To Texas! 11/1/2013

With many miIes ahead of us, we set out early (for us) toward Texas. We have a long way to go to get back east.

Our drive took us down long straight roads with views to the horizon.
 Highlights:

• WIPP--Waste Isolation Pilot Plant--26 miles south of Carlsbad, we saw signs for this, a deep geological repository for radioactive waste.
• Wide open desert--as in desert landscape in 360 degrees
• A huge mansion in the middle of the desert behind a screen of trees along Route 180 near Seminole, TX
• Cotton and sorghum fields to the horizon on both sides of the road
• We were beyond startled when the driver's side mirror with mirror extensions (for trailer pulling) blew back into the driver's side window as a tractor trailer truck roared by us on the opposite side of the road. (180 is a 2 lane road with a 75mph speed limit. We were traveling at 63mph.)
• All along the roads, there were white balls of cotton that had blown off cotton plants from the fields. Fascinated, I asked Ray to stop, so I could pick up a few and feel raw cotton balls. We stopped along an empty stretch of road to use the trailer bathroom, and I got my raw cotton. It feels just like the cotton balls you buy in the store! (except for the seeds and sticks stuck to the raw cotton)
• I saw antelope running in the desert.
• Wind--lots of wind, all the way to Weatherford, TX, west of Dallas. There"s a reason they have wind reports on the news as part of the weather report. 

We are at a small KOA in Weatherford tonight--small as in 49 sites versus hundreds that are common to KOAs.