On to Austin and New Mexico

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I parked the motor home and spent four great days with Bev in her new digs. Left Austin in brilliant sunshine on Thursday morning, temperature about 75 degrees; pulled into Fort Stockton 45 degrees, I had to put a sweat-shirt on for the first time since March!! Friday morning was grey and dismal but I was New Mexico bound.

I really love Texas, it is so diverse (in every way). I entered through the Orange, Texas border where the landscape is absolutely flat - and travelling on Interstate 10 it stays that way for more than 300 miles. In Austin which is basically in the middle of the state, the west side is almost mountainous while the east side is very flat. Some fantastic view of the city and surrounding lakes can be enjoyed from the Westlake Hills area. Interstate 10 travels in a northwest direction out of San Antonio and the topography starts to change dramatically and the scenery is most enjoyable. Then you reach the Permian Basin area, (a plateau), and the land is flat and very uninteresting. The change in the surrounding countryside is also quite start, just scrubb grass and low shrubs.

As I pressed toward New Mexico through the northern Davis Mountains I climbed into some low cloud and it started to drizzle, but by the time I reached Van Horn at the foot of the Baylor Mountains the sun had started to break through and by Sierra Blanca Mountains I was under clear blue skies with wonderful views. Passing through El Paso, Texas one can see the city of Juarez in northern Mexico but it was lunchtime, so the highway was busy and it was hands on the wheel and eyes front. (I had entered through the most eastern Texas border and was now 878 miles later, at Texas' most western border.)

The road from the New Mexico border to Deming travels virtually through flat desert. The RV resort where I am staying is about ten miles out of town (5 of them on gravel road--hard on the equipment but worth it when you get here.) I am at 4335 ft above sea level so the air is very dry. I haven't had to use an air conditioner yet as the nights and early mornings are even quite brisk and there is always a pleasant breeze blowing. Amazing what humidity does! The flora and fauna are certainly very different from the south Texas area; there are scores of jack rabbits here and hundred's of Gambel's quails, their call is a surprised "oooh" and has been my early morning wake-up call since I got here. In the evening you can hear the coyotes in the surrounding hills, and there are bobcats a plenty so all the pet owners keep their "little darlings" close to home. The New Mexico State bird is the roadrunner and I have one nesting in the cactus shrub beside my motor home, she is back and forth constantly with tit-bits for her brood--mostly live lizards! Protein I guess! I leave here on Sunday.

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Photos

Bootheel Hills
View from my windshield, Hidden Valley Ranch, Deming, New Mexico