 FRIDAY |
TRAVEL DAY |
 |
We were on the road by 8:00AM this morning for several reasons. First and foremost is we are going to try and arrive at our destination before the winds pickup later this afternoon. Secondly, we are headed to a small First Come First Serve campground and it's Friday, so we need to arrive before the weekend crowds.
We arrived just after 11:00AM to find there were only two sites available. One was too small for us to fit into and the other site was no were near level, but we made it work for us.
This is a very popular campground and it should be obvious why from these two photos. The fact that it's FREE doesn't hurt either.
There are only nine campsites here and we're in #9.
Nothing in front of us except a long fall over the cliff and down into the water.
I'm taking these signs a little more seriously these days.
This one just leads down to the boat ramp, so THE POD is safe up on the rim of the reservoir.
We are going to scout out the other nine campgrounds located here in the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. While doing that we are also going to check out a National Monument site and have lunch at a famous Route 66 steak house.
First, for those of you who are interested, we'll share our recommendations about camping here in Lake Meredith. The thing that most sites have in common are they all have views of Lake Meredith. What you'll have to decide is if you want to camp up on the rim of the reservior or down below at the water level. For that reason we've got two categories:
RIM CAMPGROUNDS
#1 Sandford-Yake CG - #2 Fritch Fortress CG (where we are now) - #3 Blue West CGWATER LEVEL CAMPGROUNDS
#1 Cedar Canyon CG - #2 Harbor Bay CG - #3 Bugbee CG
NOTE: I've included links to the Campendium review pages if you need further information.
If you've checked out the reviews you'll quickly realize nearly everyone prefers the rim campgrounds over the water level sites. I suspect that's for two reasons! First, they do have spectacular long range views looking down at the lake and secondly they all have usable cell phone signal. But, they are also very susceptible to the high winds that frequent this area of Texas.
While the water level campgrounds don't tend to have usable cell phone signal, they are better protected from the winds and if you're here in warmer weather you can just walk right in and take a dip in the water and cool off.
Next time we're here I suspect we'll visit one of the water level campgrounds!
Part way through our campground scouting we took time to visit the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument.
We didn't get to have a thorough visit to the monument because they are understaffed at this time and are not offering any Ranger led activities at the actual quarries. Instead we were only able to watch a short documentary movie about the 12,000 year long history of the quarries and visit the gift/book shop on site.
I did manage to get my NPS Passport Book stamped, but I kind of felt like it was cheating the purpose of the book.
Now for our exciting lunch plans. Tricia has been jonesing for a good steak dinner ever since we arrived in Texas back in the middle of January. Well today we ate steak for lunch at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.
It may have not been the best steak dinner in Texas, but it was one of the most famous, plus it's located on Route 66 (i.e. I-40). They advertise a 72oz steak dinner (complete with all the fixins and sides) on the menu. If you can eat it ALL in under 60 minutes it's FREE. I'm not sure how much it will cost you if you don't, but we didn't even try. BTW-you have to inform them in advance if you're entering the contest, so they can set you up on a special elevated table in the middle of the restaurant so everyone can watch you eat. That alone would make me feel like not competing.
ROVER called ahead to get VIP parking right next to The Big Bull. Just kidding, I called for him.
Also right next door is a Route 66 style hotel you can stay in for a reasonable fee.
A look at the restaurant's themed decor.
Here is what you'll have to eat in under 60 minutes to recieve your FREE meal.
The elevated table in front of the kitchen where the contestants sit so everyone else has a view.
Who holds the record for the fastest time, not some 300 pound linebacker from the NFL.
Nooooo siree! A 125 lb. woman ate 3 of these meals in under 20 minutes back in 2015.
(Well at least she was 125 lbs. when she first sat down for dinner)
I'll bet I know where she goes out for dinner when she feels like eating steak!
With lunch over, we were back on the road to finish up our campground scouting. We left THE POD around 8:00AM this morning and returned sometime after 4:00PM. We traveled over 160+ miles today, all the way around Lake Meredith, and then some. At least we'll know where to camp the next time we visit this area.
Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?
 |
We encourage everyone |
Until next time
