“Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind?”

As a matter of fact, it does.  We lived here for many, many years and today we returned to check out the changes and immerse ourselves in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas scene.  We’re here  -- half-way between Dallas and Fort Worth. It has changed BIG TIME!

Well, I told you we were in Deming, NM last.  That wasn’t our planned landing for Thursday night but that’s where we ended up.  We left Tucson in the afternoon and drove the 203 miles from one site to another.  We celebrated the fact that we had full hook ups.  Yippee!  A little extra enjoyment is always a reason for celebration.  However, we zonked right out.   We had started late and arrived late. 

Friday we were off to take care of a few simple things and stop by to see our friend, IYQ (aka Lee).  He wanders around part of the year and ends up in New Mexico for the other part of it.   He had bought a cute little trailer for weekend jaunts.  We had heard about it and, of course, wanted to see it.  Our report ---- we loved it!  Hmm … what fun it would be to have a weekender too!

We also went to Adobe Deli.  He had taken us there to eat last year.  We loved it then and we loved it this time too.  I tried to take a picture inside of the boys but where I was trying to take it just didn’t work. The place is definitely unique and sits way back in the middle of nowhere.  What a great place to eat. Thanks, Lee.

   Las Cruces 

The plan was to spend a second night in Deming but that little eraser came out and erased all those plans.  What the heck!  We were soon on our way to Texas.  It was another late afternoon departure but we were only traveling 85 miles.  The weather man had been predicting winds above 32 mph.   Strong winds were supposed to continue through the Wednesday of the next week.  This was part of the reason we went on.   However, every day the forecast was modified.  The winds came sooner than expected and even went away sooner than that.   Go figure!  Instead of being in front of the winds we met some head-on and others just disappeared.  I don’t know why I continue to trust their forecast.

We planted our wheels just inside the Texas border.  We have discovered that the Texas Welcome Centers are a great place to overnight.  The lots are big, on concrete and even comes with security. 

With the time change we were up later but really up earlier.  We wanted to get through El Paso before the traffic hit.  Even though it was a Saturday, I always hate going through that town.   Mission accomplished and we were on our way waving goodbye to Van Horn and finally into Midland.    It seemed like a long day.  We moved 314 miles down the road that day and a good deal of it was fighting winds.  By the time we got to the Wal-Mart in Midland, we were ready to put those dust storms behind us for the night.  We called Wal-Mart home …. as did many other RVers.

One thing about the time change is that it sure stays dark in the morning but yet we have longer evenings.  I actually like that.  Sunday morning we were up early and left Midland in our dust.   (Yes, there was dust.)

Sunday was the expected day of arrival in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  The wind died down and we breezed down the long flat freeway.  We love those Texas highways.  First stop after leaving the Wal-Mart in Midland was a Love’s Station at exit 242.  Since we'd been on the road a couple days boondocking and knew we were going into a park without sewer, we wanted to take care of this so we didn't have to move for a few more days.

I thought I was very familiar with work traffic in this Metroplex.  I was dead wrong.  Sundays are usually a good day to travel through a big city but not necessarily this Sunday.  I used to know all the freeways but everything has changed.  There are new overpasses, underpasses, express lanes and it was a mess. 

One thing that hasn’t changed is the turn-off to where I worked for many years..   We’ll be checking the changes out there in a few days too.

After another 323 miles we finally pulled into the Irving Elks.  It’s a deal with the overnight fee just $10 and that includes electric and water.  We’re about 4 miles from downtown Dallas.  Next on our list is finding a place to store the motorhome for about 10 days.  We can only stay here about 4 days.  They have issues with the city and folks staying longer than that.

925 miles later we were zonked.  Now we need to recoup for a few days.

‘Tis life on the road.