A long day...

You may have heard me talk about the "2/2/2 Rule" - drive around 200 miles, get off the road by 2:00pm, and stay for two days.  No, we don't always follow that "rule."  Today, we drove until 5:00pm, covered about 440 miles, and plan to head out of here in the morning.

We are traveling across West Texas.  After going 440 miles, we only have another 140 miles to go to get out of Texas.  Yeah, it is a long ol' haul across West Texas.

Leaving this morning, the traffic was very light going through San Antonio...

Not an accident that we planned to roll through there on Sunday morning.

As usual, Rufus likes his morning snuggle time...

A friend asked (on Facebook) about our "infotainment center" in the motorhome.  There is a learning curve to getting the most out of it, but it is a full-featured RV GPS, a trip planner, trip computer, rear and side cameras monitor, entertainment (satellite radio, AM/FM, blue tooth for music on a device), DVD player, outside air temp, compass, and more.  A few of the screens...

We also use a Garmin GPS for backup.  And Joan's iPhone and iPad.  Pretty rare that we get lost.  ;-)

A look down the road in West Texas...

A lot of nuthin' out there.  OK, not entirely true: there is scrub brush, gas and oil wells, and an occasional town.  Rest areas are about 90 miles apart, on average.  Gas prices ran 60¢ to 95¢ more per gallon than what we paid in San Antonio... you are a captive audience.  The range on the motorhome is about 400 miles, depending on wind and terrain... we know we are going to have to stop for fuel somewhere along the way.  Gas Buddy is our friend, and allows us to plan for stops where the prices are the best.  With our length, we can't just pull into any ol' gas station.  (More on our length in a bit)

First time I've seen an Amazon truck on the road...

I know the stuff has to get moved around.

When we are home, I am the meanest hombre east of the Pecos...

Now, I am the meanest hombre west of the Pecos.  If you said, "That is a Yosemite Sam reference!" you get 50 bonus points.  If you think I am the meanest hombre anywhere, you don't know me.  ;-)

West Texas isn't flat.  While a lot of it is kinda featureless, there are some hills and mountains...

The biggest issue is it is just SO FAR across..,. and we keep it around 62 to 63 mph with the motorhome when double towing.  The speed limit across much of West Texas is 80 mph.  We get passed a lot.

One vehicle that didn't pass us today was a Texas Highway Patrol SUV.  He was parked on the other side of the road as we drove by.  It didn't take him long to swing across the median and come up behind us.  I told Joan, "We are about to get pulled over."

"We haven't done anything wrong."

"Yep."

He sat behind us for about 5 minutes.  Then he pulled up to where he could see the license plates for the Honda and the coach; and check all our towing connections.  Then, he pulled back behind us and turned on his red and blue roller lights.

"There it is," I said as I put on my blinker and moved to the shoulder to stop.  We sat in the coach and waited for him to come to the window (passenger side).  Joan rolled down her window - he could see that it was two harmless old people... and a very handsome cat (Rufus stay on his tower between us during all of this).

He said, "Do you know how long you are with this rig?"

I said, "Yes sir, we are just under 64 feet."

"Do you know that for a fact?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

He said, "If you will get out and help me measure it, as long as you are under 65 feet, you can be on your way."

"Absolutely.  I'm just going to let this upcoming traffic go by and I'll be right there."

He had his tape measure in hand, I held the end of it at the front of the coach, and he walked it to the back.  He looked at the tape and said, "Yes, sir, you are good to go."

"We have been towing for a lot of years; I have a book with all the rules in the different states, and we play by the rules."

He shook my hand and said, "You seem to do a good job handling this, especially with the wind today."

"It handles pretty decent," I told him, then asked, "Are you going to pull out at the same time we do?  It would be nice to have you behind us, since it is uphill getting started."

He smiled and said, "I've got your back, sir - have a good day!"

All the double towing we have been doing for years, that is the first time we have been pulled over and measured.

No problem, no issues.  I am aware that this part of the state gets a lot of stuff moved through that the police want to know about.  They often find it when they pull someone over for a tail-light out or an expired tag.  No issue with us.  Again: two harmless old folks and a handsome cat.

We are down for the night, still in West Texas.  When we pulled in, it was mostly cloudy.  I am hoping that clears later - tonight is the January full moon, and more than that, it is a "blood" moon, meaning it will appear to turn red during tonight's full lunar eclipse.  And, the moon is closer than usual, so it is a "super moon."  So, when you tell your friends about it tomorrow, it is "Super Blood Wolf Moon, during a full lunar eclipse."

It should be in full eclipse around 10:40pm here tonight (your timing and time zone may differ).