Midland and Westward

Petroleum Museum

Friday 5-2 we hung out in Midland again, breakfast in, then off to the Midland Petroleum Museum.  We walked around there for about 2 hours, then drove around the outside exhibits.  After that we headed out to lunch at McAlister's for lunch....very good, and recommended by the gentlemen that worked at the museum.  We then headed out to Odessa looking for the (Bush Presidential library) turns out it is just a Presidential Archive Library that also has one of the Bush childhood  houses out back.  But it didn't really matter, with our luck, for some reason it is closed for the afternoon and no luck getting to see anything there. We then headed out to a Ranch Museum, but when we got there it looked soooo run down and in a not so nice part of town we didn't even pull in, what a day.  After that we gave up and headed home, it is about 4:30 and Rudy probably needs a break from his cage.  Shane came over soon after we got home and we tried to come up with something to go do, but everything closes at 5:00 or 6:00, so it was hang out at the park, Brad grilled chicken and we had it on a salad, a nice visit with a lot of talking and then Shane was off to the gym.  We walked Rudy one more time and then got ready to settle in for the night.  Not a bad day all in all, a nice visit with Shane, a little touring around, and a plan to hit the road in the morning. 

 

Saturday we actually got on the road by 10:00, planning a stop in Pecos for Fuel and then had lunch

Sampling the
Texas Wine.

at the Denny's in the truck stop.  We had originally hoped to have lunch with Shane at a Mexican restaurant in town, but he couldn't make it.  After lunch we decided to head through town to look for the 'West of the Pecos Museum' and in the process found the Rodeo Arena, where the first ever Rodeo was held on July 4 1883.   The museum consisted of an old saloon that had 3 rooms upstairs and the Orient Hotel that was originally added in 1904.  It was interesting in some parts, some of the modern day Pecos stuff, not so much, but it took us about 2 hours to tour the thing, which of course, makes it a late day again.  We are heading west on I20-I10 to a KOA in Van Horn, TX, traveling about 200 miles.  Not bad, we pull in about 5:00, get checked in, find our spot and are very pleased with the view.  It has been flat and barren most of the day, but out the window of the Moho, we have a view of the mountains in the distance the sites are positioned so you have the afternoon shade to sit and relax in.  There is a little restaurant right here in the CG, so we strolled up there for dinner, nothing fancy, but ok food and we didn't have to get the grill out, an added bonus.  Back to the site, get Rudy and couple of more walks with a little rest and relaxation in between and then off to bed about 10:00. 



Sunday Brad gets up with Rudy to take  him for his normal walk, but instead, calls in the window, if I

Monique at the
'Scenic View' Stop

hurry I can see the sun come up over the mountains, so out the door I go.  Now what the heck, we only have about 120 miles to go to get to El Paso and we are both up at the crack of dawn, but what a morning.  It was 47 when I got up and until we got ready to leave about 9:00 the temp was already up in the mid 70's.  Again we head west, this time to the  Fort Bliss Campground in El Paso, TX, planning to visit with Monique.  We get to the out skirts of El Paso about noon, and do the regular, stop for fuel, and again lunch at Denny's in the truck stop.  After that the trek through town, which was not as easy as it should have been.  We were looking for Route 375, which was  under construction and had no signs as to where the entrance was, so we missed it did a U-turn and got on from the other side using a fly over ramp(very high).  Next get off at Route 54 and head south, so you get off the exit and there are 3 turns to the left and none of them are marked, took a guess on turn number 2 and just happened to be correct.  After that the CG was fairly easy to find but getting here...whew.  We get checked in, find our site, pull in and the car is so crooked we almost didn't get it disconnected, but after about 15 min. we managed.  I texted Monique to let her

The Big Red Border "X"

know we were here and she laughed, she had just left after coming over to check it out.  On to our normal routines, Brad outside and me inside getting things organized and hooked up, when here comes Monique.  What a pleasant visit, we just hung out and talked for a while, then she wanted to show us around a bit, so off to 'Scenic Drive', up a mountain to about 4200 feet above sea level.  From here you can see all of Fort Bliss, El Paso, the 'X' that marks the border, Juarez, Mexico, and in the other direction, all the way to Carlsbad, NM.  It was a beautiful view and much cooler that down at the CG or in town.  After that she took us to her favorite restaurant 'Famous Dave's', where we all had plenty to eat and she even had left overs to take back.  Back home, a short talk, then we had to say goodnight, even though the clock said 8:00 PM our bodies said 9:00 since we crossed one more time zone.  With plans made to have dinner again tomorrow she headed out (training at 4:00 AM for her) and Brad and I headed inside to getting ready for bed. 

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Pictures of the 'Ford Home', Museum, the Scenery and Van Horn Campground and views.


Diane and Brad