I'm getting too old for Gonzo Driving anymore. It appears that it is necessary for us to get across the country, however, because we end up having so much fun, we need to scoot to the next place

Well, there is also the weather. I forgot that when planning to drive across the nation's midsection. Tornadoes? Lightning? Flooding? And to think, I was working on conditioning myself for heat and humidity.

This is our parting shot. Damien and Michelle and us split off in Oklahoma so they could continue on their journey north, and us to the west. It was a sad parting, as we were always "home" when we were with them. We love D&M, and parting at a roadside rest area, heading into a red Trapezoid of Death (tornado warning section on weather.com), did not seem like a fitting departure. The oddest casino experience, however, was much better suited for bidding our farewell...

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To hide from the oncoming tornadoes, we decided to hunker down in WinStar Casino at Exit 1 in Oklahoma. This seemed like a great idea - weather was bad, we were tired, it was time for us to split off and go our ways. What better way than to have a little bit of fun, drycamp in a casino parking lot, get a fresh start in the morning. Ang decided to take a little nap, so D&M and myself decided to go to the casino, have a cocktail and some food, and get an early start.

Newsflash: there are CASINOS in this world that don't serve drinks!!! Well, the right kind of drinks, anyway. Oh, they had a bar, but smoothies and flat soda should not be behind a bar without something to add to them!

But, being inventive campers as we are, we travel with a fully stocked bar, and the walk between the casino and RVs didn't seem quite as long. The casino was very odd - built as a sort of tent-covered quonset hut, decorated in cast-off Vegas circus decorations, with some of the worst food I have ever had in a casino. But, we don't let little things like this hold us back. No matta. We still rocked it out - tried to sneak into the REO Speedwagon concert, and Ang won like $450!!

The result of this - Gonzo Driving. Drove from Exit 1 on Oklahoma, through Oklahoma City, through Amarillo, Tx, though Santa Rosa, NM - home of The Famous Blue Hole, and to the ONLY rest stop in New Mexico that wasn't closed. I called it 2am, as I chose to stay on Central Daylight Time as opposed to changing over to Mountain when we hit New Mexico. A short nap, an abrupt awakening due to the tire pressure dropping and my pressure alarm going off, and away we were to Santa Fe. We were able to hit the campground and me all set up and working by 9:30 a.m. This is when I chose to go to Mountain Time, and I called it 8:30. I like it when time zones work with me like this.

Looks like a couple more days here at Los Campos RV Park, then back on the road to San Jose. Santa Fe looks to be pretty cool. We are going downtown for dinner tonight and do some more exploring. I hope it doesn't end up being too cool. As the way things go with us, Gonzo Driving may be the way the week ends up...

--kev