I had a very early start and was on the road by 7:00 am and travelled east on Highway 20 where I joined Highway 70 that lead to the White Sands National Park which is a very interesting place. The sand is so white and so beautifully shaped by the wind. There is a road that accesses well into the sands.
Then it was back onto the road leading to Roswell, New Mexico a place known for some unexplained crash landing of something . It has been debated for years. Was it an alien space ship that the military recovered and has hidden the evidence, or was it the debris of a hot air balloon experiment? There is a museum to add to your knowledge of UFO's.
The road east out of New Mexico was very long and straight with a 75 mph speed limit.
At one point I stopped on the highway to take pictures of a crew removing an oil drilling rig. Some of the workers waved for me to come over and see more closely. It turns out they are moving the rig to a new location a few miles down the road. When I asked him if they had successfully found oil he said "we always find oil". It was an interesting reply. They work five days then have five days off and he said they are very well paid.
Further east I came across Tatum New Mexico and found a great place for lunch. It was called Tinys and the sandwich I had was two hot dog wieners in a hamburger bun covered with chilli sauce. It was good and I'm sure I'll enjoy it all day.
Eventually I crossed into Texas and was overwhelmed by the number of oil wells in the fields along the highway. There is a very distinctive smell of raw oil everywhere, and it is not pleasant. Another terrific thing to see is hundreds of wind mill electric power generation that are on high points along highway 380. There is debate about whether these are eyesores or are attractive. I find them attractive.
It seems to me that if a farmer doesn't have luck growing crops he has two other options at his disposal in this area. Either drill for oil, or set up a wind generation station on his land and then sit back and collect the money.
All day long there were ominous looking black clouds in the sky ahead of me, but through some good luck it never did rain.
Tonight I ended up in Abilene, Texas.
Distance Travelled: 574 Miles 920 Kms