Day 1, Thursday, June 18, 2026
Today was all driving. A long, long day of driving out of the Arkansas mountains, through Oklahoma, and into the middle of the panhandle of Texas. We left Hot Springs around 7am and arrived in Amarillo, TX around 5:30 this evening. We were all a bit nervous getting on the road this time. The thought of 2 long drive days across I-40 can be daunting. Especially since the kids are basically 3 grown people piled in the backseat of the truck. The last couple of shorter trips we’ve taken we’ve taken an extra car to allow everyone plenty of space to breath. Not this time though, we figure it will likely be the last long family trip with all 5 of us. So, we decided to make the best of it and pile in together. Honestly, the day was great. Let’s hope those good vibes carry us through tomorrow
Tonight we are staying at Big Texan RV Ranch in Amarillo, TX. If you have driven through Amarillo, you can’t miss it. Not only do they have the RV Park but they also have Big Texan Steakhouse and the VW Beetles burried in the ground (not to be mistaken for Cadillac Ranch!). It’s a nice RV park wiith fun options for kids and quirky things for adults to enjoy too, like the dinosour that Jaci and I both had to ride! We, of course, had dinner at Big Texan Steakhouse. It is home of the 72 ounce free steak. Now, the steak is only free if you can finish it and all the sides within an hour. We did NOT attempt that challenge.
Tomorrow we have one more long day of driving ahead of us. The plan is to drive from here to Cortez, CO. So, we’ll finish our drive through the panhandle, drive straight through New Mexico then head north to CO which will lead us to our first national park on this trip, Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde NP will be a “bonus park” for this adventure. Our intent was to hit the big 5 in Utah but when we realized we could also see this one on the way we could not pass it up.
