Tumbleweeds & Traffic

Feb 16/2019  Weather cool 55, sunny but super wwwwwwiiiinnndddyyy!  Wind alert all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  258 miles.  We left Tucson and drove east on I10 with west winds and some sideways gusts 25 to 45 mph.  Thank goodness most of it was pushing us. 

tumbleweeds blowing everywhere

  At times we had tumbleweeds blowing right into our coach.  Billy was shocked when a few hit us really hard!  No swerving.....   Early on (2:30 pm) we found a good spot at Las Cruces KOA.  The wind alert was on till 10 pm so we did not open any slides, no use looking to tear our toppers!    It was cool and down to 35 by morning (elevation here is 4,000 ft) but the campground has a great view from high up over the city at night.  We snuggled up and the wind let up by bedtime.  

Las Cruces KOA view over the city

Feb 17/2019  Weather warmer 64, sunny.  Wind nothing like yesterday, a bit behind us still.  On our way to Fort Stockton today.  300 miles.  There is not much across this part of Texas once you get past El Paso.  Darn that city always seems to be a bit of a snag for us.  One of our least favourite drives on I10.   Last year we had to detour off I10 for a short closure thru downtown..... Billy thought of it first thing this morning.  And yes there is another 2 mile stretch down today!  Crap.  We really need to get a handle on this.  We have a route around the city using the N375 loop and avoiding most of the Franklin Mountains which have unfriendly grades to deal with.  After today we are printing the friendly bypass route out and keeping it with our map for Texas.  No more going thru El Paso on I10.  Weekdays it is always extremely busy, and now two years in a row on a Sunday part of I10 is closed and a detour is setup. 

while we wait to get to the exit; cars flying thru the median to get out of gridlock

So here we sit in gridlock inching to the exit and the detour.  2 hours later,,,,,, ugh.  Yes 2 hours from coming into El Paso and getting out of El Paso.  Never again.  The Co-pilot (Rosey that be you girl) needs to print out those driving instructions and have them ready for next year.  Rest of the trip was a breeze to Fort Stockton RV Park where we will have a nice home cooked supper in the small cafe.   Small things make our day good again :)

Ramblin on West

Feb 4 in Fort Stockton, Texas and Feb 5 in Las Cruces, New Mexico

Just before Fort Stockton

The weather is cool about 60, clear sky and sunny.   Great for driving.  Nights have been cold.  We are not hooking up our water hose,, it will freeze for sure.  Both nights had temps at 26 for about 6 hours.   Both places are over 3,000 feet and temps drop 30 degrees and more in the desert.  Brrr.   We have our bed preheated by our electric blanket and keeping us toasty all night.  The interstate 10 gives vistas that look like a 100 miles away in every direction.  Nothing.  Very few towns and less truck stops for diesel.  Just   Tumbleweed.  Cactus.  Rocks.  Plateaus.   Buttes.   Wide open country.  

Big pickers on these cactus

We plan our stop in Texas at Fort Stockton RV Park (old KOA)  rather than Van Horn.  1000 feet less elevation, so it will not be as cold at night.  And they have a great little cafe in the campground with good home cooked meals.   We wish more campgrounds had a little cafe, you meet others from the park and always lots of good stories to trade.

View from our campsite at Lac Cruces is really pretty

Las Cruces KOA is at 4000 feet but we checked the forecast and its going to be about the same as Fort Stockton at night.  Definitely have to check this, some campers at the Cafe in F.S. told us the night before it was down to 18 !!!!!   I am a Weather Watcher.  Al Roker is my best friend:)
We would love to stay in Las Cruces for a week and ride, there is quite a bit of beautiful scenery but the forecast is just a tad to cold for us, even with all our leathers on.  Maybe in the Spring, we can always come back this way.