Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

Cole is on a roll !

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Books are my comfort food!

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The words do not have to be perfect.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Amarillo By Evening

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  2. 2.

    frosty

    Yes, even in the best of circumstances, the Texas Panhandle is an odyssey. Plus, you have to get through Oklahoma to get there, too.

  3. 3.

    satby

    Jeezus, Little Rock to Amarillo is almost 9 hours normally (if you do the straight shot on 40, it says)! Glad you arrived safely, rest up. Hugs to all creatures great and small, and Joelle.

  4. 4.

    Suzanne

    When I was a kid and we moved from Long Island to Phoenix, we spent an overnight in Little Rock and the next night in Amarillo (and the next night in Gallup). I try not to stop in the Texas panhandle any longer.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    Heroic leg of the trip.

    It’s 868 miles or 1397 km from New Orleans to Amarillo, which takes about 12 hours, 48 minutes to drive. Source

  9. 9.

    Chetan Murthy

    Reading about your trip, Blogfather, makes me wish for transcontinental rail.  B/c …. *whew*.

  11. 11.

    Jackie

    Et tu Maine?

    😂👏🏻👏🏻

    Maine’s top election official on Thursday barred Donald Trump from the state’s primary election ballot, the second state to block the former president’s bid for re-election based on claims that his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election rendered him ineligible,” the New York Times reports.

    “In a written decision, the official, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said that Mr. Trump did not qualify for the ballot because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, agreeing with a handful of citizens who claimed that he had incited an insurrection and was thus barred from seeking the presidency again under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.”

    Maine’s SoS official statement:

    https://www.maine.gov/sos/news/2023/BellowsDecisionChallengeTrumpPrimaryPetitionsDec2023.html

  14. 14.

    swiftfox

    Wanted to eat at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.  But the car acted up and I did not want to risk it.  The Chinese place had shut down their grill.  So I got a pizza at CiCis.  Yuck.

  18. 18.

    satby

    @HinTN: not exactly, you have to change trains in Chicago. Capitol Limited Pittsburg to Chicago, Southwest Chief to Flagstaff. Joelle lives in Mesa, an hour south, or Phoenix is a bit more than an hour west.

    Edit: with all the stuff they’re hauling they couldn’t really train it. But I’ve taken both those routes, and they’re beautiful.

  20. 20.

    Devore

    If you’re going to make it all the way to phoenix tomorrow.   Suggest watching the scenery transition as you drive south from the northern pine forests in Arizona to the desert around phoenix.  Kind of a unique experience

  24. 24.

    kindness

    Why is it we readers worry about the critters more than John and Joelle?  Because…..of course we do.

  25. 25.

    piratedan

    @Devore: per the blogfather, they’re taking the left in Albuqueurque and popping in thru US 60…. my guess is that they hope to ditch Thurston in one of the very large array scopes in Socorro.

  26. 26.

    Sure Lurkalot

    9+ hours in a car/on the road is hard…with cats and a recalcitrant dog, a superhuman feat.

    It does look like you have had and will have good driving weather. That’s not necessarily a given this time of the year, so there’s that.

  29. 29.

    Ksmiami

    When we were dividing our time between Dallas and Northern NM, Amarillo was the overnight- not a bad place to walk dogs and Saltgrass steakhouse is decent. It’s kind of the Bakersfield of Texas

  30. 30.

    satby

    @Suzanne: Ok, I thought the train route described ending in Flagstaff and the “not exactly” answer made that clear enough, but obviously not.

    I took a shuttle last time, you can also rent a car to Phoenix.

  32. 32.

    lurker

    pretty sure I am already set up for disappointment on this one, as I initially misread Amarillo as Armadillo and whatever story comes out will not live up to that initial misreading…

    glad to hear Joelle and John and the talent made it to a safe landing for the night…

  33. 33.

    satby

    @Ksmiami: I’ve been in Texas a few times to work, and once in a mostly evacuated Houston for hurricane Rita with the ARC, and the only city I liked was San Antonio, which was the most Mexican feeling one. I don’t like Texas at all.

  34. 34.

    Rose Weiss

    As a former Texan, Amarillo isn’t awful, Lubbock is much worse. You have to go to San Antonio, Houston, or DFW enjoy Texas

  35. 35.

    Chetan Murthy

    @satby: I’ve never taken Amtrak except BOS<->NY<->Baltimore.  So I could be wrong, but … I’ve read that for anything except for the major urban corridors, passenger trains are at the mercy of freight trains (which get priority) and hence you can’t actually depend on any scheduled service.  Which …. well, means that for most people it’s infeasible, and that in turn means that there just isn’t much actual service.

    What I mean, is what I remember from movies like (IIRC) “After The Thin Man” where they’re taking trains across the country, and it’s pretty comfortable.  The sort of thing I remember from taking the sleeper train Paris->Nice (for work).  I’ve also taken a plane Paris->Nice, and …. I much, much preferred the sleeper.  If we had reliable scheduled serviice cross-country, I’d take that over flying, no doubt.

  39. 39.

    satby

    @HinTN: Takes a certain ability not to be attached to strict schedules; and to enjoy meeting strangers, unless you have the money to rent a private roomette. I enjoyed it.

  40. 40.

    Suzanne

    @Chetan Murthy:

    So I could be wrong, but … I’ve read that for anything except for the major urban corridors, passenger trains are at the mercy of freight trains (which get priority) and hence you can’t actually depend on any scheduled service.  Which …. well, means that for most people it’s infeasible, and that in turn means that there just isn’t much actual service. 

    You’re not wrong. Train-ing it across the country is not for anyone on a schedule. Flights are usually cheaper, too, by a lot.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @Chetan Murthy: Well, going out to CA the first time I got significantly delayed, and the trains lose their right of way over the frieghts. but almost all of the other 8 trains I took (I had a USA pass) had no or only minor delays. The Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago kept arriving early and we had to sit in several stations for up to 20 minutes for our departure time, still got into Chicago 30 minutes early.

    When I travelled for my job I had lots of delayed and cancelled flights too, especially in winter. My general approach is to just roll with whatever happens since it’s all out of my hands anyway.

    As to cost, on the US pass (which was on sale), I went from Chicago to Flagstaff to LA, to Santa Barbara, to Seattle, and back to Chicago all for $299.00 And had 4 rides left. But I could take the time off.

  46. 46.

    Suzanne

    @Alison Rose: That dude is a character. I bet he does.

    The biggest cultural change I have experienced between Phoenix and Pittsburgh is the sheer quantity of roadkill here in western PA. There’s dead animals all over the damn roads here. In AZ, they all are stingy, slithery, and/or spiky, and they stay the fuck off the freeways.

  48. 48.

    Rose Weiss

    @Chetan Murthy: Yeah, Houston summers are the pits, Dallas too for that matter. spring and fall are nice. In Houston the humidity is so high it’s like being in a 24 hour steambath. But all 3 cities have a wonderful multi-cultural vibe, and yep, all variety of ethnic food.

  50. 50.

    LivinginExile

    One year I left New Orleans to get away from Mardi Gras , and rode my motorcycle out to Phoenix to visit my Mom.  Temp in the 40’s and drizzle all the way across Texas.  Fun times.

  51. 51.

    Suzanne

    @LivinginExile: Literally every time I have driven across Texas, it’s been raining and there’s been tons of lightning. But when I go to Texas to actually be there, the weather is awesome. LOL.

  52. 52.

    Rose Weiss

    Years ago my late husband, our 6 year old son, and I took an Amtrak sleeper from Dallas to El Paso. The trip was ridiculously long because they routed the train through San Antonio rather than going directly to El Paso. But it was a lot of fun for all of us, the sleeping compartment was comfortable, and the food in the dining car was actually good!

  53. 53.

    Jay

    @Suzanne:

    In Phoenix, the majority of wildlife, (rabbits, coyotes, cougars, hawks, doves, deer, etc) live either in the Planned Communities, or the desert. When we were visiting SWMBO’s best friend, one rule in the Planned Community, was to take a big stick when going for a walk, that “lost, neglected” dog, isn’t a dog.

  55. 55.

    Delk

    @satby: it rained the entire time and half way through Indiana (I waved!) we had to turn around because I forgot some meds. Ugh. 3 skyway tolls.

  57. 57.

    LivinginExile

    Mrs Exile flew out to Phoenix after Mardi Grad to meet my mom for the first time.  We rode the motorcycle back to NO, after we looked around Arizona.  The only place we saw that we liked was Jerome.

  59. 59.

    Rose Weiss

    @Rose Weiss: But I would truly love it if the US would aim for a rail system like most of Europe has. I hate dealing with air travel these days, it’s a giant, irritating, stressful hassle. I’d take the train all kinds of places if it were available.

  60. 60.

    frosty

    @Suzanne: We were in Delaware a little while ago and the DOT signs said something like “Remember, it’s deer hunting season and they just can’t wait to get on the road again.”

    When people asked me how long my commute from PA to MD was my answer was “About 25 minutes unless someone hits a deer.”

  61. 61.

    Scout211

    @Jackie: reposted from the downstairs in the discussion, there is a caveat.

    However, Bellows’ office said her decision would not be enforced until the courts weigh in, “given the compressed timeframe, the novel constitutional questions involved, the importance of this case, and impending ballot preparation deadlines.”

    She appears to be staying her own order until SCOTUS weighs in.

  62. 62.

    Suzanne

    @Jay: There is definitely a fair amount of wildlife encroachment into the cities. Spawn the Elder got chased by a coyote in our suburban neighborhood (edge of Tempe and Chandler). I routinely saw Gila monsters in my apartment complex in Tucson. Also, don’t forget that scorpions and snakes and lizards are also “wildlife” and they are never far away!

  63. 63.

    Rose Weiss

    @Suzanne: I always loved the lightning when I lived in Texas. We’d go out on the front porch to watch the light show. I’m in SW Oregon now and lightning is rare.

  64. 64.

    Delk

    @satby: our hotel room overlooks the big count down location. We can watch the crowds and pop out at 5 minutes to midnight and be back in the 5 minutes after.

  65. 65.

    Suzanne

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    No sleep til Brooklyn Mesa! 

    As someone who grew up there, it blows my mind that anyone would actually voluntarily go to Mesa. All my friends and I are like, “We’re so proud that we got out”. LOL.

  69. 69.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Rose Weiss: I still remember this one time I was driving home from Houston; on I-35 going north, I could see this *gynormous* thunderhead: it was so big it flattened against the tropopause (I thought?) and so big that it had a fleet of smaller thunderheads in front of it.  Just humongous.  You could see the rain and lightning coming down from *so many miles away*.   Just knew that you were in for it when you got there.  And yeah, it was *sumthin’* alright.

    Weather in Texas: now *that* is a thing.  Nothing like weather in New England, even though New England has cold/cold/cold.  B/c in Texas, you get *torrential downpours*, *hail*, lightning, tornadoes [and of course heat waves!] (remember those nights when you’d have to stay up watching the news to know whether it was time to huddle in the bathtub?) and then the occasional hurricane.  Just *so* much weather!

  76. 76.

    Suzanne

    @frosty: Mesa was founded by Mormon settlers and therefore is really fun and not at all conservative.

    It’s also the largest suburban municipality in the U.S. Those are known to be inspiring.

  78. 78.

    Jay

    @Suzanne:

    In Phoenix, manicured golf courses, suburban lawns and gardens, water features are much more attractive and productive wildlife habitat than the sage and saguaro desert, more so, when they keep bulldozing it off to build warehouses.

  80. 80.

    CaseyL

    Glad to hear you all arrived safely!

    The only time I’ve ever been around Texas was in 1976, when I was on a road trip to the West Coast.  Our route took us across the top of the panhandle.  Nothin’ but flat dry dirt  fields in every direction as far as the horizon, and a constant ambience of old cow manure.  I was… not impressed.

  81. 81.

    Rose Weiss

    @Kristine: Oh, Austin definitely gets a vote! But most people who’ve never been to Texas think Austin is the only semi-civilized city in the state, and that’s false. But Austin is generally forward-thinking not to mention fun. Unfortunately its atmosphere is often tainted by the presence of the state politicians.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    @NotMax: Funny you say that. I have had multiple friends tell me that the Doctrine and Covenants forbids “hot drinks”, not caffeine specifically. So lots of them interpret that as cold and sugary caffeinated drinks are okay! So there’s still lines at Starbucks.

    Mesa: where you’ll see a dude carrying a leaf blower on a bicycle. With a convenience store on every corner of the intersection.

  93. 93.

    Sandia Blanca

    @Kristine: There are a fair number of us jackals who live in Austin and love it, but we don’t necessarily need to advertise any more, as we’re all full up with techbros now (Elmo moved Tesla HQ here a few years ago, ugh).

  96. 96.

    Jay

    Drove from Huston to South Padre Island a couple of decades ago. Wasn’t so bad, but then I have driven across Sask, Alberta and Manitoba. Drove back to fly out of Corpus Christi. One day each way

    Worst drive ever was Calgary to Edmonton and back. Oil pumps and cows and almost no curves. SWMBO almost killed me, because I was driving, bored out of my mind, so everytime I saw a herd of cows alongside the barb wire, stareing at the traffic, because they were bored too, I would call out “moo cooooooows!

  98. 98.

    mvr

    @satby: I used to hate deserts but then I went to Arches.

    (Actually I’ve been to a few before that that I liked well enough, including Tucson where I visited for a semester. Could have fallen in love with it, but people or at least that many people don’t really belong there.)

  99. 99.

    mvr

    @satby: in response to something stupid Yang said.

    You could take out the “something stupid” as redundant given the “Yang said” part.

  100. 100.

    Rose Weiss

    @Jay: Hahaha I thought i was the only person who mooed at cows! I used to do that all the time when we took road trips.

  101. 101.

    RaflW

    @Chetan Murthy: I’m in Houston now (leaving tomorrow after visiting family for Xmas). The weather this week has been extremely tolerable.

    It’s the six months no where near December that are awful. Maybe seven months now with global warming.

    The restaurant scene here is, however, tremendous.

  102. 102.

    HumboldtBlue

    University of Arizona football team has pulled within three points of Oklahoma in the current bowl game, so there’s that.

  104. 104.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Suzanne: ​
     We must be thinking of different Mormons. You mean the guys with the Book on whose each page God reaches directly out of the heavens and zaps someone into a puff of smoke? Around here, that’s what they lead with, and it’s downhill from there.

  105. 105.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @mvr: There used to be a very good Chinese restaurant here whose lobby was cram-full of Yang campaign material — all in Chinese only, no English.  Unfortunately (and irrespective of Yang) they failed during the pandemic.

  106. 106.

    Kineslaw

    San Antonio has a very different, much older feel than other cities in Texas.  Austin is cool.  Fort Worth is a very pleasant place to live and has definitely improved over the last 20 years.  It has a better music and art scene, as well as better food, than it used to.

    Dallas and Ft. Worth being only 30 miles apart allows people to self-select which they prefer, making them very different cities, even though they are both over 1million people and geographically close.

  107. 107.

    Hoppie

    @piratedan: US 60 through the Salt River gorge in AZ is terrifying.  Our preferred route is diagonally southwest from Amarillo to Las Cruces NM on (mostly) US 70, then 10 to Phoenix.  Vastly fewer trucks, only a few traffic lights.  Las Cruces is a great place to overnight as well.  We like Pecan Grill.

  108. 108.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Chetan Murthy:

    *Houston*. Intolerable weather but boy howdy great people. So many people from all over the world, so much great ethnic food. 

    Bad weather even in January?  Only a thunderstorm will keep me from cannonballing into that Airbnb pool next weekend!

  110. 110.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Delk:

    We drove from Chicago to Toronto today. 

    🎶Have yourselves a happy hoser new year.  May your bones see moose.🎶

  111. 111.

    piratedan

    @Hoppie: I didn’t rec that route, just stating what the intentions are…  It’s possible that they’re changing roads in Show Low and taking AZ 360 across to Payson versus dropping down thru Globe and Apache Junction.

     

    I trust Joelle knows her stuff about local routes into the Valley of the Sun.

  112. 112.

    Chetan Murthy

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Bad weather even in January?

    Sure.  I spent 4yr in Houston, and Jan was the most tolerable month.  But too much of spring/fall (and all of summer) were a hothouse.  My last day there in August 1986 it was 104F in the shade and 100% humidity.  Feh.

  122. 122.

    Hoppie

    @piratedan: Good.  Grants past the malpais to Quemado-Springerville-Show Low-Payson was one of our favorite routes until the Phoenix-rim traffic became so bad.  And then we decided to avoid 40 as much as possible so the last dozen trips (Lexington-San Diego) we only used 40 from OK City to Amarillo.

  123. 123.

    Roberto el oso

    Years and years ago I helped a friend out who had inherited a car. Problem was, the car was in Amarillo and we were in Houston. It was a godsend for him and so I agreed to drive him there. We left Houston around noon on a Sunday, got to Amarillo a little over 10 hours later, he spent a couple hours getting the car deal together before announcing he was going to spend the night. The next day was a work day for me, so I headed back at midnight and ended up driving straight to work and made it on time. This was in January so when we’d left Houston it was in the mid 50s but West Texas was in the 20s, so I came down with a nasty cold on the way back. It was flu season and I’m sure I looked like utter crap (highly caffeinated crap) and my bosses told me I should go home and get some rest after I emerged from a phlegm-ridden sneezing fit.

    The things one done when one is young and full of life and exceedingly stupid!

  128. 128.

    eldorado

    houston is miserable except for a few months in the the winter but as noted, the food is fantastic. austin is much more enjoyable for me because of it’s arts/music scene

    i can think of no good reason to visit dallas/ft worth at all

  129. 129.

    Origuy

    @Jay: Worst drive ever was Calgary to Edmonton and back.

    I did that in 2002 for the Asia-Pacific Orienteering Festival. The way north was broken by a stop in Drumheller for an event and a visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology on the edge of the Alberta Badlands. A must stop for dinosaur fans.

  132. 132.

    Ksmiami

    @satby: hated it- lived there for career stuff and gtfo. Some of the food and people are nice, but the politics and the weather are awful.

  133. 133.

    SteveinPHX

    That’s a long effing haul. I remember doing that in 2000 when we moved from AL to Phoenix. Hang in there!

  135. 135.

    Joelle

    @piratedan: since we bailed on Albuquerque we pressed on to Flagstaff.  So south through Sedona and oak creek tomorrow.  Coles going to go Gaga over the scenery.  I may even score an extra scenic piss stop or two. 😉

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