Ft. Stockton, Texas

Today we entered the world of sun and warm weather.  How wonderful it is to experience their magic on one’s psyche after several days of rain and cold.  At the end of our journey today, I retrieved one of our outdoor easy chairs from the “basement” of the coach and sat basking in the sun to soak up as much vitamin D as I possibly could.  For half an hour I did absolutely nothing but listen to birds singing all around me.

Tonight we are staying in a park we visited last year on the journey to California-Fort Stockton RV Park.  It is the only park halfway between San Antonio, Texas and Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We are not alone.  Coach after coach is following us into the park as I sit outside watching them pass by en route to the office to check-in.  

The trip today on Interstate-10 began in Texas hill country and ended in Texas desert. The change is so gradual as you make your way west, it is hardly discernible except for the decreasing size of the trees that eventually become shrubs and then disappear for the most part replaced by cacti.  The further west we travel, the greater the number of mesa we see along the horizon, the greater the distance you can see ahead of the coach from every rise in the road and the further it is between
towns.

It causes me to wonder how the early settlers ever had the courage and fortitude to make the same trip.  We are spoiled traveling three times the distance they could cover in a day in a mere hour surrounded by air conditioned comfort while sipping ice water and snacking on mini-Mars bars.  That’s not to mention a baked potato and Texas BBQ ribs we purchased at Buckhorn Lake RV Resort this morning that we’re having for dinner.  I’ve been looking forward to them all day!

As the sun sets over the desert creating shadows along the edge of the mesa we can see from our coach windows, I am reminded of how marvelous it is to be on the road with an ever-changing view daily as we cross the country.  As Americans, we are lucky to have so much beauty and so many opportunities right in our collective backyards.