This was our 2013 Jayco Flight Swift 198 RD

THIS WAS OUR 2013 JAYCO FLIGHT SWIFT 198RD, PARKED AT THE TOMBSTONE TERRITORIES RV PARK IN ARIZONA



Tuesday 1 January 2019

Happy New Year from El Paso, Texas

Wishing everyone a Happy Year 2019 from El Paso, Texas. Here is an update since my last post.
Our parking spot at the Walmart in Texarkana, Texas, turned out to be a quiet and peaceful overnight stay. We were well rested in the morning and after our breakfast and cleaning dishes we rolled out onto Interstate 30 to continue our travel. Benno has been doing all the driving so far and I am enjoying the scenery. However, I keep the road map on my lap and while there is not much navigating needed as we are doing long stretches on the Interstates, it is always good to know in advance where travel centers and rest areas are located.  The temps have been still pretty cool at night but yesterday’s day temperatures reached +16C, which was really nice. 


We mastered driving through Dallas and Fort Worth with no problems.  Lots of traffic in many lanes, bridges and overpasses, but hey, if you’ve driven on the Hwy 401 through Toronto, then this was a piece of cake. Fuel prices differ along the Interstates and the lowest we found so far was at Caddo Mills, Texas at a Pilot station where we paid US$ 1.71/Gal. for gasoline after our 5 cent discount we get with the Good Sam card.



On New Years Eve we called it a day at 4:30 in the afternoon and parked again at a Walmart parking lot. This one was located off I-20 in Abilene, Texas. Once we were settled we noticed that it was getting rapidly colder but it didn’t matter, because we had gotten our two propane tanks topped off on the way so we cranked up the heat and I prepared a New Years Eve meal. We dined on home cooked goulash, broccoli and potatoes accompanied by a bottle of sparkling wine.
Overnight the temps plunged and we woke up to -3C in the New Year. That was quite a drop in temperature and it got worse once we were rolling on the Interstate.  Instead of warming up while driving southwest the temps hovered around -6C with an overcast sky.  The stretch on I-20 is through flat farm land with tons of oil industry support outfits, oil refineries and scattered all over the area as far as we could see there were more than a few hundred of oil pumps, but not all of them pumping oil. This is Texas famous oil area.



When we were about 10 miles before where the I-20 merges into I-10 we ran into fog.  That fog was so heavy and with the freezing temperatures it became a slippery drive.  All around us the area was white with frost and the trees were iced up. Those conditions lasted for another 30 miles right though the Apache Mountains and we contemplated to stop for the day at Van Horn, the next town, because the road was icing up. However, just as sudden it cleared up, the sun came out and the temps started to climb up again to our relief.  



The rest of the I-10 into El Paso was nice enough and it even warmed up to about +12C.  We have changed now twice the time zones and are now 2 hours before our hometown in Canada.  Of course we have not quite adjusted yet and our poor dogs don’t understand why we feed them so late in the day.  




For tomorrow there is snow in the forecast for this area and lower part of New Mexico (and I thought we were driving southwest). So lets see if we are going to wake up to white stuff on the ground or the forecast has turned hopefully into fake news.  We’ll keep you updated.  Thanks for following along and comments are appreciated.

10 comments:

  1. You made some good time today, where I-10 and I-20 meet you can get some weather, fog, and black ice can be treacherous. Your getting to the southwest, but the temperature is all about elevation. Here in the Yuma area 280 ft above sea level Deming NM is about 4,300 ft big difference. Continued safe travels.

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    1. We've not taken this route before and it was kind of scary driving even though as Canadians we know how to drive in winter conditions. Good to know. Thanks George

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  2. Ditto to what George said about the elevation. You are still making good time, hope you got through to the park here and can get in. We are here until the 11th and I'm sure you will be here by then. Looking forward to seeing you, continued safe travels.

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  3. You are definitely making good Time.There will be a few sections of road, depending on the route you take that will really work the truck.
    Just take your time and you should be good.
    Be Safe and Enjoy the Mountain Vistas.

    It's about time.

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  4. You are very fortunate to have gotten this far with few issues. Hope that Arizona snow is gone before you get there.

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  5. Looking forward to your arrival. Safe travels. Happy New Year! I love that you stopped and had a lovely New Years Eve dinner with wine! :)

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  6. hi from wheatley- hope your at your destination now and enjoying some rest I,m sure use are ready for it. were all good here and the weather isn,t all that bad no snow yet. talk soon teresa and dave.

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  7. Hello to California,
    ich setze mal ein Lesezeichen, nachdem ich dem Link von George (our awesome travels) aus dem heutigen Post gefolgt bin. Die Dachshunde sind ja wirkich süß!
    Viele Grüße aus Berlin in die Wüste und Euch eine wunderbare Zeit im sonnig-warmen Südwesten.
    Leif

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    1. Danke Leif. George und Suzzie sind super nette Leute und nun haben wir uns endlich mal getroffen und mussten so weit fahren obwohl wir das in Kanada nun wirklich auf einem kürzeren Weg hätten tun können. Wir hoffen das der Rest unseres Winteraufenthaltes nun weniger aufregend verläuft (siehe nächste Eintragung)

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    2. Ich habe es gelesen... Drücke Euch die Daumen, dass das für eine seeeehr lange Zeit die letzte Panne gewesen ist. Ich verfolge ja diverse Blogs und habe da schon hin und wieder mal das Gefühl gehabt, dass bei Trailern die Reifen gern eine Schwachstelle darstellen. Die doch relativ kleinen Reifen könnten eventuell nicht ganz optimal sein. Wir fahren selbst ein RV in Deutschland und da achte ich darauf, dass es sich entweder um CP - (Camping) oder um C - (Cargo) Reifen handelt, die über eine erhöhte Tragkraft (dafür kenne ich leider keinen englischen Begriff) verfügen. Solche findet man allerdings eher bei den allgemein bekannten und teureren Markenherstellern (bei uns zum Beispiel Continental und Michelin) als bei Günstigimporten aus Asien. Vielleicht hilft Euch das ja ein wenig bei der Entscheidung für oder gegen ein paar neue Schühchen fürs Mobil.
      Liebe Grüße aus Berlin und good luck!
      Leif

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