Las Cruces, New Mexico: Texas in The Rear View Mirror - Finally

Well, 880 miles ago, on Monday, we entered Texas headed West. Today we left Texas and entered New Mexico. Wow- 880 miles to cross the state of Texas, all on Interstate 10. They even have a special term for the endless drive: I-10-itis.

In the past we've stayed at some RV campgrounds that are near the Interstate, meaning you will hear some traffic noise. And we've stayed at RV campgrounds that are located near railroad tracks, meaning you'll hear the trains as they pass in the night.

Well here in Texas, at least along I-10 they specialize in RV Parks that let you hear these sounds in stereo.

Well, there is a railroad that parallels I-10 most of the way across the state or so it seems. Campground owners want to be able to advertise that it is easy to get off the Interstate and easy to get back on the Interstate, so they tend to buy property right on the frontage road.

So you end up with a double whammy -- truck noise from the Interstate on one side and train noise on the other side.

Just to make things interesting, the campground we stayed at two nights ago is located between the railroad and the Interstate PLUS it is located beside a road that crosses the track. That means every train is required to blow it's whistle starting about 2 miles away and then to stay on the horn until the engine is through the intersection. The campground in Columbus had a train at the top of every hour and and a couple of time on the half hour.

In the morning I was able to see the tracks about 500 yards away. Pretty easy to see except when I was yawning....

After the second night of Interstate and train noise, Mary Lynn and I started to find RV Campgrounds just by using the following rule: If you are at an off ramp for the Interstate and you can clearly see the train tracks within half a mile of the Interstate, you'll find an RV Park. Try it the next time you're travelling I-10 in Texas -- it works!

Oh well, sleep is greatly over rated when driving great distances.

Which brings me to another point. Somehow I had forgotten we are retired and are not due anywhere. We have no schedule, no appointments. So why was I hurrying to cross the great state of Texas? Other than to get a good night's sleep, I'm not sure.

Maybe it was the thought that the RV event in Quartzsite starts on Saturday. So what, it goes for almost two weeks so there is plenty of time to get there. And if we miss it, no big deal. We'll do it another time.

Maybe it was that fact that we needed to travel 880 mile on I-10 to get across Texas. And oh, by the way, the speed limit is 80 mph for cars and 70 mph for trucks. Somehow I felt compelled to see the miles melt away. It was almost like being back at work where everything was a race to get done quickly. At work if you did it in 5 hours the last time you need to get it done in 4 hours this time. Yeesh - how did I let myself fall into that trap again.

I mean, in the work world, that's just a reality of life. However, in retirement, there is no such need to bust your hump every day. Glad I finally remembered that. All on my own. Except for a little coaching from MLA. OK, a lot of coaching from MLA. OK, there was no coaching -- she told me straight out I was pushing too hard to get across the state. And she was right.

So today we took it nice and easy. I stayed in the slow lane at a constant 65 mph. We stopped at all of the scenic overlooks and hiked to the top of the hills.

And tomorrow we are going to see what Las Cruces has to offer. We'll spend all of tomorrow just exploring and relaxing. Now that's living! Maybe we'll get back on the road to Quartzsite on Friday.

Then again, maybe not. See Ya!