view

view
Along the Natchez Trace

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Feels So Good....

We're on the road again!  I love spending time with our daughter...  in fact, I love spending time with all 4 of our kids...  and our siblings...  and our various friends.  Nothing is quite like seeing family.  But after 2 months it's time to hit the road again, and today we did.

Celeste leaves for work fairly early so we got to see her before we left....
Celeste and her Dad.....  
Our granddaughter was still asleep when we headed out,  but we'll be back here for a while this coming winter, so that was okay.  

We went the back road from Glen Rose over to Stephenville...  then took Rt 108 up to I 20.  One of my blogging friends, Butterbean Carpenter and his wife Joyce, had invited us to stop by for a visit on our way.  They live in Coleman County, and while we did pass through the top edge of the county it was just too far and we didn't take them up on the offer as we wanted to get to Albuquerque by tomorrow.  Again... we'll be back in the area this coming winter...  at least for a while...  and I really hope to catch up with them then.  I love it when we actually meet (and put a face to the name) folks we only know through the blog.  

We'd never traveled I 20 west of Ft Worth before, so it was new territory for us....
Not much to get excited about...
Lots of 18-Wheelers....
We got on at Gordon, TX, and drove I 20 to Sweetwater....
There were a fair amount of pump jacks working in this area.  This was just a display of various sizes and types of pump jacks that are available through this company.  Kind of interesting to see the various equipment.

In South Texas you won't see these pump jacks because the product down there contains gas...  not just oil...  so the gas does the job that the pump jacks do up here.

 Can't remember where we saw this plane...
It's a C-130
Bill was in the Air Force years ago and rode in many of these military planes.

Along I 20, and after we turned off at Rosco, up towards Lubbock, Tx, we saw mile after mile of these wind turbine "farms".
Harness the Wind!
These babies are HUGE....  and it's kind of awesome to see so many of them.  This is flatland, so I'd guess the wind blows here a lot.  

It's also agricultural land...
Miles of potato fields...  I had no idea that Texas grew potatoes...  
Wonder if they are sold to McDonalds for french fries?

The terrain changed...  from flat, almost desert-looking land to scrubby mesas and some rolling hills.  
I don't think this mesa is very high, but after miles and miles of flat, it looked like a mountain.

If you drive I 20 far enough it will join up and become I 10.  I 10 goes through the south of Texas.... over to El Paso.  If you've ever driven that, you'll probably remember looking across the river (the Rio Grande) into Juarez....  there is ALWAYS smoke from, I assume, landfills or trash burning....

While we weren't even close to I 10, a person has to maintain their sense of humor on these long road trips...
Hey, Bill....  did we make a wrong turn?
Looks like Juarez to me....

We drove a total of 302 miles today, which is a lot for us.
Tonight we are in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Lubbock, Texas.  It's a real luxury having our MiFi and being able to use the internet tonight.  No dish... no tripod... no getting coordinates and setting up...
Just that little "cigarette pack" size gadget that even run on batteries! and I'm in business!

Whoopee!  What fun to write a blog while on the road.

That's All For Today!



9 comments:

  1. Getting back on the road is always exciting! Safe travels.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We sometimes toy with the idea of being fulltimers because we both love "getting back on the road." Safe travels and enjoy yourselves!

    ReplyDelete
  3. On the road again...

    Wave at my cousins if you go by Ana. Or, just smile when you cross the Red River.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pump jacks and wind mills; Texas has the most of both.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome back to the road. I agree - after sitting for two months it is wonderful to actually have the wheels rolling.

    ReplyDelete
  6. haaa.. oh, lord! well, that route from Ft. Worth to El Paso on I-20 does indeed require a sense of humor. Even me and my sense of humor have a problem with that route.

    Driven it too many times. West Texas is not my favorite part. The Eastern part is the prettiest. Lots of pine trees. West Texas you can see for 20 miles .. ribbon roads ... fall asleep time ..

    potatoes for McD's HAHaaaa... Texas is a large agricultural state ~ one of those trips I made through West Texas was on I-10 ... I alternated between the two.. oh, sigh... ANYWay.. saw a turnip truck... liked to have had a wreck. a bonafide truck with turnips hanging on ~ some falling off the truck.

    Some little ol Mexican town there .... hmmm well? anyway... this truck came over the Mexican border bridge and turned onto I-10 right in front of me. I said... that looks like a turnip truck. had to get closer and sure enough ... ha! loved it

    I mean you gotta be quick to find stuff to get excited about in that area.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great pic of your daughter and her dad; I couldn't tell who she most resembles. I just said 'good-byes' a couple of days ago and I have to say I don't like them. I'd rather just leave while they're sleeping, like your granddaughter. I'm so relieved, however, to be out of the oppressive heat of the San Joaquin Valley, CA. I'm in Ashland, oregon, enjoying warm days (in the low 80s) and sleep-able nights. Enjoy NM. Godspeed

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nice photo of your daughter and Dad. You sure see a lot of interesting sites on your travels!

    ReplyDelete
  9. You daughter looks a lot like her dad. Thank you for sharing these pictures. They reminded me of crossing the continent by road. We did it four times. You discover so many things about other places.

    ReplyDelete