Though my ass is swollen. Keep this "train" a rollin'. Rawhide.
Or, something like that.
We were up early, with a specific goal in mind: hell with the 2/2/2 Rule, we want to make it across west Texas. When double towing, we generally keep the speed to 60 to 62 mph. 543 miles. Figure in some gas stops, potty stops, and chow... we figured at least 10 hours. There is about 10 hours of daylight in this part of the country right now. I would rather start out in the dark than arrive in the dark. There is an RV park (using the term "park" loosely) at Exit 2 that has long RV sites - we know we will fit in there, and they always have room.
The bad news: the tailwind from yesterday went away, replaced by a quartering headwind from the north northwest. Cooler temps, too. It was 42º when we got up this morning. We unhooked and left in the dark. As quiet as we could... diesel trucks are particularly quiet. Down the road a ways, Joan got this shot of the sunrise in the side mirror...
Shortly after that, we stopped for the first of 3 fuel stops today. My buddy, Carl, says, "You measure distance in Texas by 'tanks'... as in: it was two tanks of fuel across central Texas." Today was a 3 1/2 tank day. Big Red can pull like a champ, but she has a relatively small fuel tank. That's OK, I need the potty breaks.
It was chilly to go along with the wind. Big Red has a good heater, but I needed the coat at each fuel stop. Some know I am not enamored with west Texas. And, going 60 mph or so across the 550 miles of west Texas seems to take forever. Usually, the timing means we have to stop at either Ft. Stockton or Van Horn for the night. Sometimes, Balmorhea, Texas. I was determined to make it past El Paso.
Some people don't believe there are mountains in Texas. Oh, they may not be as high as the northern Rockies, but they exist...
There is a lot of non-civilization in west Texas. We saw a few dust devils, and LOTS of 18-wheelers and other RVs. And, occasionally, not much other traffic...
Empty road as far as you can see. The traffic picked up as we neared El Paso. Population of metro El Paso is around 800,000. Add in Juarez (Mexico) and Las Cruces (New Mexico), and you have 2.7 million people. Sometimes it feels like all of them are in the stretch of I-10 from Exit 37 to Exit 2. Throw in the constant road construction, and you have some fun driving with Big Red, the Love Shack, and the scooter hauler all hooked up. The timing was such that we had to go through there during afternoon rush hour. Not relaxing, by any means, but we've seen it worse here (like the time we drove through here in a snow storm).
2/3 of the way to our destination, and we are still in Texas. Did I mention it is a long ways across west Texas?? ;-)
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