November 18, 2015 Travel to Deming

We woke this morning to no wind and away we went.

South of Carlsbad the land was flat and no more oil rigs:

Guadalupe Mountains in the background and the winds are picking up - oh no:

Getting closer and the wind is really picking up:

Into Texas:

The land in the valley was filled with what I called “scrubby” vegetation – low shrubs, grasses, and cacti:

We also saw many horses – some singly, some in herds – they were beautiful!:

Many free range cows:

Starting up the mountain pass:

Lots of wind gusts thru this – Andy did great!  (Can you believe there was no wind in the forecast!  Sheesh! I wonder what it is like when wind is forecasted.)

On the way down to the valley:

The wind was much less here on the valley floor.  We went past old homes – I bet there are stories here:

The salt flats in the distance:

WOW!:

We passed another one of these VORTAC – (Variable Omni-Range, Tactical Air Navigation) sites. They provide bearing/distance information for aircraft and form airway intersections or fixes.

More abandoned homes:

There was much land for sale here.  Every once in a while we would see a home.

This area is really desolate.  There is really nothing around for 40 or so miles.  I like have space around me but I don’t think I could live that far away from everything.

This must be the valley gathering place – it was packed:

A tumbleweed just rolling along:

The road continues on:

Border patrol for those coming from El Paso (heading east on I-10):

Going out of the valley into the hills again:

El Paso in the distance:

Instead of heading straight for I-10, we decided to do the 375 loop around El Paso.  Half of the loop is an expressway and the other half is a road thru the Franklin Mountains:

At the top:

What goes up must come down:

We picked up I-10, stopped for gas, and then into New Mexico:

Our turn at the inspection station (heading west out of El Paso):

Train carrying many containers – it was very long and colorful:

Our final stop to night was at Dream Catcher RV Park, an Escapee Rainbow Park.  They also have a Happy Hour and we met up with Brenda and Leland and got a little caught up.  We will see them in Casa Grande later this week.

Tomorrow we are headed to our lot in Casa Grande, AZ so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 287 Miles

Routes Traveled:

New Mexico: Lakewood Road; US-285; US-62

Texas: US-62; SR-375 Loop; I-10

New Mexico: I-10; I-10 Business

November 17, 2015 Traveling to New Mexico

We were up early and on the road as the sun rose.  There were wind warnings and we wanted to get to our destination early.

West out of Brownfield:

The towns are few and far between each other but there are farm houses that dot the landscape:

Storage buildings here and there too:

Getting ready to harvest:

Looks like the start of a vineyard:

Cotton, Cotton, Everywhere:

Old farm buildings:

And new ones too:

As we approached the border, we began to see more and more oil rigs:

Amongst the cotton bales and cotton gins:

Into New Mexico:

And we saw more and more of the oil industry equipment:

Sign leaving Lovington, NM:

And then there was nothing – but flat at 3900’:

Now here is where it gets more interesting.  We came down in elevation and it looked like a town that was spread out:

But look real close past the homes along the road:

Those, my friends, are the oil fields.  There was at least one pumper per acre and sometimes three rigs pumping.  Plus they are still drilling.  It was fascinating and went for MILES.

In the next few pictures, check out the background – miles of them as far as you can see and the smell of oil was heavy!

WOW! WOW! and more WOW!  I am still speechless as I write this!

We also crossed another time zone and arrived at our destination at 9:30 AM.  My Andy did a great job getting us here thru the winds.

We are staying at The Ranch, an Escape CO-OP park.  This was our first CO-OP Escape park that we visited in 2008 when we were checking out what this club was all about.  It is still as friendly as ever.

At the laundry I met up with Lois who I haven’t seen since Quartzsite and we spent some time getting caught up.  At Happy Hour, we met up with Leland and got caught up. We hope to see him and Brenda in Deming tomorrow.

There were other folks who looked familiar to me and I know I have met somewhere in our travels, I just don’t remember where – I probably will in a few days – LOL!

So tomorrow if the wind has stopped we will be on our way west. 

Enjoy today!

Miles Traveled: 149 Miles

Texas: US-62; US-82

New Mexico: US-82; US-285; Lakewood Road