Road trip day 2, miles 641 to 1174, Henrietta TX to Texline, TX

OK so this town does not have enough cell phone signal strength for me to send pics from my Blackberry to an e-mail account to upload here (I warned you about my run-on sentences). So I will edit this post with some pics tomorrow.
I got up at 6 and hit the road. The girls were complaining, but I made sure they knew who was boss. I said "Lynn Pam Melissa Ineeda Margarita" and that was it. Not a peep out of them. Before lunch time I made it to Route 66 in Shamrock, TX. I was very excited about it (you have to know me to understand). But since I had made such good time I decided to detour north to near Canadian, TX. I went to the crossroads and the Arlington Ranch that was featured in the beginning and ending of the movie "Castaway". It was just one of those things that I had to do. I took some pics of the frame standing in the same spot as Tom Hanks when he was deciding which way to go. As I said before, yes, I am a nerd.
I made my way back south to Shamrock and picked up Route 66 heading west towards Amarillo. It was exciting, yet sad in some ways. There were more empty buildings, houses, cars, etc. than I could have imagined. I know it is a cliche, but I kept thinking "if this place could talk...". Some towns have no inhabitants except these old abandoned places. Some have few residents, but I believe that in most places dogs outnumber people. Since there is not much traffic I guess that every time someone passes the dogs come out to greet them...with rabid barking and lots of chasing. Man these things are mean! I had to watch where I got out to take pictures. I have been chased by dogs before when doing photography. It's not much fun. I knew I'd be OK, I was just worried that they would get in my truck and steal the frame. I've always been intruged by Route 66, but after spending half my day on it my curiousity has only grown.
Speaking of being chased, apparently dogs aren't the only ones with the "chase" genes in their bodies. What you are about to read is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I like to joke around, but I'm being serious about this. There is a section of the old alignment of Route 66 (1930's or so) that is dirt and gravel. Parts of it also go on to what is now private property. This section (called Jericho Gap) is well known because some of the original travelers would get stuck in the mud and the locals would make money pulling them out. I didn't have any problem getting stuck, but I did find myself on someone's ranch so I decided to turn around and go back to catch the interstate. As I started back I could see the cows to my left coming at me in a full sprint, with all of their eyes locked on me. I looked in the side mirror and could see more coming at me with the same determination as those closer to the road. I could not believe my eyes. I was so surprised that I didn't even pick up my camera. I thought "what they hell is in the water around here?!". After sweating it out for a minute I laughed it off and came to the conclusion that it must have been one of these things:

1. The rancher must have the same color truck as me, and they wanted to show their appreciation for him sending them to be future McDonalds hamburgers.
2. They were all female and thought I would be a nice catch.
3. They were all males and they wanted to get that frame with the hot chicks. Maybe even some females might have wanted to get to it.
4. The rancher had them trained to attack any oncoming traffic to get them off his land.
5. They were all robots and I was on candid camera.
6. They were trained killers like the dogs in the abandoned towns.
7. They read my blog and thought a road trip might be fun.
8. They were just trying to tell me to "Eat More Chicken".
9. They know I don't drink milk.

In any case, it sure was a lot funnier after I got out of there. As the sun went down I caught a beautiful sunset (took plenty of pictures). I couldn't stand myself anymore as I was dusty, tired, and ready for a shower. I'm a rock's throw from the New Mexico border and will be hitting the Dry Cimarron Scenic Byway tomorrow. Then I'll be in Colorado! I'll get some pics of the frame here as soon as I can. I'll also have my high-res pics on my website when I get back home.

Random thought for 2/20: Another great movie speech is in "Good Will Hunting". The part when Robin Williams and Matt Damon are sitting on the bench is brilliant! If you haven't seen it I suggest you do it immediately if not sooner.