Hmmm... just when the weather gets nice, we have to go.

Our courtesy parking spot last night

We're being pressured by our airplane tickets again. That deadline for getting to Tucson is looming over us. It would have been nice to stay in Myron's courtesy parking spot another night, and it would be even nicer to stay through the Region 9 Vintage Rally that starts on Thursday. But we've lingered as long as we can. If we stayed any longer we'd have to rush through New Mexico. As it is, I am sorry to be bypassing Big Bend National Park. That's practically a crime.

We took the scenic route west from Austin, and didn't join I-10 for about 150 miles. This was a great way to see more of the hill country, and generally get a nice feel for that chunk of Texas. Eventually we ended up on the interstate, and at that point the speed limit was a breezy 80 MPH.

That's the highest speed limit we've ever seen in the United States, and I am told that it will go higher still as we head further west. For the record, we don't tow over 70 MPH, although I suppose we could. Myron and I had a talk this morning about the problems of blown tires (he's had a few and so have many other Airstreamers) and I am not eager to experience the joy of a trailer tire blowing at highway speeds. So I watch the speed, and checked the pressures this morning and all the lug nuts too.

We're parked at the Caverns of Sonora RV Park about seven miles off I-10 in Sonora, TX. John had suggested we check out the cave tour but Emma is not psyched. She says she's seen a lot of caves and they're all the same. Too bad ... because we are headed to Carlsbad next. But since she's unexcited, we are going to skip the tour here ($20 per adult, $16 for kids) and just take advantage of the cheap pull through sites ($15/night water & electric) for the night.

One feature Emma does like about this place is the animals. Many deer are roaming around here, and a couple of peacocks too. The deer are natives, the peacocks are imported. I'll shoot a picture in the morning and try posting it from one of the wi-fi enabled Texas highway rest areas.

Our Google Earth location. If you zoom out on Google a bit from our location, you'll see a maze of little dirt roads and what look like house sites. Actually, I believe they are all part of the big oil field in this area. Nobody seems to live out here, but the oilfield roads go everywhere.

Over the past few weeks I've been working with Joe via email, to figure out when and where we are going to head into Mexico. We still don't have a firm plan but a few ideas. The latest plan is to extend a trip beyond what we had originally considered. We're looking at a cross-Mexico trip through Sonora and Chihuahua. Soon you'll be hearing a lot about that as we figure out the details of traveling in Mexico.

One tip I got from experienced Mexico travelers we've met was to get Mike & Terri Church's book, "Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping." Chapters 2 and 3 of this book should be mandatory reading for anyone considering taking an RV into Mexico. I'll explain the issues, and what we've decided to do, as we go.