Crew 3’s ‘Epic Western Expedition’ – Yes It Was: Day 1

BSA Venture Crew 3 did it, we went just shy of 3700 miles in 9 days, over 60 hours of actual driving time and we came back with everyone we started with. Pretty cool!

The Crew 3 "Epic Westen Expedition" had to get past the first hurdle and it was a big one, most people just call it Texas.

Day 1: It began Saturday morning early, the first drive of the week going 8 1/2 hours to Amarillo, TX. Including several stops along the way...

Just on the other side of I-35 heading west, you'll see these start popping up, wind farms. What I thought was interesting is how many there are, the most current information I could find shows there are over 10,700 wind turbines in Texas, making my state the highest percentage of wind power in the nation at 15.7% of all power generated coming from wind turbines. Those numbers were from 2017 so I'm sure it's much more by now.

The Crew stopped at a Rest Stop for lunch the other side of Wichita Falls where we met a nice lady that talked to herself and was placing large sticky notes on her car...

Shamrock, Texas is a nice little town with a very cool stop, it's an old Conoco Gas station and Cafe that has been turned into a museum. From what we learned it was also an inspiration for one of the gas stations in the Pixar animated film Cars.

This is an "Elvis was here" booth...

The part that made me LOL was the Tesla pumps in the back!

If you're looking for a really neat religious experience may we suggest the giant Cross at Cross Ministries in Groom, Texas on I-40 before you get to Amarillo. The cross is the largest in the state at 19 stories tall.

Most everybody has heard of Cadillac Ranch where the Caddys are burried in the dirt and everyone goes a spray paints them, but have you ever heard of the Slug Bug Ranch?

We stayed the night in the gymnasium of a Church in Amarillo, Texas. Cots and sleeping bags were the order of the day.

With a long Day 1 over, and the anticipation of White Water Rafting on Day 2, it was time to get some rest.