…even in December. Miles and miles and miles of wide medians being mowed. We drive down the interstate and it looks nice, like lawn stretching across the United States, but we can’t help but wonder at the resources consumed by the effort. That’s a lot of people, equipment, and fuel. Is it driven by a fire standard? A safety standard? Is it purely aesthetic? Been wondering about this for years. Well, anyway, that’s it for freeway philosophizing for now. We’re back at Sandpipers in Way South Texas. Total trip miles in the motorhome this year, 11,777; from here to Maine and back, then Colorado, Arizona, and back. Tomorrow’s forecast: 75 degrees. It’s good to be home!
Substitutes can let you down.
…quicker than a strapless gown. Burma Shave. Remember those signs? I remember that one from my youth. I guess it left a mark. And today it comes to mind in the context of freeway repair. “Keep right except to pass.” “Left lane for passing only.” These signs reflect our driving convention. Drive on the right, pass on the left. Driving the wide open spaces in West Texas, no traffic, defying convention, rolling along in the left lane because the right lane of that section of highway is a rutted bumpy mess, it occurs to us. We know highways don’t last forever. They have to be resurfaced periodically. It costs a lot to do that resurfacing. The resurfacing is probably always driven by the condition of the right lane because that gets 90% of the wear. Why not use the same materials, but make road surfaces last a lot longer? We could do that for the cost of a crew and some road signs. We could extend road surface life by at least 50%. When the right lane starts to wear out, put up some signs: “Lane wear. Drive on the left, pass on the right.” That could save millions of dollars. Say it however we need to say it. Tell us what to do and we’ll do it. Move 90% of the traffic from the right lane to the left. If the message is too much to fit all on one sign, separate the phrases. Put each phrase on a subsequent sign, Burma Shave style. “Lane wear” “Is such a fright” “For the next 20 miles” “Drive on the left, pass on the right” “TEXDOT” We stopped for the night at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=36.421282,-102.392578&spn=13.070765,26.784668 An easy day from home.
Radio Silence
Tuesday. South Llano River State Park. No phone. No internet. Love this place though. We found some humidity. We even got fog. Fog suggests we’ve found humidity approximating 100%. Of course humidity is all relative. 100% humidity at 33 degrees (like it was here) is not the same as 100% humidity at 80 degrees. Warm air can hold a lot more water than cold air can. Now we just need to keep moving south and find some warm air to go with the humidity.
Short days driving east
We’re traveling against the flow of the sun. At this pace we lose about a quarter of an hour of daylight each day. Today we crossed back into Central Time though, so the clocks leapt ahead an hour. Let’s see, how many clocks do we have to adjust? The one in our digital display on the dash, the dash radio, the indoor outdoor thermometer, the microwave, two laptop computers, three iPads, the alarm clock, the two smart phones adjust automatically, the coffeemaker, the clock in the Jeep, and every clock at the house (and in the Mazda) when we get back. I should probably keep a checklist. We always miss a few. Drove on Interstate 10 yesterday and again today (and we’ll do it again tomorrow). Stopped for the night at Balmorhea State Park in West Texas. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=36.421282,-102.392578&spn=13.070765,26.784668 We’re a little west of Fort Stockton. Never been here before. Small campground. Small State Park. Nice enough though. The primary attraction is a big spring-fed swimming pool. Natural water. It has fish, turtles, and ducks in it. Almost-warm days at about 50 degrees. Cool nights. The humidity is up to 30 percent. We’ll continue southeast.
It seems like it was just yesterday.
I was remarking on my child bride turning 60. Now all of a sudden, she’s 65. Happy Birthday Judy!
What to do for her birthday? We decided to spend it together. Last week we went in search of Fahrenheits. Didn’t find a lot of them, but there were way more in the southern desert than there were in Colorado. Today we decided to go in search of humidity. We’ve been in the teens and twenties for weeks. We left Rodeo, NM and headed east for an easy day. Stopped in Las Cruces and set up early enough to watch the Broncos win. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=36.421282,-102.392578&spn=13.070765,26.784668 Didn’t find any more humidity though. We’ll try again tomorrow. Meanwhile, we found this turtle in the desert.
The dogs said we could keep it.
What to do for her birthday? We decided to spend it together. Last week we went in search of Fahrenheits. Didn’t find a lot of them, but there were way more in the southern desert than there were in Colorado. Today we decided to go in search of humidity. We’ve been in the teens and twenties for weeks. We left Rodeo, NM and headed east for an easy day. Stopped in Las Cruces and set up early enough to watch the Broncos win. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=36.421282,-102.392578&spn=13.070765,26.784668 Didn’t find any more humidity though. We’ll try again tomorrow. Meanwhile, we found this turtle in the desert. The dogs said we could keep it.