Day 20 - Sealey, TX to El Paso, TX / New Time Zone

Picture of the trucks and RV's parked with me at Walmart last night.  You can see the streaks on the windshield from me wiping the moisture off before I could drive away this am.

It rained hard at times overnight, waking me at times with the noise on the car roof.  It was not the only noise as there was a train that blew the whistle at grade crossings nearby and since it was a 24 hour Walmart there were car doors from time to time.

Speaking of hearing train whistle overnight.  I heard train whistle when I also stayed at Hog Pen Landing and in Cartersville.  At home I hear the train engine low level rumbling noise while the train is sitting on the tracks 3 miles away.  They ripped the second track up years ago so the westbound train sits waiting for the eastbound to come through the single track section.  

It was just after 6:00 when I started heading west on I10 and it was 43 deg. The rain, fog and mist from the vehicles made it a tough drive until it got light.

The good news is that I was going to be driving out of the rain eventually.

My son Brent called and he suggested a side trip to Gruene, TX.  It is next to New Braunfiels, and is picturesque town that has a famous rafting river.  Both towns are subburbs of San Antonio.

I took Brent's advice as it would break up the long ride today and put me on some secondary roads for awhile'.  It also got me off the morning traffic around San Antonio where there were delays from accidents.

I arrived before anything was open but I did get to walk around the town streets looking at the shops and houses with Western style architecture.

I would have enjoyed walking around in a nice warm afternoon/evening with others and having lunch or dinner in one of the restaurants.  That wasn't to be on this trip as it was still a raw 43 deg and drizzle, and too early in the day and too many miles to wait.

I headed west to pick up I10 again and after putting a bunch of miles behind me I got through the weather front and I got my blue skies.

I looked down and it was now 77 degrees and I am on to Ft. Stockton, TX got gas and a decision if I will go for El Paso tonight or stay in Ft. Stockton.

I talked to Brent again and he suggested to put more miles on so I would have more time to do things Thursday.  I'm on schedule to be in Tucson, AZ tomorrow night.  I need to get an oil change on the Prius so I will do that Friday there.

The sun set before I arrived in El Paso.  He sunsets in the southwest are so beautiful. This one is nice but I be showing you more in the weeks ahead.

I I drove just under 700 miles today.  That's a long day.  The speed limit is 80 mph for most of the rural trip but I kept it about 70 mph for better gas mileage.  As it was I only got about 48 mpg for that speed.

Tonight I am at a Flying- J.  I got here too late to look up one of the local restaurants that Brent and I discussed.  I opted for a salad at Denny's here and then a shower before bed.  It's still in the 60's.

The forecast for Tucson is around 80 during the day and around 50 at night.  That's why I like the southwest in the winter.