Amarillo by Morning 10/01/20

It really is time to head home. We have toured 3 National Parks... Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and the Rocky Mountain National Park. We have seen elk, buffalo, long horned mountain goats, antelope, deer, and a chipmunk. ..but no bear. We saw two buffalo fighting and a buffalo stampede...a great adventure. Today begins the first day of our three day trek across the U.S. Long days and many miles are in front of us. Our objective is to be home in time for the Auburn football game scheduled at 6:30 on October 3rd.

Our route today will take us out of the mountains, around Denver, and headed east to Limon, CO. We will then turn south toward Lamar, CO...afterwards, through the panhandle of Oklahoma, to the panhandle of Texas, and the Embassy Suites in Amarillo. It was an uneventful trip. We did travel through miles and miles and miles of southeast Colorado...not may towns, but lots of tumbleweeds.

If you have been following this travel log, you should have noticed a trend. It is lunch time and we are looking for a park to have a picnic lunch...a great part of this trip.

Lamar is a true town of the Old West. It was founded in 1886 and was named after Lucius Lamar. Mr. .Lamar wore many hats in his life. He was a professor at Ole Miss, a lawyer, member of Congress, both as a representative (before and after the Civil War) and senator. He owned a plantation and was a slaveowner. He served as an army officer in the Confederate Army and served the Confederacy as the ambassador to Russia. He later became the Director of the U.S. Interior and was an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Not only was Lamar a stopping place on the Santa Fe Trail, near there are two historical sites. One of them is the Battle of Sand Creek (named by the U.S. Calvary), also known as the Sand Creek Massacre (named by the native Americans). On November 29, 1864, a contingent of troopers (675 strong) attacked a Cheyenne village along the Sand Creek. An estimated 700 women, children and a few men perished at the hands of the U.S. Calvary. The effects of the attack reverberated for years.

Also, nearby, barely 80 years later, 7,000 Japanese Americans were uprooted from their homes in California and relocated to Camp Amache in Colorado. This was one of 10 locations centers that were used. Amache was active from August 1942 to October 1945.

We arrived in Amarillo, settled in our hotel, and then went out for dinner. We chose to eat at a famous Amarillo landmark,...The Big Texan. If you eat a 72 ounce steak here, it's on the house. Linda and I split a smaller steak. Great meal.

Tomorrow...Conway, AR and BBQ.