Tag Archives: Amarillo

Tik-Tok

0
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 1, 2025, Tucumcari- My friend sat across from me, in a crowded coffee shop, on the west side of Amarillo. He referred, a couple of times, to things he’d seen on Tik-Tok, a medium he finds amusing. A few minutes later, he told of posts on said medium that he found revolting.

I have never been a fan of Tik-Tok,nor of Snap Chat, Reddit or any other medium that relies, for its existence, on mass, conformity-based consumption of whatever drivel the worst among its contributors serves up, particularly in the form of “challenge”. Whoever dreamed up the nightmare that was “Tide Pod Challenge” (before Tik-Tok, in fairness) deserves to be consigned to the scrap heap of historical opprobrium. Its successors, some of which have found their way to Tik-Tok (i.e. Jam Jar Pulse Jet), likewise deserve nothing short of universal condemnation, for the resulting harm they cause both those who attempt them and their loved ones who are left to pick up the pieces of the person(s) left in relative ruin.

Tik-Tok could have become the purveyor of presentations that elevate humanity, the way Wikipedia and, for the most part, TED Talks and You Tube have become. Instead, we have the media promoter of the ethos that is reflected in that most odious of sentiments, “It’s better than Crack!” End of rant.

The day was, all in all, very nice. I bid farewell to my little family, for a few weeks, then found it fairly easy to exit Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The drive along Northwest Passage was easy, and I found my lunch stop, Valley Pecans, rather deserted. Somehow, I was about the first customer at that lovely cafe-emporium, and was, thankfully, followed by about a dozen other people. It was Noon, so high time for travelers to surface.

After my visit with friend, Wes, In Amarillo and a fuel stop, I made it to this high desert gem, taking this room at Rodeway Inn and heading to Del’s Diner, one of Tucumcari’s best. Del’s has been around since 1966, and the crowds, such as the one there tonight, are proof of its excellence. Martha and crew treated everyone special, tonight. The regulars attest that this is no fluke. It’s how the crew is every day, every meal. Viva Del’s; viva Tucumcari!

The Road to Diamond, Day 172: Grapevine to Gallup

4
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 19, 2025, Gallup, NM- There was no stop at Amarillo’s Fun Zone today. I rolled through The Yellow Rose during mid-afternoon, the shoulder time between lunch and dinner, so onward to New Mexico it was.

I set out from Home Base II around 7:45, with both of the kids off to work. My task for the day was simple-get as close to Arizona as possible, without running poor Sportage ragged. As it is, we will make time for maintenance on Wednesday or Thursday, and a software update is there to remind me of this, every time I start the vehicle. The Honour System worked up to now, but AI needs something to do, so here we are.

There were warnings of high winds along my route, posted before I left Grapevine. The winds were indeed high, from Wichita Falls clear to Gallup, primarily having the effect of triggering the AI “three beeps”, every time I went one mile over the Cruise Control speed I had set, as well as lowering the gas mileage. Yes, we were all driving into the headwinds. I saw only a few accidents, though, and was party to none.

In the small settlement of Milagro, NM, there is a gas station operated by a couple, who I befriended years ago, when they were first getting started. They have hired a few locals to help out, as the husband also has a towing business. One of these, whose wife is of the New Zealand diaspora-those who left that country after the former government’s policies with regard to COVID19 proved too harsh for their liking, is also a former resident of Prescott. He had much to say about both Jacinda Ardern and the current leadership of our city. As I could barely keep the gas tank latch or my door open, for the wind, I bid him all the best in Milagro, and went about my business.

I had little trouble getting through Albuquerque, only needing to join the crawl on the west side, after a two car accident near Coors Boulevard. Two hours later, I got to Colonial Motel, the wind dying down a bit, enough for two couples to gather in the parking lot for a bit of socializing before dark and for some spirited kids to play tag at the opposite end of the lot. This is the edge of Home Country-so tomorrow, Sportage and I will head on back, get our bearings and be ready for three months of tending to what is right in front of us.

It’ll be a good thing, to catch my breath.

July Road Notes, Day 2

2
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

July 6, 2021, Grapevine, TX- It rained buckets last night, across northern New Mexico and well into the Texas Panhandle. In Moriarty, I heard thunder and pelting rain, for nearly three hours. This is just the thing that the region needs; if only it could extend all the way to the Pacific Coast!

I was on the road fairly early this morning, which was a good thing-given that the route to the Dallas-Fort Worth area runs diagonally southeast, from Amarillo. I got into that fair city around Noon, and enjoyed lunch at Smoky Joe’s, with old friend Wes Hardin. The Sixth Street “Fun Zone”, and lunch with Wes, are staples of any trip that involves crossing the Panhandle. As always, he had a few stories of life among the struggling and the grasping, of this rough and tumble city.

I made few stops, along US Route 287, which I last drove nine years ago, on my first visit to Fort Worth. Many places, like Love’s Barbecue (Chillicothe) were closed on Tuesday, an okay thing-as my lunch at Smoky Joe’s was with me, long after the noon hour. I found a lovely new rest area and welcome center had sprung up, near Memphis, TX, over the past decade. Wichita Falls has grown a bit, in these ten years, also. Upon getting to Denton, twenty miles east along US Route 380, it was a circuitous, but not difficult, road over to Grapevine. Being with family, until Sunday morning, will be restful and revitalizing, in any case.

Sixty-Six, for Sixty Six, Part XLVI: Tulsa Won My Trust

11
Posted by on in impediments, Personal Values, Social, Travel

July 7, 2017, Joplin, MO- 

My son turned 29 today, and ended one banner year, with the promise of yet another. I rose early, in Santa Rosa, NM, and made it my goal to get to Amarillo, and the Blue Front Cafe, by lunch time.  The Time Zone differential always figures in, here, so when I call Wes, and tell him I’ll meet him for lunch, we both end up remembering, sooner or later, that 12 Noon means 1 PM.  So, once again, I miss Santa Rosa’s Blue Hole, for Amarillo’s Blue Front.

Wes had the place figured to be an oyster bar, and maybe that’s the new owner’s specialty, but the young lady who served us basically presented a lot of fare to which I’m accustomed. It is still good food, just not in as folksy an ambiance as under the previous ownership.  To a Texan, and to lesser an extent, an Arizonan, such tradition is everything.

After spinning a few yarns, and hearing some of Wes’s, I kept on, across the Llano Estacado.  Mailing my car payment, at the Post Office in Groom, TX, involved cruising around that handsome little town, just a bit.  Oklahoma, though, was not long in appearing in the foreground.

I had no pressing business, in the Sooner State, so essentially it was just  a series of pleasant memories that passed by, along with the towns:  Erick, Sayre, Elk City, Clinton, Weatherford, El Reno, Yukon and OKC.  There was no time to stop at the Memorial- maybe on the flip flop.  The Turnpike was what it always is, a quicker way to southwest Missouri and points further on.  As many of you know, it is divided into two segments, in northeast Oklahoma:  Before Tulsa and After Tulsa.  The erstwhile Oil Capital has not been high on my list, for several years, and all owing to my having witnessed a nasty tirade by a Greyhound Bus employee towards a fellow passenger, at the company’s terminal, in 1979.  That’s a lame excuse for a bad attitude, but it’s stayed in the back of my mind, ever since.  It was time to shed that perception.  I pulled off the highway, gassed up, admired a lovely woman-in a respectful manner and from a distance, and kept on with my drive to Joplin.   It was a ridiculous remedy, for a ridiculous grudge, but that’s all it took for Tulsa to win my trust.  One of these days, I will spend a day or two there, and better get to know the city of the Golden Hurricane.

I had planned on camping, in or near Joplin.  Cousin Lisa was tied up with 4-H, so I will try and catch her on the flip-flop, and besides, there was lightning flashing nearby, so I passed up the idea of setting up camp.  Tara Motel appeared, east of Joplin, as I was running out of energy, and options.  The place is a minimalist paradise, for the common man, who is just trying to catch about 120 winks.  That I was sure to do.  With no WiFi here, and Rerun Heaven in full swing, I read a bit and headed for dreamland.

NEXT UP:  Across Missouri and Illinois