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May 28, 2003

Start:   FAMCAMP, Altus AFB, Altus OK
End:     Traveller's World CG, Clovis NM
Miles:   252
Hi Temp: 94
Lo Temp: 60.8

We got up at a leisurely pace. Annamarie stopped at the trailer between errands to say that her "Uncle Eddie", of the pair "Pudge and Eddie" who were their parents best friends for over 50 years, had died late yesterday.  We wish all who knew him our sincere sympathies.

We were on the road earlier than usual.  We crossed the state of Texas today, which sounds great until you know that we crossed the panhandle of Texas, not the major part.  We stayed off the interstates so we could look at it more closely. The route was US-62 east to US-83 to Texas 256 west. Where it merges with Texas 86, it's so open they only put in a "Yield" sign. Then Texas 86 east to Bovina, then US-60 to Clovis.

We passed through a couple of small places that appeared to be ghost towns - no one living there - with the buildings fairly intact. The country is really flat and whatever grows doesn't grow very high.  Thus, you can see for long distances in every direction.  There are a couple of river crossings where the river is very wide and very shallow. This part of the country is behind on rainfall. I suppose most residents would not call it a desert, but it's darn close to one.  There are many cactus of several varieties.

We ate lunch where Texas 86 crosses I-27 near Tulia TX.  When we came out of the lunch place, we realized it was getting hot, or at least warmer than we've seen so far.  The truck didn't like pulling in the heat with the wind right in our face at 15mph or so.  It ran a little warm, so we slowed down a little and left the air conditioning off.

So we went onward to Bovina, where we saw the largest feed lot we've ever seen.  There were thousands of cattle there, waiting to be processed. The place must have occupied a section (640 acres). It's part of the Caprock firm - they have several of these. 

Soon after, we merged with US-70 and US-84 at the New Mexico border. The fact that these three highways come together here is the reason for being for many gas stations and fast-food restaurants and (to a degree) Clovis. 

We went to the far west side of Clovis and topped off the fuel tank. We can make Santa Fe tomorrow on one tank if we have to, and there's not much out there. Then we stopped at the campground, arriving about 1:30 Mountain Saving Time (changed at the NM border).  The temp on arrival was 86 and still going up.  The 94 seen by the thermometer may have been due to proximity to the hot gravel on which we're parked.

We decided not to go look at the town for a couple of reasons, one of which was that it didn't look all that good the first pass.  So we left the pickup and trailer hitched and hooked up the utilities. Dolores took pictures of some cactus flowers she found around the campground office. I got the e-mail and made reservations at the campground for tomorrow.  Then we holed up in the trailer.

I managed the picture files we'd shot over the last several days, labeling them and putting them where I want them.  Later on, we had a light dinner (mainly salads) and continued to take it easy. We'll try to get up early to travel more when it's cool.