Howdy, Texas!

6 Feb 2013

We woke up before the sunrise this morning and enjoyed watching the sky change shades of pink and blue while drinking our morning cup of coffee. We then drove east out of town over the mountains.  I’m so glad we didn’t attempt those mountains last night, as Kory wanted to do.  We were up to over 8,000 feet with snow and ice all around and non-stop windy curves.  As it was, it was pleasant in the early morning light, since we were the only ones on that road, but we would have missed all the sights along the way. 

Ski resorts, mountain cabins, herds of mule deer, streams and lots of abandoned buildings kept the drive interesting.  Once we were over the top and on the flat land, I drove a bit.  Then it was just oil drilling equipment as far as the eye could see. 

One town we drove through, Hobbs, New Mexico, looked like it is enjoying a boom time.  There were RV parks up all over the place with RVs parked as close as they could be.  The entire town was just one business after another supporting the oil industry and I swear we didn’t see a car for hours and hours – just big pickup trucks.  Most of them seemed to be fleet vehicles for the oil companies.  I’ve never seen anything like it – like a gold rush town or something.  Other towns we passed had seen better days.

Once we got past the oil rigs, we saw miles and miles of nothing but cotton fields set on red dirt – very picturesque.  I could tell, by the size of the farms, they must be run by Monsanto, and sure enough, a big billboard we passed confirmed that fact.  So those farm are controlled by a big company that tells the farmers how and what to grow.  We didn’t pass a single family owned looking farm all day.  We did pass lots of pecan groves and peanut fields, however.  Who knew they grew peanuts in Texas.

Some areas had huge windmills for producing energy.  It was funny to see oil rigs getting oil from below, wind turbines creating energy from above, and farmers working the fields growing a crop.  Talk about triple dipping on the same piece of property.

We opted away from the freeway today and just went on side highways, so for the most part, we had the road to ourselves, except for the dead raccoons and skunks along the way and all the "Fresh Water For Sale" signs.  It’s weird that the speed limit was 75mph going right past people’s driveways, but I never went over 61.  It was a long day of driving and we didn’t stop until dark.  We didn't even pass a Walmart all day and our phone didn't get any reception, so we were in the boonies, for sure.

I was hoping to be an hour closer to Dallas tonight (we are currently two hours away) but I failed to calculate in that we passed a new time zone, so we lost an hour today.  Otherwise, we’d be back on schedule.  We only stopped for quick breaks to change drivers or to get gas and eat at picnic spots – where we are now.  We are snug as a bug on the side of Highway 180 – an otherwise desolate road between Albany, Texas, (which looked like the cutest little tourist town when we passed through), and Breckenridge, Texas, which lies up ahead about 23 miles. 

Since there are no nearby towns, businesses or houses, it got pretty dark here after sunset since the moon wasn’t even out yet.  We could see stars all the way down to the horizon.  Kaleb climbed up on top of the RV so he could lay back and stargaze.  I watched lightening in the distance.  It was pretty special.

Tomorrow I hope we make it through the rest of Texas and on into Louisiana. I’m not looking forward to passing through the heart of Dallas/Fort Worth as I’ve heard the traffic is always awful there.  At least we had today.