I left Albuquerque a bit on the late side this AM but the traffic on the Interstate next to the KOA prevented a very sound sleep. Fortunately the wind died down so that wasn’t a problem. About 2:30 I had to answer natures call and when I lay back down it dawned on me that I had earplugs in my vest that I wear on the bike. I fished them out and slept soundly the rest of the night, at least until 7:30 when the sides of the tent flapping woke me up. Damn wind was blowing agin but this time out of the east.

After I struggled with making coffee, eating and breaking camp it was 9:30 before I got out of there. One of the lessons of traveling by yourself and camping is that it takes twice as long to set up camp, fix something to eat then in the AM, do it in reverse. What with trying to get my exercise therapy in each day, and all of the other chores, the cold weather and the wind I’m not finding much time to paint. Fortunately there hasn’t been much to paint. Hopefully that will change tomorrow when I get into  Texas “hill country”.

When I left Albuquerque this AM the wind was stiff and coming out of the east. Head wind. 43 degrees to boot. Brutal until I turned off at Clines Corners on 285 to ride south. Now it was a side wind. Cold and wind all the way to Roswell. I stopped at the Haley dealer were I found my “alien”.

At least it had warmed up and the wind was only a slight breeze. I even managed to make some lunch in the parking lot and ate as I sat there and enjoyed the warmth. Yes, I got a T-shirt. A nice lady inside told me a good way to go where I was wanting to too so I adjusted my plans and wound up here in Brownfield, TX for the night where I treated myself to a room for the night. I even walked to a steak house about a mile away and enjoyed a nice sirloin. I’m satisfied now.

West Texas is interesting. Seems like everything changed once I crossed the line from New Mexico. Most of eastern New Mexico was short grass country and low scrub brush. Pretty arid and desert. Once I got into Texas though there were irrigated hay lands. Water. How come? And oil wells.

Beautiful red earth, tilled waiting to be planted. whole different scene.

There’s no video from today as there wasn’t much to shoot. Pretty plain and boring country. Maybe tomorrow will be different. Headed south toward Fredricksberg and Texas “hill country”. We’ll see what I can get tomorrow. Stay tuned.