Still in Texas

10/2/2008 TX still
Today, as we leave Van Horn, it is sunny and cool, and we are still in Texas and still on I-10. I go out to start the car before we tow it and the car does start. The only thing is the fuse, which is about 1 1/4" wide, actually comes apart when I pull it out. Boy is that cheap. I get some electrical tape and tape the fuse back together. I also try it to make sure it still works, it does. Whew. We do not need any more problems.

After leaving, the first thing we see are a couple of deer. The second thing we see is the speed limit, still 80mph; to bad we're not in a car. Image doing 80, legally!

I am pretty tired, not having slept very well last night so Carmen is driving. About a half hour from Fort Stockton the land becomes flat again. It has been rocky and mountainous, now flat and you can see for miles.

We stop for lunch at a picnic area and it happens to have potable water and a dump station which we use both. While we are there, we try to use the wireless connection available at the rest area. But, unfortunately we keep loosing the connection and can not stay connected for very long. While Carmen was trying to answer an email, I took a picture of her, at the picnic table. As you can see the roof is held up by two wagon wheels. This was one of the better looking picnic areas we have come across.

Before we get to Fort Stockton, a semi-tractor trailer truck passes us and throws a rock back and it strikes the windshield. Sure enough there is a small bulls eye crack in the new windshield. Yes, the one we just had replaced and was installed only a week earlier and is only on the road for the third day. Again we'll have to call the insurance company.

Along the road we see oil rigs, mesas on both sides of the road, ranches, and some farms, goats, beef cattle and pecan trees. About 3 hours later, we're back in steep, but short, hills and looks like the quintessential Texas hill country scenery. A few miles down the road, about an hour later, we again have a 5 mile 8% grade decline then two miles fairly flat, and another 7% 4 mile downgrade.

We get gas before getting to San Antonio. The temperature is 96 degrees. Can you say hot? We get to San Antonio around 5:30PM. We are expecting some traffic, but the traffic coming out of the city is bumper to bumper. Thankfully we are headed into the city. By the time we get through San Antonio, the traffic heading East is not too bad and we do not run into any delays.

Just after San Antonio, Sequin actually, we pass a ranch with buffalo, cattle, and horses. So far today we have seen horses, cattle, buffalo, deer, sheep, goats and ostriches (on a ranch of course). We have also seen a number of hunting blinds. Actually, they are small huts atop a large tripod about 10 feet above the ground.

We decide to not stop at a rest stop before Houston, TX (9:30 pm) to avoid the morning traffic and to drive through tonight and stop at a rest area on the other side of Houston. Good luck with that! The drive through Houston takes us about an hour and by the time we get to the rest area, it is full. Off we go to the next one, trying several truck stops along the way, all full. We finally stop at around midnight in a "picnic area" and find the last space (a tractor-trailer must have just left) because it was big enough for us to fit.

Between all of the construction we drove through today, I immediately go to sleep. Carmen on the other hand is up for several hours, feeling she is still riding. It has been a very long day.