Fear and Loathing on the Road to Study Butte

[Martha]

We traveled to southwest Texas to visit Big Bend National Park. We took our rv and dirt bikes. Our first night in Texas, outside of Lubbuck:

From Amarillo to Study Butte, our destination, there were endless oil rigs and the smell of oil in the air.

Taco stands, blowing dust, corroded buildings, picnic areas where no one would picnic.

Big Bend was beautiful but hot. Miles of road to ride our dirt bikes. Interesting places to hike. A couple miles from our campground was an interesting site with many petroglyphs and pictographs. Met an archeologist who has worked for the park service since the 70s and followed along as he was training newer park personnel. All about fertility and puberty.

Boots and roadrunner on picnic table:

Texas Bluebonnet:

Coming up on the Rio Grande:

 

[REWahoo]

Martha,

Thanks for posting the TX photos.  That should eliminate any misconceptions anyone might have about retiring here.

One question:  Is the 'fear and loathing' directed toward the scenery, the people you met, or your travelling companion? 8)

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

beautiful pics. love the roadrunner. beep beep

 

[Martha]

Flock of white pelicans encountered in Iowa on the way home:

Iowa is the most developed state in the United States with the least amount of land in its natural state. Corn, corn everywhere. Our food system is a corn based system.

 

[LOL!]

Ah, reminded me of last year's vacation in the same area. Nice photos!

It's pronounced Stoo-dee butte. A one-ATM town.

 

[audreyh1]

Martha,

Thanks for posting the TX photos.  That should eliminate any misconceptions anyone might have about retiring here.

Ha! Only West Texas looks like that!

Did you get up into the Chisos Basin? Woulda been a lot cooler up there.

Audrey

 

[REWahoo]

Ha!  Only West Texas looks like that!

Audrey, ssssssssssshhhhhh!    

 

[Outtahere]

Great pics Martha!

 

[Nords]

Ha! Only West Texas looks like that!

Audrey, ssssssssssshhhhhh!    

Here, REW, let me help.

"West" Texas?!? Where is the line drawn and, more importantly, how do you tell when you've crossed it?

 

[Martha]

Note that I was very careful to say that we traveled in west Texas, given the number of people here from east Texas.

Edited to add the omitted "wink".

 

[audreyh1]

"West" Texas?!?  Where is the line drawn and, more importantly, how do you tell when you've crossed it?

The Pecos River is traditionally the West Texas boundary - easy to tell when you've crossed the river!

Martha - that Lazy Daze of yours – very high quality brand of Class C! We have friends who are very proud of theirs. They are even fulltiming in it.

Audrey

 

[dex]

I grew up in NYC and I don't know what is but the west with its big sky just calls to me. I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HFWR]

The sky has to be big, to hold all those tornadoes...

 

[audreyh1]

Yep, the skies are HUGE out here! The wester you go, the bigger the skies get!

Audrey

 

[Martha]

The drive through big sky country: Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma was incredibly windy and a day or two after we pasted through Kansas and Nebraska had numerous tornadoes. I heard 17 in Kansas. I also heard that a motorhome had hail the size of baseballs break through its roof.

It was a little uncomfortable to see rest areas along the highway advertise their tornado shelters.

 

[astromeria]

I grew up in NYC and I don't know what is but the west with its big sky just calls to me.  I can not wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I grew up just outside NYC, and one of the most memorable events of my life was watching the Rockies grow on the horizon as I drove from NY to Wyoming. Not to mention the Badlands, the Black Hills, and Devil's Tower along the way. You can't possibly overestimate how wonderful it is, the West of your imagination made real

 

[Non sequitur]

Just so everyone is informed, East Texas is actually a small town in Pennsylvania.

 

[bow-tie]

The drive through big sky country: Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma was incredibly windy and a day or two after we pasted through Kansas and Nebraska had numerous tornadoes.  I heard 17 in Kansas.  I also heard that a motorhome had hail the size of baseballs break through its roof.

It was a little uncomfortable to see rest areas along the highway advertise their tornado shelters.

Eastern Iowa got beat up last week with hail and tornados (18 of 'em I heard)... a lot of broken siding, broken windshields, dented vehicles, and beat-up buildings.  Needless to say, we were not impressed with Kansas trying to pawn it's weather off on us this early in the spring


....and thanks for the pics.

 

[LEX]

You know you are west of the Pecos when you can see one of these.