Day 12: Texas has the wind: Fort Stockton, TX to Las Cruces, NM

I listened to an interview of Anne Murray on the CBC Radio One this morning (streamed). It reminded me of the time first born child (perhaps 3 or 4 years old) and I were walking on the beach in Nova Scotia near Northport. We were just picking up cool stuff and golf balls (save the dolphins!) and I really had to pee. But there was a woman following us too closely. We slowed down and said hi. She was Anne Murray’s mother. We talked for a bunch of minutes and she shared some stories. Obviously she was a proud mother. Visit over, run down the beach. Relief!!

It’s not just any pair of jeans, it’s Bad Idea Jeans! Well, let’s talk about that. Some decisions seem ok at the time and in hindsight, not so good. “It’s a quiet rest stop”, “barely hear the highway”, “highly recommended”. Well, not last night. We live in a quiet world so noise isn’t something we are super used to. But, It was hard to sleep with all of the trucks idling (I thought that wasn’t needed / cool anymore??) and people arriving for rest breaks. We got some sleep so that is OK. But, don’t do that again.

Morning walk was a straight line down the road parallel to the highway. 1.745 km out and 1.745 km back. 30 minutes, done, time to move on.

When we hit the road around 0930 or so it was windy. Really windy. I’m very happy we did not have to do the extra 2.5-3 hours of driving into that wind today. See, some bad decisions are ok on specific dimensions! I must say, this here state of Texas is picturesque! Scenic vista after scenic vista. It’s like the valleys in New Hampshire where you see the steeple of the church first as you round the corner. But these are very different. I’d like to compliment Texas on looking so good and being so diverse.

We stopped at a lookout and walked up the hill to see the magic on the other side.

We gained an hour in west Texas. I did not know that Texas had two timezones. We went through El Paso and stopped at Rudy’s BBQ to get some to go. It’s like Mission BBQ but has been around longer. We sat near a city park and had lunch. We tried to eat at a picnic table but the wind was way too strong.

Eventually we made our way to the Las Cruces KOA and “set up” for a relax. Beautiful sun but cold wind so we kept moving from sun to shade. Mrs Milddogs did some laundry (a new birthday tradition) and after that was done we headed into town to get some stuff. We picked up some food at La Posta de Mesilla. It is famous for being in the old part of town and right around the corner from where they held, tried and sentenced Billy the Kid. We wandered around the corner to look at that old courthouse. Food in the van, let’s go back to the campground.

Campground is pretty decent but not at all wild. We normally don’t go for this kind of thing but it really is a nice change compared to sleeping beside the highway. Oh, showers! Please and thank you!

Amy met a puppy in the local dog park. Amy prefers to be an only child. At least she ran around a bit!

Mrs Milddogs had a birthday. We had cake. The cake was smiling for us. Apparently it gets hot in the van, even in the microwave where we have stored the cake. We may have to eat it quickly.

In the morning we are filling up all water containers and heading for some more remote action. We actually have a campsite tomorrow night but after that a few nights of BLM land are in order.

I think we will have cell coverage tomorrow. Not sure about the few days after that. By Monday or so we should be in or near southern Arizona.