We left Las Cruces, NM and headed east on I-10 towards Texas on a warm, sunny, slightly breezy day. After 5 or 6 miles of cattle feed lots, we crossed the border into Texas. After all the mountains along the Rio Grande River, the landscape was mostly flat and desert-like for a while, then some dry rocky hills, then a combination of the two. It started getting windier as the sun rose higher in the sky, but the wind was behind us, so the driving was easier than yesterday.
We then turned northeast on I-20 towards Dallas. There were some grass and brush fires south of us around Ft. Davis, but none where we were. However, since we changed direction, the wind was now coming at us more from the left side, so that made for harder driving. East of Pecos, Texas we started to see oil wells in the fields on both sides of the road. The wind was blowing harder and was carrying a lot of Texas around with it - the dust was pretty thick across the road.
We also experienced some interesting Border Patrol activity along the way. We passed through a Border Patrol checkpoint on I-10 in west Texas at Ft. Hancock (all vehicles must stop). We were asked by an armed agent if we were U.S. citizens and how many people were in the RV. After properly responding, we were allowed to proceed. There were lots of agents around ( and a lot of dogs) and they seemed at little more attentive and interested than the typical CA "bug station" agent.
As we passed through, about 6 or more Border Patrol agents (some with dogs) were searching (in the truck lane) a flatbed truck with a damaged pick-up tied down on top. They were also talking to the Hispanic driver. The interesting part was that about 100 miles later near Odessa/Midland on I-20, we saw the same truck, damaged pick-up on top, and same driver, pulled over in the center median surrounded by at least 5 TX State Patrol and Border Patrol vehicles. There is a story there.
The original plan was to stop at an RV park in the Odessa/Midland area, but when we got there to wind was blowing about 25 mph and the air was full of blowing dirt/dust. So, we decided to press on for Abeline, TX - about 2:30 hrs of more driving.
We arrived at the Abilene KOA around 5:30 pm. We stayed here on our Mardi Gras trip last year. It is a nice campground and it was certainly a lot drier than the last time we were here. The wind had also let-up somewhat and there was less dust in the air. After setting-up the RV, we unhitched the Green Machine and made a quick trip to the commissary at Dyess AFB nearby for groceries. We came back to the RV for dinner and an early to bed after a long day on the, road. (Dyess looked like a nice base with an extensive and impressive static display of historic aircraft lining the road from the front gate). There were at least 25 airplanes to see. We were too tired to tour the exhibit this evening, but we may go back tomorrow and take some pictures.
We have about a 4 hr drive to Canton , TX tomorrow. We will spend three nights there and explore the "world's biggest flea market" (First Monday Trade Days) on Thursday and Friday.
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