On June 3 one of my fiance's friends is getting married in Dumas, Texas. Nearest city I've heard of is Amarillo. Please know, I'm from Beaumont... clueless when it comes to this area.



Anyway, the question is: has anyone been anywhere near there? Mapquest says its about an 11 hour drive so we're planning on leaving Friday and driving about half - 3/4 of the way. The wedding is in the evening so we'll need something to do during the day. Any recommendations?

I'd guess the best route would be to DFW, then pick up 287 to Amarillo, then 87/287 north to Dumas.

See the Aggieland to Amarillo thread for ideas.

There has been a real boom in hotel building the last few years. Almost any medium size town along the route has a new motel. Memphis, Texas used to have a B&B in their old hotel, but I can't find a web site.

You may be SOL on what to do during the day. Dumas is a farming/ranching/oil/cattle feed town, not a tourist stop.

Amarillo is an hour's drive away.

I mentioned this over on her thread about the same thing on the GB, but I'd stay in Childress if I were her. The Holiday Inn Express there is almost new, and very reasonably priced. It'd be easier, and farther towards their destination than staying in Wichita.

Fly to Amarillo and rent a car.

Seriously.

On further reflection, I agree with X. Unless you have 4-5 people going to share driving and gas costs, it would probably be cheaper to fly.

When you count gas, meals on the road and two extra hotel nights, Southwest Airlines from Houston to Amarillo plus a rental car looks really good.

So I looked into flights -

Southwest for 2 people: $426.40
Continental for 2 people: $339.20

Estimated fuel cost @ roughly 650 miles each way in my car that gets 30/gallon: $130 (roughly, using $3/gallon)

In my fiance's truck that gets 15 mpg: $260

Am I really math retarted or is it still cheaper to drive even if we took his truck? (NOT being sarcastic - I'm truly math retarted.)

Rental car is going to be $30/day or so.
Hotel we can get for $70/night or so.


[This message has been edited by AngelAggie06 (edited 5/2/2006 4:30p).]

Why not take the scenic US 287 all the way.


Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!
Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!

A lot depends on how much time you have, and how important it is to be back to work on Monday.

A more realistic look might have ypur travel cost at 25 cents per mile, including wear, tires, oil, gas, depreciation, etc.

Say 20 cents per mile times 1100 = $220
At least one extra night motel = $70
At least 3 extra meals on the road = $30

About $320.

Fly SW for $420, rent a car for $60 (two days) and you're talking about $480.

If you take one more travel day (one more day on the road) add another round of hotel/meals for $100 and you come out about at $420 for the road trip.


Regarding things to do....if the wedding is on Saturday night, do you have to be in Dumas Friday nught, or just show up at the church?

If the latter, you might swing by my part of the world, visit Palo Duro Canyon Saturday Morning, and the Panhandle Plains Historical museum, then head up to Dumas (hour and 20 minutes away) that afternoon.

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Fly to Amarillo and rent a car.

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Best advice!

Especially since Continental has direct flights (for $340) - and you are thinking of not driving the whole way (that is another topic I guess) - so you are talking about 4 days of travel (2 each way) if you drive.

Also, I checked Orbitz and you can get a rental car CHEAP - $10/day or even $14/day for a full size car.

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is it still cheaper to drive even if we took his truck?

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I guess it all depends on how much you value your time. Its a long trip sister!!

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I'd guess the best route would be to DFW, then pick up 287 to Amarillo, then 87/287 north to Dumas.

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That is quite right.

But you could go to Waco, stop for real Dr Peppers in Dublin, and then take Highway 6 to Eastland. From there, you can take the Interstate to Abilene and then go to Lubbock and Amarillo and Dumas. Or you could stay on Highway 6 until it hits 287. Or you could turn at Stamford, go over to Aspermont, and then up to Childress.

It will take longer, but at least you would get a real Dr Pepper out of the trip.

As for what there is to do in Dumas, I have no idea. I've been in Dumas many times, but never for longer than it takes to stop and get a bite to eat.

How come Oslo isn't on the map to the NNW of Gruver?

What is Boyd, Oklahoma (east of Guymon) on that map?

If that is a town, it must be nearly as big as Four Corners north of Amarillo.

Is Oslo even incorporated?

Man, I have made the trip from Perryton to Liberal many times - if you asked me where Boyd was - I would say I have never heard of it.



Kind of like Oslo!!!

About 20 years ago, I spent several summers working for a wheatwhacker (custom harvester). We cut a few sections near Texhoma, mostly out on FM 2349 not far from that gas plant. I think I may have driven past the famous Oslo Lutheran Church. Seems like I recall a church out there in the middle of nowhere.

About a year or two after I left that crew I found out one of the other hands rolled "my" bobtail truck at the intersection of 2349 and 1290. There is a steep hill there, and he lost his brakes trying to stop at the bottom of it. Instead of crashing through the gate and rolling to a stop out in the pasture across the road, he tried to make the turn and rolled it. Texhoma Wheat Growers Coop came out with a vaccuum and picked up every kernel of grain, but the truck was a total loss.

Burd's a 'wheaty'!!!

I think the funniest group of wheaties I have met were a group of kids from Ireland - (insert Irish accent)

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". . . I hate it - too bloody damn hot over here. . . ."

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Yep, I was a wheaty. Best summer job I ever had!

So where did you start/finish?

Many, many moons ago, my Granddad used to run a crew that would start down near the Coastal Bend and move up 83 all the way to Canada - he said there were times they would be cutting in Canada and it would be snowing!

Most of us were college kids so we were limited by the school year. The guy that owned the crew was also a school teacher. I think he may have just retired this year. Cost of equipment, fuel, and labor were going through the roof.

We started in Seymour, TX, stopped in Texhoma, Tribune, KS, Ogalalla, NE, and and finished in Martin, SD.

(Sorry for highjacking your thread, Angel)

[This message has been edited by Burdizzo (edited 5/3/2006 11:58a).]

We were thinking of leaving Friday afternoon - I'll be in summer classes so I can't really miss those. We were going to drive half or 3/4 of the way that afternoon/evening.

We don't have to be anywhere until 6:30 Saturday at the church which is actually in Channing. After the wedding, depending on how much alochol they serve and how tired we are, we were going to drive maybe an hour or three back. Sunday we'd drive the rest of the way back.

As for the rental car, it'd be more expensive than just $10/day because we're both under 25. Enterprise has the cheapest under 25 fee @ $10/day.

You are aware that Channing is at least an hour's drive from Dumas? And you don't need to go to Dumas, go from Amarillo to Dumas up "Boys Ranch Road".

No I didn't know they were that far apart. I just said Dumas because thats where the guy is from.

Looking at a map and rethinking, Channing is probably about 30 minutes from Dumas.




I wouldn't go to Dumas unless you were meeting some of your friends and family there. It just adds unnecessary miles.

Channing is about 55 miles from Amarillo. Go through Amarillo on I-40, exit on Soncy Road. Go north on Soncy and look for the FM 1061 / Boys Ranch Road exit. Take FM 1061 until it intersects with US385, turn right (north) on 385 about 12 miles to Channing.

Eat and fill with gas in Amarillo. Channing is a tiny little dying town, maybe 400 people. It's claim to fame was as the headquarters of the famous XIT ranch.

Allow about an hour from Amarillo to Channing, the road is a bit twisty, but the scenery as it goes through the breaks of the Canadian River is interesting. We hope it rains before June so it will be green.

If you are into history, you can stop at Boys Ranch, a community/school for troubled youth. It is located on the site of Tascosa, an early Panhandle town. There is a small museum in the old Oldham County Courthouse.

Tascosa was one of the few authentic Old West towns in the Panhandle, with saloons, shootouts, and a Boot Hill. It was visited by Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid and Temple Lea Houston (son of Sam Houston, Texas A&M class of 1878 or so).


I seriously recommend Palo Duro Canyon and the PPHM.

http://www.palodurocanyon.com/

http://www.panhandleplains.org/

Allow 90 minutes from Canyon to Channing, though you could probably make it in 70 if you really pushed it.

The PD Canyon is about 20-25 minutes from Amarillo off 287. Allow about 30 minutes to drive to the first overlook and take a quick glance and leave. An hour to drive down into the Canyon, and probably two hours to take a good look, picnic or hike.

You would have to get very lucky to get reservations, but a very cool place to stay at the park is the CCC cabins on the rim:

http://www.palodurocanyon.com/info.php






The Museum is one of the best regional museums in the country. Allow an hour for a quick dash through, two to take a good look.


Amarillo is a town of over 230,000, so it has all the usual shopping, hotels, restaurants, etc. Let me know if you need any other suggestions.

I knew some wheaties when I was up there - they did corn, though, do you call them cornies? Anyways, they were from New Zealand. They were fun times. Drink like freaking fish, though!

My oldest brother confirmed that there really is a Boyd, Oklahoma.

To be more precise, he said there is a sign that says that Boyd, Oklahoma is around somewhere. He's seen the sign, but he's never actually been in Boyd that he knows of.

He thinks it is probably about the same size as Hitchland.

This map has McKibben on it!

A few years ago, I was wonder just how big McKibben was so I drove over to see it.

To be more precise, I drove by it.

I think that once upon a time, it was a railroad stop. There's a house or two there, but not much more.

It has Pringle, too. It's bigger than McKibben, but not by much. I don't think the speed limit even drops below 70 when passing through.

It has Four Way, too. That's between Amarillo and Dumas. I used to stop there for a coke occasionally. When I drive to Amarillo from Oslo or from Amarillo to Oslo, Four Way is the biggest inhabited place I drive through if I follow my usual route.

[This message has been edited by eric76 (edited 5/4/2006 1:33a).]

I was a little hacked that that map does not have Canyon on it.

Why would it? <grin>

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No kidding, isn't Canyon just the 'southside armpit' of Amarillo?

Grrrrrrr.......

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No kidding, isn't Canyon just the 'southside armpit' of Amarillo?

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that'll be the day ...

actually, the "southside armpit of Amarillo" would be the multitude of rundown trailer houses stuck in the unincorporated areas between Canyon and Amarillo (east of I-27) ...