Moving to Tucson, Day 3

On The Road Again
Today was the longest leg of the journey, and it sure felt like it. I thought for a moment I was coming upon a forest fire as I drove closer and closer to a plume of dark gray smoke rising up to the clouds and filling the horizon, but it was just a series of controlled burns.


I did drive past quite a few windmills in Oklahoma that looked very majestic standing against the blue sky. Not many of those to be found in Michigan. I thought it made a pretty nice picture.

After Oklahoma comes Texas. Oh. My. God. I've never been on a road that I've wanted to get off more than when I was in Texas. It was almost like being in a third world country. The roads were terrible, the vegetation already had that not-quite-enough-water look and the businesses that lined the highway looked dilapidated and run down. There was a fine show of police force however, as I saw three troopers along this stretch and one that had someone pulled over. At least it wasn't me this time.

I'm not sure if it was from boredom or if I was just tired, but I started literally falling asleep at the wheel. I pulled over for a quick nap at a rest stop.


By this time it was 95 degrees, which is getting too warm to have the top down so I raised it before I continued on. This turned out to be good timing because just after I entered New Mexico the sky turned ominous looking. Lightning flashed in the distance as I drove into the dark horizon. It was a beautiful sight though. Dark shades of gray flashing with lightning covered the southwestern portions of the sky while just north of that were bright white cumulus clouds with blue sky breaking though. A glance in my rear view mirror showed clear blue sky behind me. All of this unobstructed by trees or buildings so the sky seemed larger than life. At least for this Midwestern boy.


The rain came fast and hard, with huge drops splattering the windsheild. The temperature dropped from 93 to 68 degrees in a matter of two or three minuets! I managed to drive through it after a few minutes and was left with a clean windshield and the beautiful New Mexico sky. It was still dark in places, but the sun was peaking through in other spots, so I decided to take a chance and put the top back down. The outside temperature had risen back up to 77 degrees so I had a wonderful cruise into Albuquerque enjoying the beautiful sky set against the mountains I was driving towards while the air had that fresh smell that arrives just after a lightning and rain storm.


It took three tanks of gas to complete this leg of the journey. In Weatherford, Oklahoma I took in 7.62 gallons after driving 163.5 miles for an mpg of 21.45. The next stop was at Vega, Texas where I filled up with 11.48 gallons after driving 219.8 miles. That gives me 19.14 miles per gallon. Finally, at Moriarty, New Mexico it took 10.02 gallons to fill Petey after we had gone 212.9 miles which works out to be 21.2 miles per gallon.

Tomorrow I reach my destination!