Day 2 - Amarillo

Another early start this morning--6:45.

We played leapfrog with a ginormous train all morning, starting just west of Wichita Falls all the way to Clarendon on 287. First, we caught up with it and passed it, marveling at the largeness of it. I even thought that I wished I had counted the cars. Oh well.....

Then we stopped for gas. While filling up, the train catches up with us. This time, not passing up a second chance, I counted: there were over 121 cars, and they were all double-deckers. It was so long, it needed three engines!

Back on the road, we soon passsed it again. An hour later, we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Childress for a quick snack break and some chapstick. You know what's coming next, don't you? Yep, up the road a ways we came upon the train--again--not too far from Clarendon, where we were going to turn off and head north. By this time, we felt like old friends, so I snapped some pictures to show the boys.

Sometimes it was on our right, sometimes on the left. Twice we were close to an intersection and heard it's great deep whistle.
As we slowed through Clarendon, we were just barely ahead of it when we turned onto Hwy 70 and went over the upper highway as the train passed underneath us, continuing it's journey westward.
After we said a final good-bye to the train, we were just a few minutes away from the crosses in Groom. The main cross is so humongous it can be seen 12 miles away!

He is not here. He is risen!

(Which one is Peter and which one is John?)

Forever grateful for the empty tomb: