Stockton To Deming

Day two for the trio.  We slept later than expected but no longer than we wanted to.  It was a good wake up and we had a nice breakfast at the Alpine Lodge which is part of the Swiss Clock motel.  As we returned from breakfast, we met some old farts who are younger than us and reminded us of how we must REALLY look to others.  We had a good early morning conversation with these wonderful people on a tour to the Big Bend National Park.

Hitting the road on IH 10 (little else to go west from here) we road a great Texas highway with posted speed limit of 75.  The 18 wheelers were in abundance but gave us great respect as we did to them.  The odds are too much.  18 to 2 sounds like house odds to me.

The further west we went the more desert the land became.  Creosote bushes and sage and other drought tolerant bushes are present from horizon to horizon and the immense scope of the landscape is beyond description.  You can see the Southern Pacific trains with their 100 cars of stackable cargo twenty miles before you are close enough to wave.  The  rolling hills and forever unreachable skyline keep you looking for more and more and more.

Somewhere east of El Paso we approached an overpass that from a distance looked as though it was wrapped in blue plastic.  As we gained distance on it, it was evident that the concrete around the base of the overpass was painted with native wildlife and local colors.  It was quite awesome and gave us a welcome relief from the monotonous west Texas geography that goes on for hundreds of miles.  It must have been truly boring to Jake as he found himself on the side of the road bouncing on the noise maker ruts and woke up just before I bleeped my horn.  I think he was dreaming of home and Atwater where HIS F4 awaits his arrival.

I, in the meantime, never varied from my appointed rounds...skillfully avoiding all road hazards (including the dreaded and dangerous tumbleweed) to assure we all reach our destinations unscathed.  Jake accuses me of failing to show my own faults...but then you already know them.

West of El Paso, which is a large and traffic dangerous city, we passed miles of Holstein cows.  We knew they were there long before we saw them because we were not in air conditioned comfort like Don doing chase duty.  We also passed thousands of groves of some trees we still have not identified...we think nuts but will verify later.

Then it was on into New Mexico, treeless-desert landscape and an early-WINDY arrival at Deming.

We hit four Phantoms tomorrow: 66-0294, 0329, 0291, and 0377. It will be an emotional day. And we will enjoy it...doncha know?

Tomorrow the Tucson letters.

Here's some pictures (Full Album HERE):