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Our Awesome Travels

Our Awesome Travels
Taken In Quartzsite Arizona Dec 7th 2015

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Getting blown on down the road, heading east... making good time.

Where are we today ?
Click a picture to enlarge it
             Great sleep last night and up early as usual, walkabout and getting ready to hit the road. 
nice sunrise over the casitas
Ducks and one goose by the pond
            We hit the road just before 8 am and in no real hurry enjoyed the drive. Arriving at our planned stop 2:30 pm, but another time zone so actually 3:30 pm. 302 miles is further than we like to travel in a day, and another 2 days like this, then we will stay put for a while.
             Gonna be a windy day and all went well for us we had a tail wind all day. Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. 35 mph winds with gusts to 59 mph (95 kph) wow !, But had no issues just drove a tiny bit slower then usual. We really only noticed the strong winds when we opened the door. Or for about 40 minutes between Las Cruces and El Paso. 
New Mexico
        New Mexico rest area and welcome center.
       Then saw a few neat water towers along the way as well.
      Next stopped at the Las Cruces Rest area made a bite for lunch and a nice walkabout, actually like a blow about with these major winds ! Even with the chin strap on my hat it blew off.
          Now to decide carry on or stay here. But we only had 80 miles to go to our destination and really wanted to get through El Paso this afternoon as opposed to the morning rush hour. So onward we travelled a bit slower yet.
from Las cruces to El Paso
not too bad
     Then with this brutal cross wind for a while the tumbleweeds were flying across the highway, You can't miss them and when you hit them they just go poof! Disintegrate into dust, amazing and no vehicle damage either.
Tumble weeds, Suzie took this, I am hanging on to the
steering wheel tight
    Here was the tie up with this brutal accident, but we were only slowed down for a few minutes, not stopped. Rubber neckers checking it out.
           We fueled up at the Flying J on the east end of El Paso. Then on to the Texas rest area just past Fabens TX.
          The real bonus today was the best gas milage we have ever gotten 8.5 mpg compared to our usual 7.2 mpg and gas only $1.72.9 a gallon.
     After fuelling up at the Flying J in El Paso only 14 more miles to the rest area where we will spend the night. Had enough for today.
still blowing pretty nasty out there
Texas map at the rest area
love the open air restrooms here, nice mosaic tile work
          Relax for a while, walkabout for a bit here in the wind, compute for a bit then heat up some of the Turkey chili I made yesterday. Don't use our genny our Microwave often but does come in hang. It was oh so tasty and sure hit the spot. Just added some toast, celery and carrots sticks. And of course extra spices for me.
yummy
302 miles today
        This was our very good travel day considering the wind, that actually worked in our favour.
        There is some road noise here from I-10 but barely audible with our dual pane windows  closed. We will sleep like babies.
        Looking forward to another fine travel day again tomorrow, less wind in the forecast so should be awesome.
        Thanks for joining our journey and hope your day was a great one too.

Check out the interactive map below to see where we have been this Fall and Winter..

30 comments:

  1. Been in that rest stop a few times myself but never for overnight. Have fun.

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    1. We find the Texas rest areas a convenient overnight stop.

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  2. I know you're on your way this direction.... no rain yet... winds are really bad, starting in around 9:00 am or so... worse as the day goes on. That Roadrunner outside of Los Cruces is one of my favorites... Bill saw 2 of the real thing in the yard here today... I missed them :'( I know.... we're just going to cross paths. Darn! See you another time... safe travels, my friends.

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    1. Safe travels to you as well, enjoy your next trip.

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  3. Now that's a 'Blustery Day'! Forget the kite, hunker down and enjoy some compute time and a movie. Safe Travels!

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    1. Thats for sure no kite today, Nice and relaxing here, we did just that,

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  4. Glad you made it Safely to your destination. We try to avoid traveling when there are high winds but we also know that sometimes you just have to slow down and hold on.

    It's about time.

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    1. This was mostly a tail wind so really did not both us that much, until El paso.

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  5. Glad you're safe. If you gave to drive in the wind a tail wind is the kind to have. Be careful.

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    1. Most strong winds we won't travel in but this did not both us much at all.

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  6. Great tumble weed shot Suzie!

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    1. I thought she did pretty good too I was hanging on to the wheel tight with both hands.

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  7. We've had a lot of wind over the last couple of days too. Our drive today was a short one but we took it slow and easy. The cross winds aren't fun. Be safe.

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    1. The cross winds are not fun you guys be safe too.

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  8. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Easy does it. Glad that despite the strong breezes you are still having fun!

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    1. Slow and steady will get us there safe and sound. Life is a journey to be enjoyed and sure are enjoying it.

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  9. New Mexico and Texas are always windy. Never went through there without strong winds. Stay sturdy on the road!

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    1. You are so right pretty well every year we run into strong winds in this area but never this strong.

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  10. That one sign is interesting. Pull off the road and turn OFF your lights. Why would we turn off our lights. Couldn't someone then hit the vehicle? I don't get it.

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    1. I think the theory is with zero visibility you drive slowly and follow the tail lights, if you are on the side of the road with lights in someone will drive into you. Not sure.

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  11. Glad the wind was from the rear and not the side - that's quite a impact on gas mileage.

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  12. Tailwind? Not fair, all I ever get is headwinds! ;c)

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    1. Sometime you win, sometimes you lose, we got lucky.

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  13. Hoping that the Easter weekend traffic will not impact your drive too much. Tailwinds are nice when they favour you but they are annoying when they are cross to your direction. All the best.

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    1. Thanks, we take our chances with a shorter drive tomorrow.

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  14. The worst experience I had was coming out of a tunnel onto a bridge with very high cross winds. Not only was my RV hard to keep on the road but the toad was swinging around like a dog wagging its tail. Of course, as the years go by, that story will get even worse (grin).

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    1. They can get you pretty bad coming out if tunnels and mountain passes. Just gotta slow down and hang on.

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  15. Nice to have a tail wind. We once fought a head on wind in that area that brought us down to a just over 1 MPG! I had my foot to the floor trying to keep up 40 MPH. We spent the afternoon and night parked in a gas station!

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    1. The winds do make a huge difference, in milage and handling.

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