Ever Westward

We left the RV park at Hidden Cove in Frisco, Texas, this morning about 9:30. That was about an hour later than we had hoped, but we stayed up a bit late last night prepping for todays journey.

After some discussion with our friends, Roger and Mary, we decided to avoid the craziness of the Dallas/Ft Worth freeway/tollway system, and drive north until we encountered US 380, which we took westbound. This road is in fine shape and appears to be ready to be called an Interstate Highway. West through Little Elm, Denton, and Decatur we drove. After a few miles of road construction necessary because of flooding damage a few months ago, we found ourselves at the southern edge of Lake Bridgeport, driving through the town of Runaway Bay.

South of Jacksboro we turned south on TX 199 to US 281. This took us into some pretty country near Mineral Wells. The town of Mineral Wells lies just east of the Brazos River and is most notable for hosting the 1952 State Republican Convention which eventually supported Dwight Eisenhower for President. It's a quirky little town, very quiet on a Sunday, but with a bit of an attitude.

Not too far south of Mineral Wells, we skirted the town of Brazos and merged onto I 20 westbound. The roads to this point were wide and in great shape near Denton and then slowly reduced to two lanes, and then one lane in each direction. The speed limit on the divided highway sections was 70 mph for the most part, but became 75 when the highway was only one lane in each direction. Go figure!

Interstate 20 began to give us a taste of West Texas as we approached Abilene.

 Hour after hour, the road headed west.

We knew we were getting to the West Texas Oil Patch when we passed the Sweetwater refinery.

Through Colorado City and Big Spring got us to Midland, Texas, and the Walmart Supercenter just off the interstate. We stayed overnight here last year and found it to be hustle and bustle all night with oil industry related trucks and equipment. Tonight there are only two trucks in the parking lot, and they are just passing through and have nothing to do with the oil business. My, how times have changed! Speaking of that, Sasha and I walked over to the local Murphy's gas station this evening to check prices and found diesel fuel for $2.10 a gallon. I was so shocked that I didn't even look at the gas pumps! I'll have to try to get Nessie in for a drink in the morning!

So, there you have Sunday, October 18, 2015. Three hundred eighty seven miles and seven and one half hours further west…..