Monday, March 12, 2012

Notes From The Road

Sunset On The Great Plains
The road trip has begun and today, as you read this, I will be somewhere off the grid in the Southwestern U.S.

It's all part of my somewhat annual trip to El Paso, Texas to see my wife's parents, brother, and sister. Along with that I slide in a couple of rides in the Franklin Mountains.

But there is a lot of windshield time in between the homestead and El Paso. The numbers stack up like this, on average...

Mileage: 1375m
Time driving 22-24 hours. Split between two days.

I know a lot of folks would just hate the thought of driving across Kansas, but you should try it sometime. Especially timing it so you get to the western side at nightfall. The sunsets are always spectacular out that way. Big, wide open territory. I don't mind a bit to drive through, but what I can not imagine is what it must be like to live out here on the Plains. The unbroken horizon, the flattish terrain, and near lack of anything vertical besides the few trees and the ever present grain elevators that pop up about every ten miles.

Hopefully today will be the polar opposite experience: Mountains. Yes, the terrain gets pretty spectacular where I am going today.

More from the road tomorrow......

4 comments:

mw said...

i enjoy the drive to my brothers house. about 4hrs longer drive. and my dad's house is 1/2 way.

Keith M. said...

Enjoy the drive. If you go through the panhandle of Texas, stop in Amarillo/Canyon Tx. and go ride at either the Girl Scout Trails or Palo Duro Canyon. You won't be sad you did. Just call a local shop and they'll tell you how to get to either trail head.

Exhausted_Auk said...

We make a similar drive across Nebraska on I-80 quite regularly, and always dread the trip as it is so flat and dull. Last summer we took Hwy 20 instead. Wow, what a difference! Rolling and scenic, you would never know it was the same state.

MG said...

Safe travels bro...