Hello everyone,
Just recently retired and my wife and I decided to take the road in my 2001 70th anniversary trailer. First real road trip in it. We are from california and decided to just hit the road and travel highway 40. First stop has been Amarillo, Tx. Any suggestions of places to stay, see do would be appreciated. Thank you everyone.
Lake Meredith National recreation area is very pretty.
Cadillac Ranch just on the west side of town south side of the freeway.
If you need something for your trailer you might stop at the Jack Sisemore Traveland, it's a bit of a RV museum RV dealership.
Texas air and space museum has some interesting pieces.
As you head east on the highway there's a large cross on the south side in a place called Groom pretty interesting little stop.
Further east there's a little town called Shamrock with a small Cafe called the U Drop Inn. Beautiful small art Deco historic building that's part of the route 66.
If you're into National Park stuff to Black Kettle National Grassland as you enter into Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma City National memorial is incredibly beautiful and sad. Bricktown National Cowboy & Western Heritage museum.
I live about 15 mi south of I-40 in NM. From west to east check out:
ARIZONA
Sedona AZ and Jerome AZ (don't bring your trailer into Jerome)
Sunset Crater National Monument (nice campground)
Walnut Canyon NM (indian ruins)
Meteor Crater AZ
Winslow AZ- (the famous corner from the Eagles song Take it Easy)
Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Parks
NEW MEXICO
Gallup/ Indian arts and Crafts
El Malpais National Monument
Acoma Sky City(an indian pueblo hundreds of years old on top of a butte)
Laguna Pueblo
ALBUQUERQUE
Old Town
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Museums
Santa Rosa Blue Hole (swimming and scuba diving)
Tucumcari Auto Museum
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Sail on silver girl. Sail on by. Your time has come to shine.
Get on Rt 66 at every opportunity.
The Mother Road along the famed Oatman Highway in Arizona is one of the longest original stretches of the old Rt 66.
We did it with our first AS.
Bob
🇺🇸
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I’m done with ‘adulting’…Let’s go find Bigfoot.
I used to travel to and from LA and Toronto 2 or 3 times a month in a big truck.
Rte 66 (I40 and I44) is a very pretty drive through some wonderful landscapes.
Stop into the Big Texan in Amarillo to get a picture of the 72oz steak. Don't order it unless you want a big spectacle made of yourself. Order an ordinary sized steak, they're pretty good.
The tourist things mentioned above are definitely worth the time.
Spend as much time on the original hwy as possible. Traffic is moving quite well on the big road (80mph in AZ and NM, and almost that much in Texas and OK) and it can be hairy to be stuck in the slow lane with that traffic blowing by you...
Besides, the Mother Road has more icecream stands.
Williams, AZ is about 1 hour south of the Grand Canyon along I 40. Nice KOA there. And if you want to take a train from Williams to the Canyon you can. We did that. Kind of interesting. Otherwise it’s a short drive, which we also did.
I40 thru Oklahoma is a disjointed concrete road. Every couple of 100’ sections aren’t level. By all means drive it to knock your cabinets off the wall and experience rapid thump, thumps.
Oklahoma state roads are smooth and much lighter traffic.
Try the Petrified Forest in AZ, Stopped at Route 66 Museum (where?), try the Cherokee Restaurant near Clinton, OK. Not sure how far you are going. Be sure to say hi to my parents in Greensboro, NC where I-40 runs through. I drove from Alabama starting I-20 in Talladega, got on I-65, then I-22 to Memphis then I-40 all the way to CA (moved to CA in 2013) with my Coleman Popup.
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2014 Ford Explorer XLT with factory installed Tow Package.
ahhh you will go up LLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG grade hill in AZ to Flagstaff then it goes down from Flagstaff to NM border, then go up loooonnnnggg hill to Albuquerque. The I-40 in the city of Albuquerque is terrible - a lot of dips. From Albuquerque to Texas border is downhill but hard winds. From Texas to NC is pretty much level.
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2014 Ford Explorer XLT with factory installed Tow Package.
We found I40 West from Flagstaff better than I40 East headed for Flagstaff. YMMV. We don't take I40 if there is another viable route, but it's somewhat because we have worn it out. It is the safe route in Dec/Jan when winter storms make travel chancy.
The down grade on I40 going West into California is just a bit tight and steep. Take care dropping down. Lots of trucks and cars in a hurry. There are also elevated sections with minimal shoulder and steep drops offs. Take care in passing. Your speed can build quickly, especially when on a downgrade.
The fuel prices in Needles are often elevated as trucking into that location is expensive, or maybe they do because they can. Fuel at lower elevation and give yourself a break.
Heading East into Arizona used to be a standing speed trap. Our travel speed is well below the limit so no clue how the enforcement is now. Be careful out there.
Lake Havasu has the reconstructed London Bridge as a tourist draw. We went once, but won't do a repeat. Nice lake.
The painted desert is an interesting side trip as is the Grand Canyon.
Flagstaff is interesting, because it is a higher elevation area. Not unusual to see some wild life, but watch the weather late in the year. There is a nice over 55 RV park in Flagstaff, J&H RV Park on 89.
Northeastern New Mexico is interesting. More so than I40.
OKC - Cowboy Hall of Fame, Memorial for the OKC Federal Building Bombing, hazard - tornado alley.
I40 gets nicer as it rolls through Arkansas. The Ozarks above I40 along the Missouri border are a great draw for some. AR 7 is a scenic drive N or S.
We don't travel I40 East of there, so that's what we have for you. Pat
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Amarillo site museum
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl
Ditto on Palo Duro.
Lake Meredith National recreation area is very pretty.
Cadillac Ranch just on the west side of town south side of the freeway.
If you need something for your trailer you might stop at the Jack Sisemore Traveland, it's a bit of a RV museum RV dealership.
Texas air and space museum has some interesting pieces.
As you head east on the highway there's a large cross on the south side in a place called Groom pretty interesting little stop.
Further east there's a little town called Shamrock with a small Cafe called the U Drop Inn. Beautiful small art Deco historic building that's part of the route 66.
If you're into National Park stuff to Black Kettle National Grassland as you enter into Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma City National memorial is incredibly beautiful and sad. Bricktown National Cowboy & Western Heritage museum.
Yes, slop at Jack Sisemore's museum, it has the OLDEST Airstream in existence, the 1936 Torpedo from the Holman Family.
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