Are You Kidding Me?

We departed Pecos around 8:00 this morning, stopped for fuel, and headed west. The temp was 40º a a bit of a "spit" in the air. By the time we got a few miles down the road, the spit turned white... yep, snow! It was light at first... and then got heavier as the temp dropped. By the time we got to El Paso, there was a full-fledged Winter Storm Warning in effect - they were predicting 3 to 8" of the evil white crap. We stopped at the Flying J on the east side of the city and had over an inch of snow on the hood in the short time it took us to fuel up.

We planned to head as far as we could, checking weather along the way. If we could get out of El Paso, we'd go to Las Cruces. If we could get beyond Las Cruces, we'd try for Deming. Make it past Deming, and we'd go for Lordsburg. If we can, we'd like to make it to Benson, Arizona, for the night. Another long day.


The traffic in El Paso was nasty... these people drive in the snow like they drive when it's dry: darting back and forth between lanes, passing on the right, tail-gating, and cutting in front of you when you try to leave any kind of pad. And today, it was in the snow, with low visibility, slush and water messing up the lanes... I really don't like this crap!

By the time we got to mile marker 11 in Texas, the traffic started to thin out. The snow didn't. Joan called an RV park in Las Cruces; they have plenty of sites available and it is just raining there... incentive to move on!

The temp dropped to 28º. On a fun scale of 1 to 10, this was no damn fun. We stopped for a burger at exit 0, and the snow started to turn to a cold rain... and the wind came up from the east. We ate while we rolled. This section of the Interstate runs north, so we had a crosswind... in the snow. The truck and HitchHiker continue to impress me with their road manners.

Another 30 miles down the road and the precip turned to steady rain... 33º. From Las Cruces, the road turns west, so our crosswind turned to a tailwind. For the next 150 miles, we drove through rain, then snow, then rain, then snow. It got lighter when we crossed the Arizona border. And by the time we were 40 miles from Benson, the temp began to rise... slowly. As the elevation increased, the temp decreased. Then down the hill into Benson, and no precip and 42º. Almost cause to celebrate.

Izzy spent most of the day cuddled on Joan's lap. She is really a great little traveler... never makes a fuss and does a great job of lowering blood pressure when the going gets rough.

It's supposed to be clear and cold tonight, but we are down, the fireplace is running, the Love Shack is warm and cozy, and Joan is making chili for supper. It was a long day, but we're that much closer to seeing our little girl again.