Deming, N Mex to Balmorhea, TX

We were awakened at 6:30 a.m. by driving winds and got up and put in the 2 slides on the drivers side. It was 31 degrees and snowed until 10. Why us? Glad we'd watched the weather and decided not to go up to I 40, Flagstaff, which had about a foot and half of snow. They say it's the worst winter weather they've ever had. We left at 10:30 when it had stopped and the weather report on 511 said roads going east were clear. As we drove out of Deming, we passed a brick building in the little town dated 1812. We follow the Santa Fe Railroad tracks along this part. Every so often you see huge yellow sign saying Dust Warnings. There are actual instructions in the AAA book of how to vacate the highway and stay safe if swarming clouds of red dust makes driving impossible. None for us today.

New Mexico has a population of nearly 2 million, is 5th in size with Sante Fe as the capital. It makes you think of blue skies, adobe architecture, red rock cliffs and grassy plains. Billy the Kid, (William Bonney) was their most infamous outlaw. It is New Mexico because it became part of the USA after the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 and was admitted into the Union in 1912 as the 47th state. In 1945 the United States tested it's first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site, in 1947 there were reports of a crashed UFO in Roswell generating much media interest and in 2006, Albuquerque, famous for it's Balloon Festival, celebrated it's 300th anniversary. Passing Las Cruces we saw the large metal roadrunner that looks over the town. Named for a forest of 'little crosses' it commemorates the graves of caravan members ambushed by Mescalero Apaches way back and the town became a major supply point for mining operations and forts that protected the trade routes to Santa Fe and points west. This valley is irrigated by the Rio Grande and has a 300 year history of agriculture.

We passed into Texas and stopped on the far side of El Paso at a Petro truck stop. What a big, busy town. It's on the banks of the Rio Grande and you can look across the river, tiny at this spot and see the small houses of the Mexicans. El Paso means the pass through the river to the north, named by the Spaniards who used it to cross into Texas. Founded in 1682 with Catholic Missions, the area is great for agriculture. Across the Rio Grande is Ciudad Juarez where 100's of manufacturing plants employ about 250,000 Mexicans.

Then you drive as far as the eye can see with blue I 10 signs leading you on. Texas is huge and the view is forever. About 4 p.m. we were directed off the freeway by the Highway Patrol onto a side street going where, we don't know. As chance would have it, there was a brand new 20 space RV park and we said, we're done. I went in to pay and found the reason the road was closed was that 30 minutes ago the clerk couldn't even see the Interstate 100' from her door and there was a terrible crash with 10 Semi's and 6 other vehicles on the freeway. You know, but for the grace of God, there goes you.

Ron sets the cruise on 58 miles although the speed here is 65 to 75 for trucks and 80 for cars. I went into the store later to check about the cable and met the Sheriff who said that a young women in her car had died.

We're glad to be parked and safe. It is so windy and 50 degrees, that we haven't even put out the slides. Feels like we're camping in a tent. No TV so out came the cards.