From the windshield of the motorhome.
From Oasis, through Clovis, Texico, and Farwell. Made a right turn at Muleshoe. This part of Texas has aptly named towns; Levelland, Brownfield, Cotton Center, Earth, and Plainfield. High plains.
Warmer weather. This is the first time we’ve used the air conditioning while driving in a long time. Stubble fields of cotton, corn, and hay. Nothing actively growing yet. Tilled fields. Wind from the west. Red topsoil, on its way to Oklahoma, drifting across the north south highway. Tilling is traditional. It’s not always necessary. I wonder how much consideration is given to no-till farming here.
On these driving days, Jesse gets bored. Henry’s fine. He’ll sleep on the dashboard or floor the whole day if need be. Jesse though, she can only make it a couple hours before it’s time to play and nothing else will do. When she wants something, she doesn’t bark. She talks. Quite the vocabulary of growls, chirps and whines. Toy balls get dribbled at my feet. Stuffed animal toys are presented for games of tug-a-fetch. Nothing much happens on my side of the bus. I’m a little busy driving. Judy is her only hope. We make a stop at the next picnic pull-over and both dogs get a little exercise.
We turn west at Odessa on Interstate 20. Tonight it’s Monahans Sandhills State Park. We have a paved back-in site that is exactly as wide as the wheels of our bus and a narrow access road. Everything else is soft sand. Three unattended scoutmasters sitting at the next site watching us. Judy guiding, me driving, the scoutmasters broke out in applause as we stuck the landing. There may have been a conversation about whether we could get in that spot or not. It was hot. Judy gave them ice cream bars.
The Great February Birding Trip Map
