The Longest Day, January 19

This beautiful shot was taken by Art Black outside our motel in El Paso as we prepared to leave for the day. It was going to be a long day and we started it early so we would not have to end it too late.

Soon after leaving El Paso I noticed some mountains rising in front of us. I figured we would be going around them, but that was not the case. Instead, we drove right through them in what was the highlight of the day that we began in Texas, drove until after dark, then ended in Texas. By the time we reached Van Horn most of the excitement was over and shortly thereafter we reached the Interstate 20 turnoff for the long, slow, flat slog to Dallas. There are some beautiful parts of Texas (I'm sure there are--people must love the state for a reason), but I-20 through Odessa, Midland, Abilene, etc...let's just say there's not much to see. I ran into a tumbleweed during the afternoon, which may (or may not) have contributed to some car trouble issues that are just being diagnosed today (brake hoses leaking, steering pump leaking, plus a couple other funs items--so much for that tax refund!).

We arrived in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex after dark and the traffic was still pretty bad. I know every area has it's share of stupid and rude drivers, but it seems like DFW just has a higher percentage. I don't know, maybe too many people moving from other parts of the country or something. Almost a month later I can still vividly remember two extremely rude motor vehicle operators and remember the rest as being a blur of bad drivers.

The Motel 6 we stayed in that night (in Duncanville, a suburb of Dallas) was absolutely the nicest looking of all of the ones we stayed at. The rooms had been recently remodeled and came with large flat-screen TVs. The beds were very comfortable--something fairly unusual for Motel 6. But the motel was in possibly the worst part of town that we stayed in at any of our stops. Before 8:00, the lobby was closed and you had to conduct business through a bullet-proof window. There were numerous signs about locking your cars and not leaving valuables in them. The deadbolt to my room had been forced open and the screws were hanging out of the wall. So, you bet I had my gun loaded and ready that night.

It was good to get that very long day behind us, though, even with the less-than-ideal motel location. With this day of travel, we had officially passed the halfway mark. And the next day we would actually see another state or two.