Friday, May 27, 2016

40% chance of thunderstorms = a 60% chance we won't get wet...


Off this morning, heading into San Antonio (the 8th largest city in the country) on the Friday of a holiday weekend... what could go wrong with that plan?  ;-)

I said, "See ya down the road," to my Honey, since we are driving separate...


I had to be careful to not run over the ducks that populate the park...


Just like humans: the boys chasing the girls.

It was pretty overcast.  Looking at hourly forecasts, if we make it through San Antonio by 10:00 or so, it should be before more expected rain.  It looked like this...



Driving separate worked out well, with all the turns we have to make to get off of I-37 and onto I-10... driving a motorhome, there are places that feel like a "Runaway Mine Train" ride at an amusement park.  Traffic was surprisingly light.  I led the way in the motorhome, Joan opened lanes behind me when I need to switch lanes.  We didn't get slowed down as we made our way west.

Into Hill Country...


For the first hundred miles or so, we had a decent tailwind.  That changed abruptly, when the GPS in the motorhome said, "Wind Warning Ahead"...


As the sky cleared of clouds, the wind changed 180º... yes, making it a headwind... and kicked up above 20 mph.  There goes my gas mileage.

Nice to see blue sky, though...


Not so nice to see this, after we left the Hill Country...



About 150 miles of really crap road.  I guess it is cheaper to put out a sign rather than fix the road... it has been like this the last several times we've been across here.

A lot of nuthin' out here...


Well, I shouldn't say nuthin'... at one point, I could see 4 dust devils at the same time...


We stopped for a late lunch (3:00) and fuel (one stop shopping) in Fort Stockton.  Decisions: stop for the day here, or push on to Van Horn.  Towing the cargo trailer, we keep the speed to 65 mph or less.  With the crap road and ugly winds, it was usually less.  It is about 550 miles across west Texas, so we can't make it in one day.  We decided to go another couple hours.

Tomorrow, we'll have a couple more hours of "high desert scenery", then get to deal with the crazy-ass drivers in El Paso.

I'm ready for an adult beverage and an evening without getting bounced around.  The forecast for tonight: a low of 56º (we won't need to run the a/c!), clear, and wind out of the west at 15 gusting to 32.  We are just over 4,000' elevation, and it is dry here.  Blowing dirt kinda dry.  Right now, it is 82º and it "feels like" 82º... haven't seen that in a while.


No comments: