Fall 2015 - Day 6: Ozona, TX - El Paso Museum of Art, TX - White Sands National Monument, NM - Deming, NM

Friday, Sept 11, 2015 - starting from the Super 8 in Ozona, TX, west to the El Paso Museum of Art (El Paso, TX), north to the White Sands National Monument (NM), then spend the night at the Super 8 in Deming, NM:

567 miles; 8 hours 2 minutes.

The morning view at the Super 8 in Ozona, Texas is pretty nice:


I love driving in Texas


El Paso is 352 miles west, and the road goes on forever:


Although the road behind me is pretty desolate:

As is the road ahead of me:

I do have some friends out here - the Goodyear Blimp!



It was following I-10 west (to LA?), which is how the first airplanes navigated - just follow the roads, and get a good roadmap. It was probably going 60 mph, so I would pass it, stop for gas, then pass it again.

This stretch of the highway is part of the "Texas Mountain Trail", which eventually exited off. I didn't know there were any mountains in Texas, let alone a "Texas Mountain Trail"

um, maybe after I'm done with my 4,000 footers ...

With the rush-hour traffic in Austin, and driving in the monsoon rainstorm in San Antonio, I think it took a little out of me - I woke up 1 1/2 hours later than normal. I wound up leaving Ozona at 8:30, but about 100 miles east of El Paso I crossed into the Mountain Time Zone, setting my clocks back an hour, so the travel plans for the day remain fine.

I wonder where those truck tires are going?


It is a beautiful day in El Paso - mid-80s and sunny:


Although there is only one painting in my app for this museum (William Sonntag's Mountain Landscape, c. 1860), El Paso is kind-of-on-the-way to California, so I wanted to see what they have. And although I did not see the Sonntag, imagine my delight when I turned a corner and saw Canaletto's View of the Molo, c. 1730-35


They have a beautiful early George Inness, painted in 1842 when he was only 18, titled Landscape

I'm sorry he left behind the detail-of-his-youth as he "matured" in his painting style.

And there is a fun large origami piece by Robert J. Lang - Giraffe / Jirafa, 2008


As I drive north out of El Paso, Mexico is less than 1,000 feet to my left. That wall down there is the border, and the river is the Rio Grande:


I then headed north to the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Since I am 1,500 miles past due for an oil change, I looked up "jiffy lube" on my iPhone Google Maps, and there are 3 IN LAS CRUCES, right on my way to White Sands! Thank you God! So I pulled into the one which was less-than-a-mile from my route and got the oil changed, brake pads fixed, etc. While I was waiting, a HUGE Thunderstorm swept through the area, cooling things down from 92 to 77. Then 50 miles up the highway northeast:


It is a beautiful area


The picnic area has these alien structures

which are simply sun-and-wind shields, with picnic tables.

Because I knew the sun was going down, I did the Backcountry Camping Trail - 2 miles over the Dunes:





The sun setting behind the San Andres Mountains:


Then a 2-hour drive west to the Super 8 in Deming, New Mexico. Thank you GOD for another great adventure day!

Music today was alphabetical songs, but since I found yesterday's playlist fascinating (songs starting with "I"), I plugged in the big iPod and started those; 141 songs, starting with

I Ain't Gonna Eat My Heart Out Anymore 1966 The Rascals Time Peace
and ending with
I Don't Worry About A Thing 1962 Mose Allison Allison Wonderland: Anthology

The list can be accessed here

Highlights include:

I Can See For Miles 1979 The Who The Kids Are Alright

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 2008 The Rolling Stones Shine A Light
"When I'm drivin' in my car
And that man comes on the radio"

I Could Have Been A Sailor 2004 Peter Allen The Very Best Of Peter Allen

I Dig Rock And Roll Music 1967 Peter, Paul & Mary Album 1700

I Don't Live Today 1969 Jimi Hendrix Hendrix In The West [Live]

I Don't Want To Go Home 2010 Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes 1978: Live In Boston