Caprock Canyon, TX Day 1

Day 01 - Tuesday, November 26, 2013 - Depart Home, Drive to Caprock Canyons State Park

Turkey Day Trek to Texas

As we have done for the past seven years, we began our Thanksgiving drive to Austin, Texas on November 26th. We had been watching an incredible winter storm that hit America’s southwest for the past three days.

We got about four inches of the fluffy white stuff, but we knew we were in for some winter driving when we left Monument Hill at 3:45 am and headed south on I-25 to the New Mexico border.

Vic drove through icy and snow packed roads south of Trinidad and we could see about a foot of snow along the roadways. Raton Pass, the border between Colorado and New Mexico, was a nightmare, as New Mexico does not seem to have the diligent snow crew that we have in Colorado. The temperature was 9 degrees as we crested the pass.

We took the cut off from Raton to Clayton and could not believe the icy and dangerous roads. We saw many cars and trucks in the ditches that had been abandoned from the three-day storm. Once we drove out of the icy roads we still wonder about New Mexico's speed limits on their roads - 70 mph max on four lane roadways and three miles before little communities the speed limit is lowered to 55, 45, then 35. These are towns with less than 50 people!

Once we got into Texas we could see that the storm had caught the cotton farmers by surprise. Most of the crop was still in the fields and was covered with about six inches of snow. The multi-use land of oil pumping derricks, wind turbines, and grazing cattle was covered with snow but the sun was shinning and made our drive across the Panhandle easier.

We stopped in Dumas, TX for a gas fill-up ($2.88) and then drove south on US 87/287 at 75 mph, the Texas speed limit. Amarillo is a community that has synchronized their stop lights so one can drive the speed limit and not stop at any light. We drove south on I-27 and at Tulia we went east on 86 to Caprock Canyon State Park.

As usual interesting stuff! Great pics, but the roads, oh my! $2.88 gas. . . awesome!

Glad you got through that northern New Mexico stretch safely. Last year we went through it during a blizzard with 0 visibility--not a relaxing adventure! Hope you have a great trip. Blessings!

You are in my old stomping grounds now - I was raised in Odessa, Texas

You are amazing! Another trip??? WE did three weeks in South America with OAt visiting Machu Pichu the Amazon and the Galapagos. We went to see our son and family in Seattle for Thanksgiving and are now back in sunny Florida-our new residence. We love it here. It is always interesting to hear what you two are up to! Enjoy-and if you ever get to SW Florida, it would be fun to see you! Lake and Lynn in Venice, FL

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