Exit78 Photo of the Day #119
Picnic shelter, Donley County Eastbound safety rest area and park, about an hour east of Amarillo, Texas, on Interstate 40, September 17, 2009 (Pentax K10D)
Our trips heading west usually include Interstate 40 in the early part of the trip, but depart from it for other routes before crossing into the Texas panhandle from Oklahoma. Several times on the return home, though, we have used I40 through Texas and stopped at the art-deco styled Donley County Eastbound safety rest area, which opened in 2003.
Route 66 themed, the rest area is a tribute to the road that pioneered cross-country automobile highway travel. Getting our stretching walks in after a couple of hours on the road is a pleasure on the highway themed sidewalks through beautifully landscaped grounds. The numerous picnic shelters, each with a Texas-shaped barbeque grill, are well suited for hot summer days. Tiled restrooms are ample and unique. A playground is provided for those traveling with kids. In tornado country, the Texas safety rest areas include storm shelters.
I’m sure we’ll be stopping here again.
Series notes:
- The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
- Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
