Through the Old West

We pulled up the jacks, slid in the slides and racked the dish and headed out of Las Cruces this morning. We had a closet full of clean clothes and a full tank of fresh water, and bellies full of good food from La Posta down in Mesilla.

Maldito buen Mexicano

It was time to roll on west so we blew that pop stand and headed for the boondocks. We had to wander down I-10 for bit but soon we were off on the Old West Highway (70) running from Lordsburg up towards Safford and onto Superior where we knew a great spot to spend a few days decompressing from our trip across west Texas.

Old West Highway somewhere southeast of Safford

The Old West Highway is a two lane lightly traveled road that traverses some pretty nice country between Lordsburg and Globe crossing the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation along the way. Most of our drive today was done under cloudy skies and even the odd rain shower and even though rain is not one of our favourite weather patterns, it was hard not to think of the smiles on the faces of all the cowmen along this highway as that rain nourished the landscape.

We are in a familiar spot near Picket Post mountain and will spend a few days here before moving on further west. Where, who knows, like all RV'ers our plans are written on jello and other than a few folks we want to connect with along the way we don't really have any plan other than to enjoy the winter here south of the snow line.

A panoramic view from our spot

 This two pictures give you an idea of the view from our lawn chairs and probably a good idea of why we keep returning. Till next time, stay tuned.

Now that's Solitude

Heading West

Well we have left Matagorda Bay and Magnolia Beach in our rear view mirror and headed west. Our route only hit San Antonio with a glancing blow but the freeway system there reminded me of my Great Grandpa's description of the old traffic circles in Edmonton, designed by Dante himself. I swear there is no rhyme nor reason to them in fact at one point we were whirling around a corner from one freeway to another and I thought, there goes a rig just like ours, then it dawned on me that I had just about passed myself going the other way.

One of the small towns we transited on our way in towards San Antonio had a lot of low hanging branches over the streets and one of those branches knocked the antenna for our cell booster for a loop so we have another on the way to a friends place in Thunderbird Farms.

Last night we stopped at a familiar spot, the Circle Bar Truck Stop, near Ozona, Texas. We stopped there on our way east and woke up with about 100 trucks parked in close quarters. While walking the dogs I had noticed a back corner that the big fellows couldn't access so last night we wiggled our way back into that corner and slept like babies while the big CATS and Cummins purred away at a distance. We noticed that the trucks start slipping in off the highway about sundown and don't leave till daylight. Not sure why so many leave the road at night, back home the truckers seem to like those less busy dark hours, but it could be the hundreds of dead deer we pass along the highway in West Texas give them a little incentive to get a good night's rest.

We were on the road early this morning and that put us into El Paso just over the noon hour. I am not sure if it was a normal day or maybe the federal holiday honouring George H.W. Bush brought more folks out onto the freeway but it was exciting. I have always said Salt Lake City is a city built along an interstate and is 100 miles long and a 1/4 mile wide. The traffic there is legendary, in fact many go a long ways out of their way just to miss SLC.

Well, El Paso is about the same, a city jammed between a mountain and a Wall and the I-10 is everything I-15 is to Salt Lake with a little Mexican spice added for effect. My strategy of picking a semi going the right speed and then just following along behind him worked pretty well and kept that oh so precious space in front of us so we don't have to hover over the brakes. The little fellows don't seem to like following those semi's and leave a good amount of space behind them.

We are in Las Cruces at the KOA tonight and plan on staying here tomorrow and getting those tanks that need emptying empty and fill those that need filling filled as well as catching up on our laundry before we head back out to an old favourite boondocking spot.

West Texas has some wonderful vista's in fact maybe to many vistas as we crossed that vast wasteland but I didn't get the camera out so I will leave you with one last sunrise shot from Matagorda Bay.

Texas Bound

We left Las Cruces Monday morning and threaded our way through El Paso, just after the morning rush hour. It was a little hectic but no tie-ups so of short duration anyway. Lots of pollution drifting down the valley there, funny how that wall doesn't stop any of that. We weren't lucky enough to see any trees as we drove across West Texas, we were hoping to see if the new forest raking protocol has been implemented but I guess that will have to wait until we are out of the desert, even though we did notice there were fire bans in most of the county's we traversed. #MakeAmericaRakeAgain

We are spending the night near Ozona, Texas, enjoying the hospitality of Exxon and the local tire shop. We did call around to the local RV Parks but they are jammed full of oil patch guys, seems to be a boom happening in these parts. We have traveled a little over 3700 kilometers on this journey so far and I did notice one strange thing.

It appears that Alberta, where they have the third largest petroleum reserves in the world, and Texas which certainly has more than its fair share have by far the highest prices for fuel. Strangely enough Arizona, which to my knowledge, doesn't produce enough petroleum to fuel a Coleman Stove and the far south of New Mexico have the lowest prices. Apparently having petroleum and refining capacity is no indicator that your prices will be good. Against all logic transportation has little impact on the price of fuel.

A Look Around

I promised you a look around Picket Post so here it is. Tonight we are Las Cruces, New Mexico after a great drive down through Safford, Arizona to Lordsburg before joining the rat race on I-10 across south New Mexico. We managed to slip downtown here to La Posta, a favourite spot in Old Mesilla, for an early dinner. This old building is the last stopping place along the Butterfield Overland Stage Route still working and although the floors are a little crooked the grub is great.

Good Grub here

Fly along with me here.