……is possibly the understatement of the century!! Big, dusty, flat and just about empty but still great to ride through. Some of the dirt roads go on for 50 miles in a straight line and you will not see anyone at all for hours!!
The road conditions change regularly though which keeps you on your toes. Thyey will change from gravel to dust to sand very quickly. The worst of all is the mud which will appear as if from nowhere. There had been a big storm in the area the day before we got there which had the advantage of cooling it all down so it was only about 100 degrees f but had the disadvantage of becoming like a skating rink under the crust of the road. We had stopped for a quick break when we noticed a big T in the sky which as we all know means T for Trouble:
And of course about a mile later we hit the mud!! Not many pictures because we were struggling through but it was tough going for a couple of hours.
When the mud cleared up again we got back to the riding across the Panhandle where the only things to see are the Oil and gas rigs are littered across the countryside!
Occasionally a nice surprise will appear out of nowhere. All through the trip, road closed and bridge out signs seem to have been an invitation to give it a go and this one was no exception!
There are a lot of abandoned buildings out there and you can only presume that life just got too hard for people trying to earn a living in this dustbowl. Having just read Steinbecks Grapes of Wrath again, it really brought home how tough things were in the great depression of the 30′s.
