Leaving Tucson - Hello Texas

Our family reunion was over too quickly but we made promises to do it again soon.  Then we were off, heading for Texas on Rte. 10.  The remaining drive through southwest Arizona was interesting as growing rain clouds painted endless landscapes with the mountains (below).

Another surprise was the sudden emergence of fields of nut trees (right), probably pecan and walnut, based on billboards we saw.

Cotton fields also emerged again, this time being harvested by machine and not by hand.  And cattle began appearing again, although in small numbers.

We crossed into New Mexico with the stunning mountains again.  Rounding a curve at one point, we were surprised with hills of rocks that looked like someone (or something) had simply dropped them there, with huge boulders perched on top in precarious positions.  Unfortunately, my photos were too blurred to use.

The rain clouds had persisted all day and we encountered showers for miles. 

The barely populated highway (except for trucks, we hardly saw any other vehicles) allowed much gazing at broad valleys and distant mountains. Surprisingly, the speed limit was raised from 75 to 80!  But cars suddenly materialized in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and again in El Paso, where we had 21 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Just as suddenly, the cars disappeared and we had open road again.  But we hadn't gone very far east of El Paso when traffic signs informed drivers of an inspection station ahead. Speed was slowed from 80 to 0 in a very short time. The Border Patrol was checking every car, truck and bus.  The Mexican border is very close to that area.

The drive today also included a time-zone change, so we are now in Central Time, gaining back the hours we lost heading to Las Vegas.  Tomorrow's drive will cross Texas but probably not all of it. 

More of our journey then.