Cadillac Ranch on old Rt. 66

Just west of Amarillo, TX

Old Rt. 66

Just west of Amarillo, TX

Our shredded tire

Elk City, OK, to Santa Rosa, NM: Today was a challenging day to say the least. Left the pretty little KOA in Elk City, OK, at 9:10 a.m. and I started driving again. I drove until noon and we stopped at a Flying J truck stop for fuel and something to eat. The truck shifting points are still off, but it’s manageable. Seems to work better without the cruise control on. After eating Mike started driving. Drove across the Texas panhandle on Route 40 and it’s now getting more arid and mostly flat ranchland. Just before the Texas/New Mexico line a car passed us tooting his horn and indicating something amiss with our rear tire. So, we pulled onto the shoulder of Rt. 40 and, sure enough, the rear passenger side tire on the fifth wheel was shredded. This was a very dangerous situation since there was a lot of traffic—especially semis. Called RV road help and they found someone about 20 miles away in New Mexico who sent a truck. I didn’t feel safe sitting in the truck, so I got out and walked through the scrub onto a sort of farm road to wait. Mike did also. The truck thermometer was reading 102, but I don’t think it was that hot. Besides, the humidity was very low with a brisk breeze. The service truck finally showed up and changed the tire. We followed him back to the service center and Mike had them put all new, much stronger tires on. Cost a lot, but it will be worth it (we hope). So after about a two-hour delay, off we go again west on Route 40. And then the “check engine” light came on in the truck. Checked the owner’s manual and all they talked about was an emission problem. Didn’t sound too serious and the gauges were all okay so we kept going. We reached Santa Rosa about 6:30 and got set up. We gained an hour because we’re now on Mountain Time. Anyway, it was an interesting drive, paralleling the old Rt. 66 most of the way. We are so snake-bit so far on this trip. No, wait—that will be next. Jeeze.