You know that idyllic RV life you see in the magazines??

Some days it really is like that.  Today was not one of those days.

We planned our departure from beautiful Deming so that we'd get to the Flying J at MM0 (first exit in Texas), fuel up, and be rolling through El Paso around 10:30 - hopefully, missing the worst of the morning rush hour traffic.

Ugly crosswind on this first stretch.  I did get some relief from the wind when trucks passed...

I probably shouldn't speed up to stay on his right side, though.  Heading into Las Cruces...

We left the RV park on schedule, pulled into Flying J and fueled up on schedule; got back on I-10 and saw the sign saying there was an accident ahead.  Joan pulled up the map app, and figured it was about 8 miles ahead... and then we ran into stopped traffic...

It took us the better part of an hour to go 8 miles.  Pretty apparent we aren't going to cover as many miles today as we thought.  You think you are safe from reality TV when caught in a traffic jam...

Yes, that is Kim Kardashian.  Apparently the truck is hauling a bunch of her fragrance.  It was next to us for quite a while.  The cleavage helps pass the time, since that was the view out my side window.  The view out the front...

When we passed the debris from the accident, I thought the pace would pick up - 4 lanes squeezing into 2 due to road construction.  We were 15 miles into El Paso before people were able to play NASCAR, jumping from lane to lane.  Once past Exit 37 (El Paso is a long damn town), the traffic thinned out.  The speed limit bumps up to 80... I keep the Aspect at our typical 60 to 62 mph.  Amazingly, we have a tailwind in this southerly stretch.  That lasts for about 50 miles, and then we are back into the crosswind, becoming a quartering headwind.

We did play some music trivia again today.  Joan was using the XM radio info to quiz me...

The song was Nights in White Satin.  I couldn't remember who did the song.  She offered me a clue: "This is what you get with PMS."

The band was Moody Blues.  I guessed: "Crazy Bitch??"

OK, let's listen to some talk radio.  ;-)

Looking at weather along our route, Mother Nature is tossing some ugly stuff at mid-Texas.  Pounding rain, severe thunderstorms, flooding, big wind.  We are in west Texas... also known as the area you would insert the tube if you were going to give America an enema.  There is no place I want to spend an extra day or two in this area.  We drove in and out of rain - the clouds look like Armegedon...

The rain wasn't heavy.  To add to the fun, the road turned to crap...

Yes, those are grooves on top of and through potholes.  I moved into the passing lane; it was worse.  The tires roared from the grooves and the bumps made the coach sound like a beer can half full of rocks being kicked on cobblestones.

We decided to pull off in Fort Stockton and found a Passport Park for $13.  I won't mention the name.  It is a place to be off the road, with a plug-in and cable TV.  Izzy won't be going for a walk here.  The rain has left much of this place muddy.  Areas that aren't muddy are mined with dog shit.  We are off the road and the wind seems to have died down.

Not sure how far we will go tomorrow - we'll see what Mother Nature has in store along our route.  We aren't on a schedule.