Day 11 The Drive to San Antonio
3/18 - Day 11 The Drive to San Antonio
I drove from Las Cruces to San Antonio this day. With four MINIMAL breaks it was still a 9 hour plus trip (579 miles). This after a 36 hole golf day should've been harder to recover from, but I'm looking forward to my golf game today (I am writing this on the morning of the 19th. I've got 3.5 hours until my tee time and I have to be out of this motel (my first Microtel by Wyndham, not bad by the way) in 90 minutes so I'm trying to get caught up on the story telling.
San Antonio was NOT an original destination. I was going to drive north to Albuquerque and play at the Sandia Golf Course at a casino there. The weather forecast was for a little cold and a lot of rain so I bagged that idea.
My next stop was to be Lubbock, TX. Texas Tech has it's own golf course, called The Rawls. The Rawls is listed by Golf Advisor as the #3 college campus golf course in the country so I really wanted to play it. Bad timing as they aerated (punched holes in!) the greens on the course on Monday the 16th so I bagged that idea too. Probably just as well since Lubbock is renowned for it's windiness and I had enough of that Tuesday afternoon.
Tomorrow I am heading to Austin (not far from here!) and I found a golf course to play on the north side of San Antonio. It's close to my route so I'll play golf in the morning before I drive to the state capitol. I had a nice Thai dinner at a restaurant right next to the Microtel. This is to be the last day they could serve in the restaurant. After this it's all take out in Texas.
Random thoughts!
El Paso, Texas is much bigger than I thought it was. The city runs a LONG ways from west to east on the south side. I couldn't really see the north side. They have done a nice job with their bridges over the freeway. Adding some "arty" touches does brighten a first time traveler's day.
Texas has better roads than Arizona or New Mexico. They should, I can't tell you how many road work signs I saw on the way to San Antonio. They get you to slow down, but I swear there was no actual work going on in more than 1/3 of the work zones.
Slowing down in Texas is relative. When you slow down you are only going 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit.
What Texas doesn't have is enough rest areas. They are few and far between on I-10. They do have some "Picnic Areas", but these have no bathrooms so I imagine there is the smell of urine in the most of the picnic areas. NOT MINE! I didn't stop at any of them.
The landscape in south eastern Texas is about the same as most of Arizona and southern New Mexico, just a little hillier. You don't get much green until about 130 miles short of San Antonio. The change to a greener horizon was quite noticeable and welcome!
I-10 splits (the start of I-20, to Dallas) about three hours into the drive and then you've still got a long drive left to San Antonio. THEORETICALLY I will only have one more driving day this long on the trip (mid Alabama to Ocala, FL).
I have AT&T and the cell service in New Mexico was great. Arizona and Texas (except for the cities) not so good. The weather has been mostly nice since St. George. It was 72 driving to Las Cruces and 82 today in Texas.
I talk to Margaret every day sometimes more than once. I miss her more each day. With restaurants being closed almost everywhere (except for take out) I will probably wear out my golf companions' ears as I have no one else to talk to. The trip is working out OK so far, but were not the conditions of travel I had expected when I planned it.
I hope all my friends are safe and healthy. I have not encountered any sick people (as far as I know) and I feel fine. When people ask where I'm from and I say Washington some of them cringe. I have to add right away I am on the Idaho border, as far from the center of sick people as possible.
I drove from Las Cruces to San Antonio this day. With four MINIMAL breaks it was still a 9 hour plus trip (579 miles). This after a 36 hole golf day should've been harder to recover from, but I'm looking forward to my golf game today (I am writing this on the morning of the 19th. I've got 3.5 hours until my tee time and I have to be out of this motel (my first Microtel by Wyndham, not bad by the way) in 90 minutes so I'm trying to get caught up on the story telling.
San Antonio was NOT an original destination. I was going to drive north to Albuquerque and play at the Sandia Golf Course at a casino there. The weather forecast was for a little cold and a lot of rain so I bagged that idea.
My next stop was to be Lubbock, TX. Texas Tech has it's own golf course, called The Rawls. The Rawls is listed by Golf Advisor as the #3 college campus golf course in the country so I really wanted to play it. Bad timing as they aerated (punched holes in!) the greens on the course on Monday the 16th so I bagged that idea too. Probably just as well since Lubbock is renowned for it's windiness and I had enough of that Tuesday afternoon.
Tomorrow I am heading to Austin (not far from here!) and I found a golf course to play on the north side of San Antonio. It's close to my route so I'll play golf in the morning before I drive to the state capitol. I had a nice Thai dinner at a restaurant right next to the Microtel. This is to be the last day they could serve in the restaurant. After this it's all take out in Texas.
Random thoughts!
El Paso, Texas is much bigger than I thought it was. The city runs a LONG ways from west to east on the south side. I couldn't really see the north side. They have done a nice job with their bridges over the freeway. Adding some "arty" touches does brighten a first time traveler's day.
Texas has better roads than Arizona or New Mexico. They should, I can't tell you how many road work signs I saw on the way to San Antonio. They get you to slow down, but I swear there was no actual work going on in more than 1/3 of the work zones.
Slowing down in Texas is relative. When you slow down you are only going 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit.
What Texas doesn't have is enough rest areas. They are few and far between on I-10. They do have some "Picnic Areas", but these have no bathrooms so I imagine there is the smell of urine in the most of the picnic areas. NOT MINE! I didn't stop at any of them.
The landscape in south eastern Texas is about the same as most of Arizona and southern New Mexico, just a little hillier. You don't get much green until about 130 miles short of San Antonio. The change to a greener horizon was quite noticeable and welcome!
I-10 splits (the start of I-20, to Dallas) about three hours into the drive and then you've still got a long drive left to San Antonio. THEORETICALLY I will only have one more driving day this long on the trip (mid Alabama to Ocala, FL).
I have AT&T and the cell service in New Mexico was great. Arizona and Texas (except for the cities) not so good. The weather has been mostly nice since St. George. It was 72 driving to Las Cruces and 82 today in Texas.
I talk to Margaret every day sometimes more than once. I miss her more each day. With restaurants being closed almost everywhere (except for take out) I will probably wear out my golf companions' ears as I have no one else to talk to. The trip is working out OK so far, but were not the conditions of travel I had expected when I planned it.
I hope all my friends are safe and healthy. I have not encountered any sick people (as far as I know) and I feel fine. When people ask where I'm from and I say Washington some of them cringe. I have to add right away I am on the Idaho border, as far from the center of sick people as possible.
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