Day 67: Big Bend Country

Today my father and I began the final leg of my journey, the southwestern corner of the U.S. We left Spring Branch and ventured west on Highway 46 to Boerne. After gassing up and getting ice for the cooler, we got on I-10. We had a long drive ahead of us, but made good time on the freeway, since the speed limit on most of it was 80 mph. With little traffic and good road, we arrived in Fort Stockton in record time. We had cool temperatures (in the 50s) and light rain off and on, with mostly cloudy skies. Exiting the Texas Hill Country, we were pleasantly surprised to see the topography generally become increasingly rugged the farther west we went. Pinyon pine, mesquite, and taller grasses became more commonplace. After turning south on Highway 385 at Fort Stockton, we encountered yucca and ocotillo, as well as more prickly pear. Reaching our day's destination, Marathon (pop. 470), we found ourselves in high desert, surrounded by high mountains on several sides. Our lodging (one of just two places in town) is a quaint, older motel and RV park with a small adobe courtyard. It was just 49 degrees when we arrived in late afternoon, having reached a high of 52 earlier. We ended up driving 365 miles today. I've now driven 9,051 miles on this journey.

It's been awhile since I've seen mountains! Not since I left North Carolina.

Leaving Texas Hill Country (view is looking east on Highway 46 between Spring Branch and Boerne).

On I-10, headed west (still in Texas Hill Country, though).

Nearly halfway across Texas, but still over 500 miles from El Paso!

Some light rain. (For the safety monitors among you, I have a window mount for my cell phone, so all I have to do is touch the screen to take photos while driving.) 

Interesting geology exposed in the many road cuts we drove through today. I also haven't seen many of those for awhile, since we'be been in the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain for weeks.

A rest area on I-10.

Note the use of the local limestone.

The blue in the center is Texas Hill Country. We left that today and entered Big Bend Country, shown in tan.

We saw (and smelled!) many oil rigs today. I smelled oil before I saw my first rig.

It seemed ironic to see so many wind turbines in oil country.

Yucca and mesquite along Highway 385 south of Fort Stockton.

This is flash flood country. The flood gauges were a common sight in low-lying areas.

Looking south on Highway 385.

Looking west as we entered Marathon, TX.

Our domicile for the night (one side of this duplex).

The view from our patio.

Ocotillo.

The Del Norte Mountains.