Downtown Enid on the Square
After staying the night at the inn at Indian Creek Village Winery in Ringwood, Oklahoma, I spent an hour or so back in Enid seeing the town. I visited St. Mary's hospital where I came into this world and snapped some photos of it and the downtown area. It seemed like a nice little city, very quiet on a Sunday morning. I enjoyed the touches of cowboy culture and the art deco architecture prevalent through downtown.
After filling up my tank, I headed off toward Amarillo, Texas, around a 4-hour drive. This drive was pretty mind numbing, with little to be seen of interest to me. The main themes of my day were roadkill (and oh, what a variety of roadkill!), cows, cotton fields, oil wells, and windmills. The landscape was mostly flat. It occasionally teased me and began to get interesting, only to flatten out into the doldrums again.
I drove into Amarillo and cruised around town a little bit and decided to find my hotel. I hate to be negative, but when I did, I was not very happy. Let's just say that the neighborhood was less than desirable. It was one of the sketchier hotels I would have ever stayed at if I hadn't decided to pack up my things and flee for my life after 15 minutes.
Cadillac Ranch
My perspective might have been colored by my hotel experience, but I didn't have such a great impression of the rest of Amarillo, either, so after I got up in the morning I immediately set off again. I did make a short stop at the Cadillac Ranch and really enjoyed the bright colors and juxtaposition of the vehicles in the landscape. Definitely a fun photo op!
After that, it was much of the same as the day before for another 3 1/2 hours. I arrived in Roswell, New Mexico early in the afternoon and rode down the main (only?) strip, amused at the many alien-themed touches the town had put into place. They obviously have both a sense of humor and a sense of identity.
I paid my five dollars and visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center, which was interesting, but a little low budget. It was still fun to have been there, and I learned a few things about the "incident" in 1947, including that they had taken whatever landed to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which was very close to my paternal grandmother's house. I also walked around downtown and snapped some photos of the many shops, restaurants, and businesses that proudly displayed alien decor.
The next morning I was eager to hop in the car. I could see just the tiniest silhouette of mountains in the distance, and they were calling my name...
I sure am glad that they didn't keep me!