Day 5 - Santa Rosa, NM to Sallisaw OK - 587 miles, 9 hours.
We departed from Santa Rosa this morning at 6:10 MDT, already fueled up, and heading east. Other than a rest area, our first stop was in Amarillo for Breakfast. The terrain we were crossing was high desert. We passed the Cadillac Ranch and saw that a group of motorcyclists were there. Our stomachs were growling, and we wanted to find breakfast instead.
A place that I found through some online reviews, all highly positive, was Calico County Cafe in Amarillo. The place was what I think of as "typical Texan" in decor, busy without being crowded, with locals (ours was the only out-of-state plate in the lot). Service was great. My husband ate the tall stack which was tall (those pancakes were thick and served with butter and HOT syrup). I had a Belgian waffle, which was served with already melted butter and hot syrup. We were served cinnamon rolls as well, but I admit that we were too full of breakfast to try them. The price was right. Definitely, this is on my "I would return here!" list.
Drive, drive, drive, stopping for a rest area and visitor information at the Oklahoma Tourist Bureau just inside the state. I have to get my hotel coupon books! The next stop was on the west side of Oklahoma City, at exit 140, for fuel. Word of warning: Oklahoma City is full of construction on I-40!
As far as other construction goes - there were a few places where there was a warning of a "cone zone", but it never existed. Yet others went to single-lane in both directions. None of these were on the OK DOT website! There was also quite a bit of traffic through the central part of Oklahoma. We finally lost most of it on the east side of OKC, when the vegetation changed from desert-like and ranches, to green trees and rolling hills!
We pulled into Sallisaw just after 4 pm CDT, which means we did almost 600 miles in 9 hours. That's not too shabby! We got a hotel through one of the coupon books. The Days Inn here is clean, but the room is TINY. It's comfortable, though. This is the first hotel we've stayed at in a couple of years that actually put 2 packets of decaf coffee in the room - - most of the time, we have to ask for decaf!
Dinner soon - will add more after.
UPDATE: From a couple of restaurant review websites and two personal recommendations on a cooking forum I've participated in, we asked our hotel about Shad's Catfish Hole. The hotel clerk said to definitely GO, it was the best place for the locals! It's about 7 miles down US 59, and then hidden behind a convenience store. It doesn't look like much on the outside, but the inside - all decorated in fishing and water decor. The food, though, is absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS! My husband, who loves good catfish, was in his element, because it was an "all you can eat" place. I had the chicken fillets (not a catfish person). The meal comes with beans, cole slaw, and hush puppies served family style, then you get your main dish served to you. The price for two was under $30 and we came away STUFFED. We wonder if we'll even have room for breakfast in the morning!
Thanks, Michael, we're in OK now. In about 20 miles or so eastbound tomorrow, we'll be in Arkansas. :-)
Donna
