Wichita Falls Tx to Las Cruces NM

We left after 8:30, and were confronted with the predicted dense fog. The weather warnings mentioned the probability of fog icing up roads and bridges.  My eyes monitored the outside temperatures with concern; it was barely above freezing.

Most of the morning, the fog went from limited visibility to dense fog, the picture below is sort of medium...

We were surrounded by huge cotton fields, mostly flooded. Signs of flooding were everywhere.  At one point, the Interstate ditches were flooded to within a foot of the highway. Carmen took us along state roads and even a farm road between the Interstates, to get us on I 20.  These road also had high speeds [70, 75], and fortunately less fog.  Unfortunately, we were also exposed to serious flooding, and desolate villages. The picture above was made in Sylvester, once a proud and prosperous village, now with most buildings collapsed, most homes, long abandoned. 

By noon, the fog was mainly gone, the cotton fields continued, and some pecan farms started to appear.  By the end of the afternoon, we had reached New Mexico and the awful stench of miles upon miles of cattle 'factories'.  The stench makes you gag, yet the steak at supper and the milk in this morning's cereal still tasted good.  Maybe someday the cattle will be better treated, or the demand for cattle will disappear: either way, what is going on now should not continue, it's simply not right.

At one of the rest stops, I asked a State Trouper, who was changing a tire on his cruiser, why there were so many flat tires along the Interstate.  He thought it was because of all the stuff that gets kicked up on the road, plus bad luck.  We probably saw a dozen cars or trucks with flat tires yesterday, and another dozen today. They seem to use sand and gravel to help traction during snow or ice storms, and they've had many of those in the last weeks, so the roads are laden with gravel and the usual flotsam along the roadside.

I made this picture at that same rest stop: winter clouds, sunset colours, dry soil plants backed by a quiet Interstate highway.

We asked Carmen for the next Ruby Tuesday, a favourite chain where the salad bar is extensive and always fresh, and found one nearby in Las Cruces NM, so we stopped at the Fairfield Inn & Suites [Marriott] to refresh before supper.

The hotel has recently been renovated beautifully, but the entrance was still under construction: the desk clerk sat on a folding chair, his 'desk' was one of those folding tables you find in Church halls. Fortunately, they still had rooms, the desk clerk most welcoming, and Ruby Tuesday's a stone throw away.

Ruby Tuesday's was filled to the brim, but Joan managed to save two seats at the bar.

The meal lived up to our high expectations and we finished off with an attempt at a selfie.

 Not bad for a New Year's eve away from family and friends.

Joan and I wish that all our friends and family have a very healthy and happy 2016!

Sullivan to Wichita Falls Tx

Last night's supper was at Appleby's where we each ordered a steak that was very good for the price. It was our first time at Appleby's recently: it's definitely been added to our list.

Our start involved gassing up at a Flying J centre. First, our affinity card brought up the message "see attendant" then our credit card authentication asked for our ZIP code.  So I went to see a very pleasant attendant.  The affinity card was obsolete, but she would set me up with a new one.  Since this was her first time setting up new affinity cards, things did not go all that smoothly, but after a few tries the computer said OK.  Trying to prepay and use the new affinity card did not work and after talking to manager, attendant, and seeing Joan wandering nervously awaiting my return, I gassed up at $1.75/gal [both US standard], Joan washed the windows and spotted a full length tractor trailer which was private, had huge glass sliding doors, and looked opulent...  Some people travel in style...

The Knobhill area in Missouri has extensive fields growing grapes everywhere with new wineries seeming to sprout along the highway.

We drove through very hilly terrain and the radio seemed to hold NPR stations very well.  When NPR was no longer available we listened to a local station hosting a local 'trading post'.  The rules were explained including the fact that guns and ammo were not suitable for the selling or trading.  Many cars, trucks, chain saws, kitchen appliances including a truck with no engine or transmission but was described as being in good condition.  The neatest item was a chap who was looking for a couple of beagles for running rabbits. Ozark's anyone?

We stopped listening to another radio station in Lebanon Mo. after ten minutes of obituaries, really!  It was interesting to note how many 'survivors' still lived in the same city/town of the deceased.  Lebanon also had hundreds of various sized boats shrink-wrapped for the winter.

Most strong radio stations were the religious stations.  It's a pretty narrow view of religion when we saw billboards stating clearly "marriage = man + woman". That, along with some NPR commentary indicates that there is a long way to go before prejudice and bigotry are history...

On the water front, we saw lots of flooding throughout the day. The portion of Intestate 44 that we expected would be closed was actually opened and there was very little evidence of serious flood damage, except for floating debris caught up in the tree branches.

Along the way, we saw dozens of extremely large churches, lots of large horse farms, and Joan even spotted a camel/dromedary farm. She also spotted a farm of Waterbucks, likely set up to supply hunters with trophies. [my supposition...]

The day started with freezing temperatures and it was mid afternoon before the temperatures went up to about 4ºC.  What was quite amazing was the amount of snow remaining on the north side of house roofs, hills, and highway barriers.  They must have had a severe snow dump in the last day or two, yet the highway was dry most of the way.

We stopped at around 5:45, and stayed at another Baymont motel, and it was just as good as last night's.  Johnny Carino's, a good Italian restaurant nearby, provided a fine supper, and now, early bed sounds pretty good.  Only about 1,300 miles to go.

Windsor to Sullivan Missouri

Morning came early, the free breakfast had good coffee and otherwise was dreadful, and the lineup at the border was about ten minutes.

Eventually, the sun came up, the roads were dry, and our trip was unfolding as it should.  The temperature was a warm 5ºC when we left, 4ºC most of the day, and 7ºC when we went to Appleby's for supper at 6pm by our watch and 5 pm locally.  We gained an hour somewhere along our route.  

We hit a lot of traffic around St. Louis, which followed us through out the State.

We saw extensive flooding all along the route with rest-top buildings underwater for half their height. The interstate ahead of us will be closed due to flooding near Rolla Mo, but the anticipated detour does not seem to be that much out of our way.

We had some snow and rain, but nothing to slow things down appreciably.  We did see a fresh accident in the opposing lanes and the backed-up traffic was well over five miles long.  Those late arrivals will have a very long wait.  

We also saw a number of cars and trucks very far off the road: some had rolled over, some had just plowed down a steep hill and were stopped a hundred feet [or more] away from the highway, and almost as far down from the highway.  One tractor trailer was still upright in a deep ditch and there were 3 or 4 huge tow trucks figuring out how to get it back to the highway.  

Most of these off-roaders really didn't seem to have a valid reason for being where they were.  There were a few squalls here and there but I certainly didn't think they would have been valid excuses for what we saw. We did see some erratic driving though so I guess anything is possible.

All in all, not a bad day for us.  There's little snow in the fields and hills, the weather was windy and warm for this time of year, and there was no construction at all. Joan even pointed out a deer very high up a mountain; neatly silhouetted against the blue sky.

Lets hope the next few days are much the same.  Maybe I'll even slow down a bit and make a picture or two...

Stittsville to Windsor

Today really was a fairly early, crack-of-dawn, departure. Last night we borrowed an egg, Joan made her famous lamb-burgers, add heat from the BBQ, toast the buns, add mashed taters and peas:  voila! a great supper experience.  The car was loaded up, and an early sleep was in order.

This morning, all that was left to do is pack-up the MagicJack, and electronics, and leave!  At 8:15 no less.

Carmen led us to #7 highway to Peterborough, then to the 401.  We left with sunny skies and clear roads, with little traffic.  Going through Toronto was a fast breeze, surrounded by hundred of speeders: hey, it's a lot better than stop-and-go, right?

By then it turned grey, as we drove further West, the ice pellets started, with occasional snowflakes, then the freezing rain started  in earnest.

We were still about 75kms from Windsor, but as anyone who's travelled that road knows, there are no motels...

After some white knuckles [Joan's] and sore hands [mine] we arrived in Windsor, and found a Grandpa & Grandson run [?] large older and inexpensive motel.  We're not far from the restaurants, have already filled up with gas, and we know where the tunnel to the USA is.

Supper is calling...  so is the bed...

Stittsville to Stittsville

As many of you know, we had planned to leave today, but procrastination set in...

This next picture was made on Christmas Day and shows a few daffodil plants peeping up, and looking around for Spring.

The day before Christmas in Stittsville had a high of 17ºC [62.6ºF], which broke the previous record of only 7ºC.  That was certainly enough to fool our daffodils into action.

Today, two days later, these same daffodils are under some snow and ice; and there's more freezing rain and snow in today's forecast: that's why sometimes procrastination isn't all that bad after all. [my story, and I'll stick with it!]

The car is essentially packed and packing the phone and computers should not take long, so we might just have an early start.  

... or not.  To be continued...