We are down for the night...

... in the scenic suburbs of Fort Stockton, TX - just in time for the annual Blowing Dirt Festival (Jan. 1st through Dec. 31st, each year).

About 350 miles today - Rufus is officially a travel cat.  He did great today, although for full disclosure, he did look at me while Joan and I were getting ready to roll and said, "We're gonna do this again, aren't we?"

"Yes, Rufus, this is what we do - we travel together.  Happily.  You'll get to see your new house soon, but we have to travel to get there."

"OK - just as long as you guys are here.  And food - food is important."

"Yep - we will always be here for you.  With food."

We got out a little later than yesterday, intentionally -  an hour and a half down the road, we will be going through El Paso, and we want to avoid morning rush hour.

The view in southeast New Mexico - the mountains by Las Cruces...

We were out before the wind picked up - the weather weasels are calling for strong west to southwest winds, with gusts to 40 mph by afternoon.  Check out the flag - it's a crosswind in this area...

"Who cares about the wind and weather - show us Rufus!"  Yeah, I get it.  He likes to ride on a lap right now...

That may change as he gets more worldly.  Just across the Texas/New Mexico border, we made our usual stop for fuel.  Ready to take on the El Paso traffic.  It was worse on the west side of El Paso, due to road construction.  Since the road construction through the main part of the city on I-10 is done, the problem isn't stop and go, bumper-to-bumper traffic - it is the crazy ass drivers who are driving fast and switching lanes as though this were a NASCAR event.  I knew we were back in Texas when a car in the far left lane shot between the semi and us in the far right lane, and just barely made Exit 1.  We saw plenty of that for the next 35 miles.

Rufus was assigned to Joan's lap during our El Paso passage...

We made it through El Paso unscathed, only needing to use the horn once for a truck that drifted into our lane.  Once into the clear, Rufus took turns with lap sitting...

The goal for today: 350 miles, getting us near Fort Stockton, and get down before the wind really kicks.

I have heard a rare person say that west Texas is ruggedly beautiful.  Maybe we've made this transit too many times.  There is some of this...

... but mostly it is pretty desolate.  It does appear that there is some activity in the oil biz again, with new tank farms and equipment.  Speaking of the oil biz: as usual, the highest gas prices are in the Van Horn and Fort Stockton area.

We rolled into an RV park around 4:30 - good thing we called a few hours ahead to get reservations: the place was busy, and we are in a site that is almost long enough for us.  Hot (in the low 90s) and windy (west at 20 and building).

We are comfortable in the coach, the a/c is keeping things cool, and Rufus is stretched out for a nap... he doesn't get his morning and afternoon naps in when he has to do all this "lap duty."  Truth be told, we have a couple different cat beds in easy reach for him, so he could hop off a lap and catch some zzzzzs.  If he wanted to get off a lap.

He did fine with the different road noises, having lunch at a not-particularly level rest area, and stayed on my lap when I rolled down the window at the Border Patrol Check Point.  Oh, he did get our attention when he stepped on the window button, rolling it down - he didn't freak, and had no intention of making an escape.  He did look at me like: "What the heck was that all about?"

It's all good.