Pulling out of Austin this morning I started to get a chance to roll at Texas speed, highways in Texas have drivers that are much more polite, and also much more liberal speed limits. Time spent on the slab allows you to really eat up the miles.
Went down to visit the Alamo and I have to say it is a lot smaller in person than in the John Wayne movie, I have heard the guys from Cartalk mention that the Alamo used to be outside of town and they dont know when it was moved into the city center. The riverwalk looked great and it would live up to the hype, but parking looked messy and I have miles to consume today so I kept rolling.
Not eating in the riverwalk paid off pretty well as when I stopped at Rudy’s North of town I ended up having some very tasty pork. I have been eating a lot of dry food like cereal bars or eating gas station sandwiches, so this was quite a treat.
Having heard about Mesas before heading out West I didn’t entirely understand what made them cool, I heard they were mountains with the tops knocked off. But they really are cool.
As I get further into the trip I find more and more people introducing themselves to me. I ran into a group of guys heading out to national park and they swore up and down that Big Bend is a place I should see before I die. It is too far away from my planned trip but I will have to go back at some point. Starting to get to really pretty sunsets,
May12th stared in the middle of nowhere but already I saw my first actively working oil well. A quick stop at the Apache trading post had me coming out empty handed, Also seems like a good time to pay more attention to the drivers around me so I don’t get surprised by someone who is impaired.
The scenery continues to change as I climb up towards Carlsbad Caverns. There is no real point in putting a picture of the caverns here as the photos I took could not do it justice. It is also fun with my national park/monument pass the wonderful treatment I get. I am sure much of it just comes from dealing with nice people, but there is an extra thank you for this card that is not that expensive. I just did the short tour as time is not on my side. I need to work out why I am rushed on this trip, 8000+ miles in 20 days is ambitious, but I could use some more R&R time.
After a natural wonder it was time for super natural, and Rosewell NM. What a cool idea this town is, from what I can tell it would be a blip on a map with no note if not for the alien shenanigans a few years ago. As I got the ‘museum’ not too long before closing I got a discounted entrance rate. I can not imagine what a person would do if they had more time, as I think I hit everything the museum has to offer.
As I went north i stared running into some of the biggest bugs I have ever seen. My helmet was getting pinged by very large, fairly glow in the dark bugs. I guess they count as UFOs but it is not the type I expected. For a good bit of the ride my visor had a nice phosphorous glow.
