USAF Thunderbirds and Colorado Springs

Heading north out of New Mexico toward Colorado Springs on I 25... view from  Raton Pass...

Pikes Peak

USAF Academy Stadium 

USAF Thunderbirds practicing over the famcamp at the Air Force Academy...getting ready for graduation.

Our campsite at the Air Force Academy Famcamp...

Accident on I 25 north out of Colorado Springs added an hour to our trip into Golden, CO

One of Tuco's traveling positions....

Amarillo, TX Scenes on a Stormy Sunday

Ran into "Storm Warriors" storm chasers setting up right off I 40 at Cadillac Ranch. This was not a real positive sign, since our weather radio had been going off all day with Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings.

Standing along Route 66 west of Amarillo, Texas, Cadillac Ranch was invented and built by a group of art-hippies imported from San Francisco. They called themselves The Ant Farm, and their silent partner was Amarillo billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. He wanted a piece of public art that would baffle the locals, and the hippies came up with a tribute to the evolution of the Cadillac tail fin. Ten Caddies were driven into one of Stanley Marsh 3's fields, then half-buried, nose-down, in the dirt (supposedly at the same angle as the Great Pyramid of Giza). They faced west in a line, from the 1949 Club Sedan to the 1963 Sedan de Ville, their tail fins held high for all to see on the empty Texas panhandle. 

your also encouraged to bring your own spray paint.....

Second Amendment Cowboy, near Cadillac Ranch off I 40 

You can visit Texas and not have a Whataburger......

We had storm warnings all day, but nothing happened in Amarillo. The bad part of the storm moved east into Oklahoma and there were reports of tornados.

Tuco in one of his favorite spots in the motorhome....

Oklahoma City East KOA a Campground of Note

 It is not often that we do a post on a campground, but this KOA in Choctaw, OK has some of the best sites we have seen.

We had one of their deluxe pull thros, which had patio, patio furniture, gas grill/with propane, fire pit and very nice landscaping. If you are passing through Oklahoma City this is the place to stay. 

The best thing was getting to visit with our long time friends (42+years) Nancy and Bill during our overnight stay.(see earlier posts)

Our travel buddy, Tuco, at the doggy park....

Bill's Oklahoma City Tour

RIVERSPORT Rapids, Oklahoma City’s new $45.2 million whitewater rafting and kayaking center just opened in early May.  The Road to Rio continued in Oklahoma City at the newly constructed RIVERSPORT Rapids whitewater rafting & kayaking center on May 7-8, 2016. The best whitewater slalom athletes in the nation  positioned themselves for a spot on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team.

The Boathouse District is located adjacent to downtown Oklahoma City and the Bricktown entertainment district.

The Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark is located in the vibrant Bricktown District immediately east of downtown Oklahoma City. 

At the center is statue of Johnny Bench, baseball Hall of Fame catcher.....

Catch a carriage ride from Bricktown Ballpark...

One of the Oklahoma City's most notable destinations, the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum stands as a celebrated example of a living monument to honor those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever by the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial includes the Field of Empty Chairs with each chair honoring one of the 168 people who were killed, which you can see on the left in the distance.

Construction is underway on 21c Museum Hotels’ redevelopment of downtown Oklahoma City’s historic Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant. The nearly 100-year-old, four story brick building was built by Henry Ford as a Model T assembly plant. 

The Oklahoma City Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant , a four-story brick structure in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Opened in 1916 by the Ford Motor Company as a Model T manufacturing facility, it was one of 24 such plants built by Ford between 1910 and 1915.

Visit with Nancy and Bill in Oklahoma City

Nancy, my teaching buddy, from my days in Okinawa with Dept of Defense Schools came to the campground to pick us up and chauffeur us around OKC. In the back ground Nancy's newest baby, her sporty Mercedes.

Nancy and Bill took us to the famous Earl's Rib Palace for dinner. 

Born and bred in OKC, Earl’s Rib Palace has been the definition of Oklahoma BBQ since 1996. The BBQ is based on the recipes of Earlywine "Earl" Jackson. Earl’s most famous admirer was none other than The King (Elvis) himself. Earl took great pride in the fact that while traveling as The King’s personal chef, the rock-n-roller gained over 50 pounds. Earl considered it his greatest life’s work!

Nancy had the world famous ribs and Jan had what is pictured below....large load baked potato, with chopped brisket. 

COE Old Post Campground in Russellville, AR on Lake Dardanelle

We took a 2 day break in our trip West and stayed at a very nice Army Corps of Engineers campground on the shores of Lake Dardanelle near Russellville, AR.  Our site backed up to Lake Dardanelle and was a beautiful quit location.

View from the overlook above the Arkansas River Visitor Center....

Scenes from the Arkansa River Visitor Center, which is located near the midpoint of the 450 mile McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system.

For thousands of years, the Arkansas River Valley served as a bountiful homeland for America's only true natives, the American Indians.