2015 Arizona Trip #1 - Days 1 & 2

 The prior post can serve as an intro for this one.

Following two years of health decline, my first wife Marla passed away on May 1, 2015.  Amidst the events of the spring, my son-in-law accepted a job in Phoenix, AZ, so my daughter was left with the task of packing the house, while my older grandson finished his preschool year.  

After an episode of home renovation in 2012, my daughter's (she, hubby, and one son - at the time) moved into the main floor of the family home, while my wife, son, and I rented the basement apartment.  A second grandson was born later that year.

After my wife's passing, the completion of the "move to Phoenix" was the next family task, by month's end.  As departure day approached, my daughter - and her two sons - were flying to Phoenix, there were discussions of shipping the SUV and the family dog. 

After some brief thought, I offered my services to drive the SUV to Phoenix and take the dog along.  My traveling companion was a long-term friend, Neal.  After spending a few days in Phoenix, we planned to rent a car to return to Georgia.  

My son was working, had a useable car, and I had no interest in staring at the "four walls" and listening to the "roaring silence" from the now-empty upstairs (absent my two grandsons, their Mom and Dad, and the dog, Sarah).  I wasn't quite ready to enter the new world of widowhood with that sudden rush of emptiness.

[Neal and I have been friends for about 25 years, by way of our mutual hobby of beer can collecting and our enjoyment of trying different craft beers.]

As it was very late May, the shortest route to Phoenix (I-20 to I-10) would be hot and there wasn't time for any side-trips (my son-in-law's car was already in Phoenix and my daughter needed her car delivered).  We also couldn't leave the dog in the hot car, unattended during gas and restroom stops.

As I hadn't left home for long travels in several years and my brain was scrambled by recent events, last-minute tasks delayed leaving until perhaps 10 AM, rather than the planned 6 AM.  But we still made it to Longview, TX that first day.

(While passing through Vicksburg, MS, a mental note was made to get future photos and samples of the loess deposits on the east side of the Mississippi River.)  

By the time we left Longview the next morning, we knew the Dallas-Fort Worth area was experiencing heavy rains and local flooding (next photo), including some rights-of-way (next photo) and ramps on the southern loop (I-20).  Despite the incessant blowing rain, we could tell that we were in the latter parts of the East Texas spring wildflower season, but time and rain didn't permit any photo stops.  (Photographing Bluebonnets in central Texas is on my "Bucket List".)

Figure 1.

Though the overcast skies kept temperatures down, we still had to do a tag-team approach for restroom and other stops, in deference to the dog's health and well-being.  This was the case when we made our first "beer stop" at Total Wine in west Fort Worth, where we made our first haul of probably two dozen single bottles and cans of previously untried craft beers (to be shared and sampled, once we returned home).  After that quick (and "necessary") stop, we were back on I-20.  

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Once we had left the DFW Metroplex in our rearview mirrors, the weather gradually cleared.  After we passed through the Permian Basin cities of Midland and Odessa, we stopped at Monahans Sandhills State Park.  During my El Paso years (1977 - 1991), stopping at this park was always "something I will stop and see next year" when traveling between El Paso and my native Georgia.

I hadn't yet started thinking in terms of a specific "Bucket List", but there were some things "I wanted to do" and seeing the Sand Hills (below) was one of them.  (Seeing the Odessa Meteor Crater is another "next time" stop.)

Monahans Sandhills 

Figure 4.

This brief visit for a few quick photos is a partially-fulfilled "Geo-Bucket List" item, interesting enough to warrant another photo-visit.  Meanwhile, the dog and the impatient co-driver reminded me that we needed to be back on I-20.   

After we left the Sand Hills, it was about another 66 miles until I-20 ends at its junction with I-10, about 10 miles east of Kent, TX.  (Beyond view to the right are the Apache Mts., a tilted fault-block range that marks the local northeast extent of the Basin and Range Province, in which we will be, all the way to Phoenix.)

Figure 5.

After merging onto I-10 West, there is a clear view to the South of the northern margins of the Davis Mountains (below), a swath of 35 million-year-old volcanic rocks that comprise the northeastern part of the Trans-Pecos Volcanic Field.

[The Davis Mts. cover about 1000 square miles are quite worthy of spending at least a day or two visiting.  (I regret not spending more time there.)  Among the places to visit are the UT McDonald Observatory, the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute, numerous unusual ecosystems, and the Fort Davis National  Park (an outpost used by the 19th century "Buffalo Soldiers").  Because of the local climate, the Davis Mountains are designated as an "American Viticultural Area".  Though there was an active winery in the past, an internet search suggests that there are no presently-active wineries in the mountains.]

Unnamed peak, Northern Davis Mountains

Figure 6.

The gas station pictured below was our last gas stop before Van Horn, approximately 35 miles to the west.  The station sits upon Cretaceous limestones that comprise the western margin of the Edwards Plateau. (In the background are more of the Davis Mts.)  

Figure 7.

After stopping in Van Horn, in the cool of the evening, we decided against leaving the dog in the motel room while we dined at Chuy's, a local Mexican restaurant (since 1955), not to be confused with the Austin, TX-based chain.  We opened the back windows of the SUV and I continually checked on her.  It all worked out.  Neal noticed a faint whiff of mold in the room, perhaps because of the recent rains.

Tomorrow was planned to be our last day on the road prior to our Phoenix destination, though Phoenix was still about 520 miles away.