Day 2: Long, Hot, and Sweaty

And not in the good way!

We covered West Texas and landed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, tonight, a little after eight o'clock. We'd have been here sooner, but my alarm was set for weekdays only and we didn't actually wake up until almost ten! Luckily for us, check-out was noon!

Thunderstorms were forecast in the Kerrville area and westward and we ran into a doozy! I slowed down from 70 to 55 and had the wipers working overtime. Hailstones were coming down with the torrential rain, and for a few minutes, lightning was cracking every few seconds. Some people actually pulled to the side of the road to wait it out, something I considered doing. Steve called me a wimp. But we survived.

The geology along the first part of the trip was very cool: the highway had simply been cut through the hills, so the layering was completely visible. You could see the horizontal layers left from when Texas was an inland sea, and the occasional areas that had been compressed such that their layers were zigzags, or that had been uplifted such that their layers were more diagonal than horizontal. 

It was hot out and we are not yet using the AC, preferring to have the windows open some instead. Don't know why, because we end up getting overly warm and a bit sweaty. But it uses less gas to drive with the windows open than it does to drive with the AC on: the MythBusters proved it! And when driving at 70-75 most of the time, the gas mileage isn't what it could be. I can't complain really — I'm getting in the high 20s for mpg.

The sunset as we drove through El Paso was gorgeous in reds and pinks. There were several contrails that reflected the setting sun rather spectacularly, almost like fireworks threading through the sky. Unfortunately, the traffic through El Paso was less than gorgeous. Even worse, as we drove north of that city, we passed what must have been stockyards and the stench was unbelievable. Quite the contrast with the brilliant red sunset!

I decided I wanted to stay in the same hotel that I stayed in the last time I was here: a little over four years ago. So I made reservations over the phone while Steve drove. I'm running into higher prices everywhere, but I guess that is just to be expected four years later. But it boosts the cost of the trip back a bit. Just a few moments ago a train passed by. It blew it's horn. A few times. I do not remember that, and I would have remembered being woken by the loud blast of a train's klaxon. I hope we don't get trains like that all night.

The room is every bit as charming as I remember. The hotel is the Mission Inn and everything is done in Spanish Mission style. Behind the beds runs a deep shelf; the top is tiled in cobalt blue tiles. The white ceiling is punctuated by dark wooden beams and the furniture is all a heavy, somewhat rustic wood. 

Today my traveling companion and I fell back into old ways a bit. His idea of fun is to irk me until I almost blow a blood vessel. I react. I know that it spoils his fun if I don't react, or don't react in the way he wants me to, so I'll have to try harder at doing so. Unfortunately, like the boys on the playground in my childhood, ignoring him only makes him try harder. I told him at dinner that if I didn't need him for the drive home, I'd give serious consideration to smothering him in his sleep. This is only Day 2, people. Day 2 of what will probably be seven days, due to a couple of stops we want to make (such as spend tomorrow here so we can go to White Sands). And then I am going to live in the same house as this guy and his much more civilized companion. Cross your fingers that a) we both survive this trip, and b) I find a really fabulous job very quickly.  :)

Well, I am exhausted. I'll post this tomorrow, when I feel like playing with photos and all that. Thanks for the good wishes and I'll talk to you again soon!

***Late addition: Didn't have time to do photos today, or even post until this evening. So now I'm a day late. Crap. Oh well, I'll catch up as I can!