I’m leaving tomorrow for Phoenix where I will pick up my son’s car and from there I’m driving it to Boston. (Greg moved there last week). I’m stopping in Tucson to pick up Ron, my friend of some 50 years.

Phoenix - OKC - St. Louis - Columbus - two days at my house - Syracuse - 2 days in Boston. I’ll try again to post pictures but I have never gotten Flickr to work on this phone. I may have to wait until I get back.

It’s gonna be epic!

Great timing. Gas is like $83 a gallon.

Be safe.

Sounds like great fun, Steve.

I’m not paying for the gas, Greg is.

Win-win!

When are you in Boston? We have some folks here who would LOVE to finally see you in person!!!

Would be great if you came through here on I70.
Then again it might be the days of a great blizzard

Godspeed

Will your route take you through Montana? Mr Pique is a big fan of yours and we have plenty of room...

The trip so far has been terrific! Great food, hotel rooms inexpensive but clean and comfortable, and very pleasant company. We haven’t run out of thinks to talk about and I doubt we will.

It turns out we’re hauling Greg’s prized whiskey collection and the trunk is so full the suitcases have to on the back seat. We’re the Dukes of Hazzard!

Visited White Sands National Park which I’ve never seen. It’s a desolate area but serenely beautiful - off the beaten path but well worth seeing. The road from White Sands crosses a high, plain - didn’t see any other cars for miles at a time. This car likes to go fast!

Tonight we’re staying in Tucumcari which was never much of a town and has gotten much worse over the years. Once the railroad moved there was no reason for it to exist and about half of the population left. Found a good-home-cookin’-restaurant though, and it was excellent.

Tomorrow night is OKC and our plan is to dine on some of their famous steaks. If anyone has restaurant suggestions I’d like to hear them (Quirt? MA?).

Route doesn’t include MT but there is no reason why the next trip couldn’t…

Eastward ho!

We’re actually staying in Wellington, MA for just one night. I’m not sure where that is but there is one free day and perhaps lunch would work? I like the idea of going to Faneuil Hall as Ron is something of a foodie as well. Other suggestions would be great.

For restaurants I recommend South End, down Tremont Street from the Theater District. It is not the same area as the South Side. Lots of great places down there. My favorite is Petit Robert Bistro. I spent many happy evenings there. Great, unpretentious French fare. If you just go for lunch, their French Onion Soup is to die for, and comes with a fantastic baguette and the best butter ever. Aquitaine is good too, but more snobby and pricey. Coppa is interesting, but very small and not as good as they say.

In any event, the choices in Boston, one of my favorite places, are endless and for the most part they are all good.

You could go to The American Banjo Museum!!!


Not a lot of help?

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
You could go to The American Banjo Museum!!!


Not a lot of help?

But they have a Shakey’s Pizza inside!

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

quote:

Originally posted by CHAS:
You could go to The American Banjo Museum!!!


Not a lot of help?

But they have a Shakey’s Pizza inside!

No such luck.
Sorry

Wha??? I read that on the internets. It must be so!

Leaving Phoenix Tuesday morning. My traveling companion is Ron - a guy I've known for over 50 years. Ron likes to talk and is exceptionally well read. I knew we would never run out of things to talk about.



First stop was Las Cruces, NM. It was our goal to eat whatever was the local specialty and this
make your own taco spread didn't disappoint. We couldn't eat half of it and it was still only $18. Excellent!



From there we left for Tucumcari and on the way we stopped at White Sands National Park. It's not really sand, it's gypsum - the same stuff they make drywall out of. The park is HUGE and there's a nice serenity to it.





Next stop was Alamogordo where we bought road munchies and had our picture taken in front of the world's largest pistachio:



On the way out of town we saw this billboard, which turns out to belong to a guy who owns the local funeral home. I'll bet he writes it off as advertising.



Tucumcari has very little to recommend it and is about to disappear altogether. The last bank left town last month and they are in the process of returning the schools to the state/county as they can no longer afford to operate them. Next stop OKC.

Dinner in OKC was at a fine old steak place next to the Oklahoma Cattleman's Association in an area called Stockyard City - the sort of place that has served 6 presidents and such.



Dig the door pulls:



After dinner we walked across the street to an upscale kind of cowboy bar to sample the local whiskey. Ended up drinking this stuff and it did not disappoint:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nchD5K]

The bar looked to be about 100 years old but it turns out it was built out about 5 years ago in a building that used to be a brothel. Spectacular woodwork.