We are moving right along....

 

Our Location: Mile Marker 144, near Van Horn, Texas

 

The morning dawned coolish in Brady, Tx and we turned the heat on when we got into the Dogsled to give us a bit of a warm up. We packed everything up, checked the tires, pulled in the slides and connected the Igloo and Dogsled, wheels rolling just a tad after 8:30 AM, CMT. 

 

Prickly Pear Cactus and a Century Plant along the roadside.

More Prickly Pear.

A very long and lonesome highway is Tex 190 West.

 

Course hard top with lots of well worn grooves make up Tex 190 West.

We continued along Texas Highway 190West for most of the morning until we reached I-10 near Iraan, Tx. The highway was good, only a very few rough spots and even then, not that rough but it was a long drive on a two lane course hard top. Some rolling hills, some flat land and again into the rolling hills. We found it very uninteresting and that has us thinking we won't be using it again. We would drop straight down from Menard to I-10 instead of following Tex 190 for such a long distance. 

 

You could build a house from all those rocks and have enough to build another one too.

Our rock cuts back home don't have prickly pear growing out of 'em.

A stunning view!

 

Fuel is running anywhere from about $4.69 to $5.40, with gas usually being between $1.50 and $2.00 cheaper per gallon than diesel.  We gave the Big Dog a drink at Murphy's in Stockton where he lapped up about 27 gallons of his preferred drink at $4.99 per gallon. Considering we had a bit of a headwind/crosswind in places he did well. Temps are running from about 45F/8C night time lows to about 78F/29C for day time highs. 

 

We are seeing the outline for far off mountains.

The rolling hills of Texas on I-10 West bound.

 

Our original plan was to stop at or near Fort Stockton (226 miles/364 km from Brady), but we opted to keep the wheels going since it was pretty early in the day to stop. We added another 100 miles/160 km to the end of our day which makes things easier for the next couple of days. We travelled a total of 342 miles/550 km, which is a long day for us.

 

 Much better than our morning drive views. See those wind turbine way over there?

Much of the land in this stretch looks like this.

 

Prickly Pear cactus has been evident for a number of days now and even the yucca type Century Plants are in abundance too. Lots of scrub land today, lots of oil being pumped out of the ground too, along with a fairly big number of wind turbines. In fact as we were just coming back from our walk we noticed a single blade for a wind turbine sitting on a very, very, very long joined trailer pulled in on the opposite side of us, my goodness but he's long!!!

 

Very artistic way to hold the dirt on the side of the overpass, don't ya think?

The view out our door tonight.

 

Birthday wishes go out to SIL Barb (brother Rick's lovely bride) who turns 29 again today. We hope it's been a fantastic day Barb even though it's cold and damp. I asked Dad to have a piece of cake for both Riley and I!! Also happy birthday to Hazel, granddaughter of Barb the birthday lady. They share the same day, Barb just had it first. Hazel however is not 29 but 4. Happy Birthday Hazel Beanerrrrrrrrr. Haha. 

 

Not a bad view when you turn your head either.

The picnic spots here at the rest area. They include a grill, garbage cans, shelter, wind break and table with benches. Sign says NO SLEEPING ON TABLE AND/OR BENCHES .

A chat with daughter Bradey last night, they are all fine and Auston is enjoying his swimming lessons a tiny bit, so that's good news. He's such a shy little fella. Lincoln is growing in leaps and bounds. A chat with Dad today finds their temps in the single digits, I think he said 7C/44F with dampness in the air and high winds. Seems most of the trees are leafless now due to the winds for the last couple of days. 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

Until next time..

 Take care, be safe, 

 

Deb 

Left Texas for New Mexico......

Our Location: Gage Rest Area, Gage, New Mexico

 

 

We slept well at Fort Stockton Walmart and were up, out the door and filling with fuel before 7:30 AM. On the road before 8 AM and moving right along. For future reference, the Walmart was easy to find but very crowded with rigs later in the day, the Dot Rest Area a few miles further down the road was very nice, spacious and not a typical Texas rest area. The parking area for all vehicles was not lineal but more like the others with individual spaces designated for rigs, cars, etc. Very big lot, lots of room and a very nice rest center as well. I would definitely stay there in the future. 

 

 

The flat views along I-10 in southwest Texas.

Can you see the mountains way over there?

We are getting closer and closer....mile by mile, minute by minute.

 

For the first time we actually drove through El Paso, usually we take a bypass of some sort, I think maybe the Loop but today we just headed on through. A pretty easy drive on a Sunday before lunch. In fact we moved to Mountain Time before we entered the city and so are now 2 hours behind Ontario. The roads were good, not too busy and we motored right along. 

 

 

Tiny little hill in Texas.

I think George calls these Century Plants.

This was hanging over the valley as we approached El Paso.

 

We checked out a few other stops and made note of them in our little journal for future use. Always nice to know things along the route that you've travelled before. Memories aren't all they should be when you get a bit over 19. 

 

 

Interesting sculptures in El Paso.

 

We climbed into New Mexico with ease and continued along I-10 West for the remainder of our drive today. Smooth sailing, only a few slow downs here and there even with all the construction areas. 

 

 

Neat idea, street names on the overpasses.

I think Patsy might have posted this but it's a new one for us.

 

We are close to Butterfield Station, just past their exit of #62, I believe. We would have pulled into the Cabana area to park but couldn't get to the roadway leading there. For future reference, to get to the lane take the car pathway. The big rigs park in front of the lane and you can't get to it. We pulled forwarded into a large gravel area some distance from the washrooms but still in front of the casitas. We can stay for 24 hours. Behind us are train tracks, in front of us is I-10. It's for one night and I think we will sleep well. 

 

The rest area at Exit 0 in Anthony, not sure if it's Texas or NM.

 

Called dad when we arrived and let him know where we are. He was happy to hear from us. The hunt is over and Jesse was the only successful one in our bunch. Congrats Jesse!!!! 

 

We have entered this fine state for an overnight visit.

 

Sunny, warm and blue skies, we are fortunate to have had such a wonderful travel day. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

 

The Roadrunner!!!!

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

They are not Louis L'Amours  Far Blue Mountains but they are still inviting, and addictive. 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long travel day......

Our Location: near Fort Stockton, Texas

 

A quick post, we're tired and hungry and dinner is cooking while I type. We left this morning before 8 AM and our goal was Sonora, Texas but at some point we decided we wanted to go farther and turned the Big Dog's nose west on I-10 and let him run. He stopped twice to drink today, this morning before leaving and then again just before lunch time at Menard, TX. He's due for another sip soon, he's resting about the 1/2 full mark. 

 

 

Heading out this morning from Bellmead along Hwy 84.

Some nice colour and views along our travels today.

Gatesville water tower. A much larger town than I anticipated.

Sunny, warm, and fairly breezy but an interesting view out the windows. Rolling hills, a bit of the long, flat vistas as well but nothing mundane in colour for too long. We enjoyed State Highway 190 for most of the trip until shortly after 1 pm when we dropped down on to I-10. We had planned on making the rest area about 25 miles past Fort Stockton but found this cute little spot and so we shut down here for the night. 

 

One of the many little towns, cities we past through today.

Definitely not very busy, is it?

Sure is pretty.

 

Talked to dad when we arrived. They too are getting a bit of sun and nice weather. Nothing as balmy as we are but still nice for them. 

 

 

Lovely sign in Goldthwaite.

One of the little picnic areas that dot the landscape across Texas.

A huge armadillo. (not real of course)

Daughter Bradey sent a text today while we were driving through Brady, TX. How funny is that?

 

On that note I'm going to sign off and have some food. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the photos. 

 

 

Most of our roads today were pretty empty.

Prickly pear is growing everywhere.

Love the rock cuts here.

Pretty isn't it?

 

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 

 

Deb