Las Cruces, NM

We are up and on the road in Ft. Stockton by 9:10 am after a hearty breakfast of coffee, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, biscuits and sausage in the RV Park’s café.  During conversations over coffee at breakfast, we learn two other couples are headed to the same destination as us.  Rainy weather is predicted again west of us.  Tonight’s projected temperature in Fort Stockton (our departure point this morning) will be 21 degrees.  Both give us motivation to get moving early this morning hoping for a reprieve from both.  A coach parked near us overnight is not faring as well.  His engine is not turning over this morning as all three couples prepare our respective coaches for the journey to Las Cruces, NM.

As we leave one of our fellow travelers behind, I think back to the original settlers who made their way across this land.  When a wagon broke down, they had to decide what to leave behind and what to carry forward if space permitted on someone else’s wagon if they could not fix their own.  How did they stay warm over night at 21 degrees?  We stop and repair a windshield wiper before leaving Fort Stockton anticipating we will need it in the upcoming rain.  I find a lucky penny in the parking lot of an auto parts store we find open on this early Sunday morning.  We acquire the perfect nut and bolt for securing the wiper blade.  Lady Luck is indeed with us as we start down the misty road in front of us.

We are 152 miles from New Mexico and our luck holds steady as light rain falls on Puff our Magic Green RV and the windshield wipers hold true to their task.  To the north of us heavy rain blocks the views of distant mountains and the horizon.  We have skirted the bulk of the storm thus far and patches of blue sky straight ahead of us now promise easy driving.  We cross over into Mountain Standard Time and we gain back an hour in our day passing a sign that says we are 97 miles from El Paso, TX.  Snoopy is restless or bored and wanders about the RV.  He is ready for us to arrive at our destination too.  Truck after truck pass by going easterly and a train out paces us on the right heading west with us.   We reach the end of a loop started last April on this same road at a spot where we branched off to head northeasterly toward New England and now we return traveling westerly on the same route eleven months later.

We stop for lunch and a short break before completing the last miles into El Paso, TX.  Traffic is heavy and stop and go and just to make the mix interesting an oversized load truck taking up a lane and a half follows us.

We enter New Mexico at 2:35 under blue skies and puffy white clouds with a temperature of 66 degrees.  We pass our second feedlot of the day and carry the aroma of it with us for miles down the road before reaching several more.  It seems we have entered cow alley.  We are in pecan country as well and pecan tree fields line the road on either side.

We move on to our stop for the night in Las Cruces and the day ends well.  Finding our lucky penny was indeed fortuitous.