New Day, New Adventure

It was 4:30 again and this time the Red Roof Inn decided to play a game. While dreaming about highways and relatives, bam!, the music and alarm go off. I am wondering, "what in Sam Hill is going on?" After nine minutes, I learned the hard way what hitting the snooze can do. After spooking myself, I shut the alarm off and slept a few more hours. It was daylight, finally, and time to get going. The first stop was Doan's Crossing, located northeast of Vernon right around the Red River. After checking out, I got into the truck and headed up US 287 towards Amarillo. While I was tempted to pay a visit to the Mother Road, I was on a mission. I got off along US 283 heading north and then took Farm Road 2916 three miles.

At which point, I paid my respects to the last section of Texas where the famous Great Western Trail traveled through before hitting Indian Territory.

Now, it was time to search for the Red River Valley Museum in Vernon. The short trek across US 283 to 287 and US 70 (got that?) was smooth. However, as I drove into the parking lot, the place was empty. While I found some interesting things outside the museum,

the museum did not open until one o'clock. The second time in a row I drove to a destination without finding out the hours of operation. I got back onto US 70 and caressed the beautiful road until I hit Crowell when I turned onto Texas Highway 6. I found a couple gems like, Swaim Garage

and a plaque remembering the Pease River Battle that took place in 1860, when most of the country was on verge of a civil war. The battle is famous for the Texas Rangers re-capturing American Indian captive Cynthia Ann Parker and her daughter, Prairie Flower.

I continued to caress Highway 6 for the next 28 miles.

I reached the junction of US 82/TX 114 in Benjamin, which was the first town in Knox County and named after the son of Hilory H. Bedford, President and controlling stockholder of the Wichita and Brazos Stock Company. After stopping to stretch my legs, I found a couple of gems.

(BJ's Country Store and Gas - RV Hook Ups)

It was time to continue on the rest of the journey to Lubbock. After an hour, I was beginning to run real low on gas. So, I did what good idiots do and continued to drive past town after town. This resulted in the augmentation of my nerves, as I got dangerously close to going empty while riding in the Caprock. Thanks be to God I found a gas station in Dickens, 60 miles east of Lubbock. This gas station, which looked like it came from the days of Smokey and the Bandit, is independently owned (C&L), although it gets gasoline from Conoco.

As I parked to get ready to feed my truck, I realized it was the second time as a driver I have handled a gas pump where the latch was on the side (Williams, Arizona on Route 66 was the first). After winning two dollars on a scratch off ticket, I reached Lubbock at 1:15 PM.