We spent very little time getting from New Mexico to Alabama. Not because there’s nothing to see (oh, there’s tons!), but because we have a hard target date to make it back to Florida for the Hulaween Festival. We will certainly travel through this I-10 corridor at a much slower speed to explore at a later date, but until then we made every attempt to crane our neck, take in the sights, and make notes of the areas, towns, and attractions we’d like to revisit.
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The highlight of this stretch of our journey was no doubt seeing my Uncle Bubba and family in Dripping Springs Texas. We were treated to a delicious Tex-Mex spread for dinner and wonderful conversation. A lovely evening was had by all, and we will certainly take them up on the offer to visit again; next time, we shall also indulge in the many Texas Hill Country vineyards and enjoy a few German beers in the town of Fredericksburg.
More highlights from the road:
* a 4-hour layover at Buc-Eees in Katy, Tx to wait-out the rush hour traffic we would’ve otherwise be in the midst of in the middle of Houston. The “on pause” moment was well worth it! We had fun sampling many of the delish nom noms they offer, and more importantly, the stress of driving through downtown Houston was dramatically reduced at 7 PM.
* the remoteness of New Mexico/Texas border along Hwy nnn. The oilfield region is so surreal, lots of power lines strung this way and that, seemingly random pipes aflame, pipes/culverts/drills/transformers, and yet very few people buzzing about all that infrastructure.
_ periodic water pump stations open to the public.
– the company lodging for field employees – especially the RV Parks, featuring row upon row of “A” shaped roofs, that are individually covered RV pole barn sites that were close to full capacity.
* Two boondock nights at Interstate Rest Stops – it’s been a while!
