Day 34 - Thursday, July 3, 2008

Day 34

Carlsbad, New Mexico to Abilene, Texas

Well, we are officially on our way home. Ever since leaving the Grand Canyon we've had the leisure and pleasure to meander where the road takes us. That's the best way to travel, I think. We stop when we were tired, we followed the brown signs for historical and natural landmarks, and we explored the towns we were in.

Now we're in a different mode -- just putting miles on the odometer. Yesterday, leaving New Mexico we hit 6,148 miles on our trip so far.

Here's the skinny on the driving:

We left Carlsbad taking Rt. 62/180 to Hobbes, on the NM side of the NM/Texas border. The land was mostly flat, scrubby desert, with some rolling hills coming up as we went eastward.

Passing into Texas, the land was still mostly flat, but not desert anymore -- there were alternating patches of grass and crops. We could see the clouds and sky for miles, and could even see it raining on the southern horizon. (That was cool.)

We also saw lots oil rigs pumping, and a new mark on the landscape -- dozens of wind farms. Sometimes the two structures were together and made for an interesting juxtaposition.

We passed through the Texas towns of Seminole, Lamesa, and Snyder heading east on 180. At Snyder we took 84 East for a few miles to get to I-20 at Roscoe. Then we headed straight into Abilene, and spent the night swimming and relaxing in the hotel pool.

More miles ahead of us. And because of time, we can no longer take the road less traveled. Sorry, Mr. Frost. We wish we could.