Day 1: San Antonio -> Carlsbad... 460 miles

We left San Antonio early this morning. The city is in the midst of a drought, and it wasn't long before we saw much greener scenery. We also saw large wind energy farms on the West Texas mesas.








We stopped in Ft. Stockton for a break right around lunchtime. We stopped to visit Pete, the world's largest roadrunner. This weekend just happens to be the town's sesquicentennial (that's 150 years for those of you who haven't brushed up your Latin). Several people were in town for a big high school reunion and an all-day festival that included a parade.





We stopped by the Annie Riggs Musuem (those of you from Brownsville, think "The Stillman House," but three times as large. After our meandering tour, we took some photos out front, including the old courthouse across the street. There we met an older couple who asked me to walk across the lawn to take a photo of the courthouse cornerstone with their camera. Turns out, the gentleman's father was the builder of the courthouse.





We made it to Carlsbad, NM. It's still true, the highways aren't the same when you cross that Texas state line. (And the state line does jump out and surprise you.) From my last trip here as a kid, I remember the signs for White's City... they were a chain of billboards - like Burma Shaves, but bigger and less clever. Well the signs are still standing, but in terrible disarray. I don't know if a fire swept through the area at some point or if they have just not been maintained. One of the still legible signs boasts, "Kodak Film - Flashbulbs."

We got to our hotel, the first floor is half sub-terranean, and it has a convenient washer and dryer. We're planning to rest a while, then go to the Bat Flight Program at the Caverns this evening.

PS... after driving [a legal] 80 mph, 55 sure seems slooooow. How did I drive from Brownsville to College Station at 55 for all those years?!