Road Warriors, Sunday Construction, More Texas, All About the Views Now

Rest Area, Saragosa, Texas

I was in bed really early last night. Like at 9 I finally gave up with trying to read. I kept falling asleep! I should have napped earlier upon arrival, I guess. I woke at 11 feeling like I’d been asleep for many hours but dropped off again without any problem. It was early when I woke again on Sunday, Nov. 17^th but didn’t get up until 6:30. It isn’t that we are on a deadline or a rush to get out and on the road, but when we’re up and ready, why dawdle? There wasn't much to pack up ........ well until Bill opened the closet. EEEEKK! 95% of my clothes and half of Bill's were on the floor. I guess we had no need to open those doors last night after that bumpy ride. LOL

So, the day started out with construction
and cotton clouds
Sunday - construction - yes some guys were working

So, that was my morning job. Somehow, I ended up with a couple of empty hangers. I'll sort it all out on a longer stop.We pulled out at 7:45, after oatmeal, coffee/tea for breakfast and a bit of a sink bath. Funny to see the parking lot so empty. The sky was partial cloud and sun but it was mild at 48F/9C and no wind. We ran our genny for a bit this morning to give the batteries a boost and by the looks of the sky, will need it again tonight. It is so much easier now that it sits on the rack on the back of the Suite. Night and day difference from last winter when it sat in the back of B.B.

And the views were beginning to change

The Road Warrior in the title came from blogger friends, Dave and Cheryl. We don’t sight-see much and hardly at all in comparison to their travels. I like to think of them as the Historians/Adventurers of the Snowbirds on our friends’ list. 😊 I love to see how we are all different that way. I remember meeting them during our 2^nd year of travel at Pilot Knob. At that time, their first year (I think) Cheryl wasn’t sure how long she could stay away from home. Arizona and travel is addicting! You go guys!

Now, this is a beautiful drive. Once we were through the subdivisions around San Antonio and construction (workers were actually out today!?) what a gorgeous drive. The flat lands slowly disappeared and our elevation was up and down between 1500’ to 2200’. Yay! Now the views that we love are starting to appear all around us. We were both noticing many prickly pear cacti and yuccas with tall empty flower stems. 

I love when the views go on forever

Along the way, we saw many deer off in the fields eating but one baby was on the side of the road and it made us fearful of what would happen to him. He appeared to be looking for Mama. I was too busy watching him and pointing him out to Bill that I wasn’t ready with the camera, even though I saw him in plenty of time. I hope he listened when Bill called to him “Get away from the road, little guy!”

There was nothing here at the Picnic Area but we didn't need anything other than to stop and open up
That's when I saw this bonus structure
Not old, but neat all the same

At 9:30, we stopped at a Picnic Area to use the facilities and further on down the road, at 10:30 stopped at a Love’s for fuel. We’re not keen on Love’s, Flying J’or Pilot stations simply because their prices average about 25¢/gal more but when the stations are fewer and farther between, we’ll take one. It was $2.89/gal and we filled B.B. up. The elevation is now hovering between 2300 and 2600' so you know what views we are seeing if you’ve ever traveled this way. Beautiful!

The clouds were breaking up and the temperature rose

Looks like the road goes forever - it was very peaceful
A highway Bill said would be perfect for me to take over the wheel
Yah, he's right IF I needed to

At 11:30, we stopped again for an hour at a parking area for a bit of a siesta and our lunch. We’d like to travel further than our original destination of Fort Stockton as this will make our day tomorrow shorter. That will be Elephant Butte Lake State Park where we’ll set up camp for at minimum a week, probably longer.  I can't wait to get there, it is my favourite state park. The temperature is a lovely 63F/17C and still only under partial sun.

This, my friends, is crazy!! 90 mph is 130 kmh back home
Nuts!!

We made one more stop for diesel at Ft. Stockton mainly because this drive along I-10W looks pretty barren and we don’t want to get caught short. Another Love’s and a higher price still but Black Beauty is happy and so is my driver. More wonderful scenery, with mountains off in the distance and an increase in elevation to 3100’ before we took Exit 212 to a small Rest Area at Saragosa, TX. I found it on the Google Map and reviews say you can overnight here. We figured Sunday night we would most likely be alone.

This was a parking area where we stopped for a doze and our lunch
It was quiet, only one other rv and a semi arrived

It looks like a fine spot, lower than the interstate so much quieter even though it is ‘right there’. It isn't the cleanest area but there are a couple of nicely sheltered picnic tables. Bill was a little nervous, “is it safe?”. I asked him from what and his little voice said "bad people?" but I don’t see a problem. I sure hope not to have to change that story tomorrow morning! We settled against a curb, leaving us lots of space to open slides in the event someone else pulled in too. It was 3 pm so still a good day of driving without arriving too late.

Texas oil - Black gold

Once opened up, I made myself a bullet proof coffee since Bill had started the generator. The sun wasn’t full for the whole drive so it gave the batteries a boost even though they were still relatively high at 12.8. We relaxed, enjoying the warmth of the day. We reached 64F before the sun started to drop and the sun warmed the Suite up quite nicely.  I read my book and then we downloaded today’s pictures. I’m happy to see that Bill is keeping up with his blog too, a treat for all of you. Check it out here.

You might see some duplicate pictures since I loaned mine to Bill
That's what you do when one of you has to drive, right?

We originally backed in here beside the shelter but
it wasn't level

And the sun sets to the west

For supper, we had fried grilled cheese sandwiches and tonight we had custard for dessert since we skipped it last night after all. I started preparing them at 5:30 but had to nip outside and catch a couple of pictures of the sunset. 

An over the fence and over I-10 view

I’ve missed any good ones over the last few nights. If I'd waited, there would have been a better one yet. The evening was quiet, either involving our books or some tv. This was a great travel day again and we couldn’t ask for better roads, traffic or weather.

From our door, this is how close we are to the Interstate
but it is surprisingly quiet
Because it is Sunday night?

I peeked out the blind, just before it dropped out of sight
Good night from Saragosa, TX

Thank you for your visit to see where we ended up.