bandito has his wife cruising the interstate looking for stranded tourists in RV’s. At that point we decided to stop the credit card payment, complain to the owners of the RV Park and report Route 66 Truck and RV to the proper authorities.
So when all was said and done, we crossed our fingers and finally left Albuquerque headed for Amarillo and a date with the Big Texan. We made pretty good time even though we hopped off and on Rout 66 every chance we got.. The drive to Amarillo was relatively uneventful, that is until we encountered one of those southern plains, tornado producing thunderstorms you hear about in the news back home. I remember it well…the Cadillac Ranch was on our right and a developing F-4 was on our left. Talk about your big entrances. As we pulled in to the RV Park, the storm roared into Amarillo. Now I have been in big storms in the past, really big storms. Hurricane Andrew would be an example of a big storm. But until you have experienced a storm with sustained 40 mile per hour winds while trapped in a 36 foot recreational vehicle that is parked in a barren Amarillo, Texas KOA, well you haven’t experienced a big storm. I never knew it was possible for a person to get sea sick in a parked camper in the middle of Texas…but I guess you can. Anyway, after the winds died down and the pouring rain subsided a little, we headed to the Big Texan. Seeing it up close and personal it was hard to believe that it could actually be tackier in real life than it is on line. A big yellow building with a huge cow parked out front, it more than lived up to its advanced billing. Everyone sits family style in long tables that are set in rows. I contemplated accepting the 72oz Steak challenge, but after seeing the steak in person I decided that it would not be in my best interest nor would it be in the best interest of my family to partake in said challenge. OK I was scared but you should have seen the size of this thing. I saw three people try and none finished half of the steak, although they did get a check for $72 bucks and a real tacky Big Texan tee shirt as consolation. The food was surprisingly good, the deserts were incredibly large, and we even had a few songs played at our table by a wandering cowboy string trio (I’m not sure but I think they work there). Back at the RV we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of numerous trains as they passed a few planes as they landed, and another storm as it zeroed in on Amarillo. I love vacations.
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