Day 4: Texas

On the surface, this looks like your standard welcome sign. But think about it. Entering Wheeler County. Wheeler was the kid from Texas on Captain Planet. FIRE!

Just when you thought it was safe to get back on a four-lane highway...

McLean appeared to be pretty much abandoned. But ghost towns are cool so it's all good.

Some more murals on abandoned buildings.

The Avalon movie theater is apparently the most notable landmark here. Note the roadside attraction marker.

A view of main street McLean.

An old neon drug store sign.

A couple of rival 66 travelers were driving around McLean while we were there. These people cockblocked our picture of the totem pole things on main street.

On the west side of town is the still-open Cactus Inn...

...and the oldest Phillip's station in Texas. This sucker was built in 1927.

Two big balls of barbed wire.

Another view of the barbed wire museum.

An abandoned motel.

An abandoned Texaco station with old-school sign.

After our 66 detour, we're back on good ol' I-44.

The panhandle of Texas is world famous for its stunning and varied landscapes. The following is a brief selection of photos depicting these breathtakingly interesting vistas:



Amazing! And we were lucky enough to drive through this scenery for hours and hours and hours.

The largest cross in the western hemisphere, off route 66 in Groom (we took a lot more pictures because, thanks to Texas' nature as a flat expanse of nothingness, you can see this thing from like a hundred thousand miles away. We tried and failed to take a picture of the nearby leaning water tower as we drove past.

Driving in towards Palo Duro Canyon, we get the first evidence that Texas has land that is not flat as pavement. And evidence of the bird shit that graces our passenger-side window for most of the trip.

Road into the canyon.

Breathtaking! (the first time on this page I complimented something without irony!).

More pretty vistas.

GREAT SCOTT! The yellow log's about to blow!

Despite the heat and the incessant deer flies, we took a hike on one of the canyon trails. Here's some thistle.

Entrance to the trail.

Western scenery.

Painted rocks, apparently.

Nops gets a better view.

A dry creek bed on the floor of the canyon.

Views of the rim from the bottom.

Desert flora.

Some more colorful rock strata.

View of the trail as we left.

Some bluffs along the side of the road.

Our first car accident of the trip. Nice job, dork.

Though it took some effort to find this, Cadillac Ranch in Soncy is one of the most recognizable landmarks on Route 66.

Erected in the '70s, the cars are painted every so often but end up with a fresh coat of graffiti soon thereafter. (It is also incredibly difficult to take these pictures without getting the fat tourists in them).

The interstate scenery gets a little more varied, and our windshield accumulates a few more bug corpses.

The sun begins to set 15 miles out of New Mexico.

Meet ya there, Texas.

Next: New Mexico