Las Cruces to Tucson

The news out of El Paso last night (the network stations seem to be headquartered there), was very concerned about thunderstorms and flooding in the "Border Lands" along the Rio Grande from south of El Paso to west of Las Cruces, so we got up early this morning and prepped to leave. The time change from Central to Mountain helped immensely! It was dark when we got up, but the sun soon began to rise, giving us a great view of a desert sunrise after a storm!

We judged that once again, the weather predictors were a little off, and hit I 10 west hoping to keep ahead of the rain. That plan worked well for awhile.

But the clouds began to thicken as we crossed into Arizona (and picked up another hour, since AZ doesn't observe Daylight Time, and is now on the same schedule as the Pacific Time Zone).

And continued to gather as we chased I 10 west.

The clouds over the nearby mountains were awesome.

I 10 is a great road for getting from A to B, but not much for scenery. The 11 miles or so between Gary, AZ, and Road Forks,  New Mexico is as straight as a string. The road deviates not an iota right or left, and, in fact, I seriously considered getting up and getting something to eat whilst Nessie drove herself down the road!

So, two hundred and eighty one miles and about five hours later, 1:30 pm local, we pulled into the parking lot of the Casino Del Sol on Valencia Rd, just south and west of downtown Tucson. We've overnighted here in the past, and found that the casino welcomes travelers with special meal options and roving security patrols in a well-lit parking lot. We're good to go!

Unfortunately, after driving through several nice showers and then thinking that we were done with the rain, it found us again. Just as we set up at the casino, the rain started! Oh, well, we don't have much to do this afternoon! A trip to the Tucson Tamale Factory is on the agenda, and then some dinner….who knows what will happen?