We drove our coach 504 miles, an epic eight hours of driving, from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We normally prefer two hour drives, and will go up to four hours when on an interstate (as they are easier and usually have regular rest areas). We had planned two four hour days, stopping in Pecos, but the weather forecast called for 60 MPH gusts along the route on the second leg. So we decided to push on through, doing it in one day.

Here’s the map route, heading west:

An interactive map, with our stops marked:

Leaving the Abilene KOA:

There were pretty much non-stop pump jacks along the route:

We stopped at several rest areas; this was the first:

An interesting water tower:

Wide load:

“It would behoof you to slow down”:

Road Ranger fuel stop:

We went in, and had Church’s Chicken for lunch (our least-preferred fast food chicken chain):

Back to our coach:

Sleepy Paladin:

A wind turbine blade:

More pump jacks:

As mentioned, we were originally going to stop at Pecos, Texas:

Paladin probably would have preferred that we stopped, but this was just halfway:

A nice rest area:

We were so happy to see mountains again, after spending months in flat Texas:

Lots of trucks:

Allegedly scenic viewpoint:

Entering Mountain Time Zone:

A busy rest area; we parked on the side of the road:

El Paso overpasses:

El Paso artwork:

An interesting RV paint job:

Goodbye Texas; entering New Mexico:

Mountains by Las Cruces:

Our destination, another KOA:

That was quite the drive!