Sunday, January 19, 2014

GRT2014 Day 4 - Haltom City, TX to Odessa, TX

Yes, I am still in Texas. (Here is how I expressed this stop on my Facebook post:  Parked for the night in Odessa o-hell-yes-I'm-still-in-by-god-never-friggin-ending, Texas.

Texas is indeed one big-a$$ state. It amounts to about one-third of the entire coast-to-coast trip. But I should be in New Mexico tomorrow.

I finally remembered to bring the mileage numbers inside with me! 325.5 miles today, 1482.6 total, all of it in beautiful traveling weather. Sunny, and just a touch cool.




Driving across Texas can be boring, but I have to admit that things start changing here. (How could it not?) It gets hilly, and you see all kinds of energy sources. I saw the first wind turbine farms today - lots and lots of them. Also natural gas wells, solar-powered road lights, and zillions of oil wells. (I guess I really saw the pumpers, not the wells.) It's interesting that most of us think Texas=oil and yet there is every kind of energy source here.

Oil well pumpers fascinate me! I didn't stop to take pics (there will be plenty more opportunities), but they remind me of Praying Mantises. They have that big ol' head that looks a lot like a bug head. I stare at them incessantly while I'm driving and can't tell you why. I simply find them interesting.  Occasionally you will see pumper dealers along the highway with hundreds of these things laying around. These yards look more like oil-pumper graveyards! This year I noticed that there are now yellow pumpers in addition to the traditional black ones. Maybe they've always been there and I just haven't noticed.

Another fascinating thing: the tile murals on the rest-area bathroom walls. No boring grey-walled rest stops here!







I've gotten NO exercise on the trip so far! I thought I might get in a walk after I checked into the hotel, right after I sat down for "just a minute". That minute turned into a 6-hour "nap", and now I'm wide awake at 2:00 a.m. Oh well, who cares, really? I'm not on a schedule. I already know I'll grab another couple of hours before departing in the morning (or ... later this morning).

I'm still in the "getting there" part of the trip. Nothing interesting going on yet because I'm not "there" yet. I think once I get out of Texas, I'll feel like I've started the actual "vacation" (can one be on vacation when one is retired?). Oh well, the price you pay for having your "stuff" with you is having to make the boring parts of the drive, as well. But I can't say it has been uneventful!

Onward tomorrow, finally across Texas. Let the adventure continue!

Thanks for stopping by.

1 comment:

  1. Elizabeth Barton has a quilt in the 2013 Quilt National collection with an oil pump as the center shape. She has incorporated a child as the base, I believe to indicate energy issues we answer today will rest on the backs of our children.

    ReplyDelete

I love getting feedback, and hearing from you about life in general. Leave a comment when you can. Thanks so much for taking your time to read my blog.