A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 269 miles from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.
travel
Freeways, highways, and other roads as we move the coach from one site to another. Plus cat pics.
Travel from Marathon to Junction, Texas
We drove our coach 269 miles, about five hours of driving, from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.
The map route, heading north then east:
Firstly, a video of retracting the front driver-side slide-out:
Our coach with the slides in, and the truck hooked up, ready to leave:
Paladin went straight down the steps, so I left the step cover open:
Some fairly barren hills; compare to later pictures:
Heading north:
Roadworks; narrow lanes are a little disconcerting in a wide coach:
More roadworks:
Joining I-10 to head east:
Roadrunner mural:
“Cud you not text and drive?” There were several amusing cow-themed billboards like this:
Paladin still on the steps, enjoying the view out the cat window:
We stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch:
Since the step cover was open, I hopped out to stretch my legs. Here’s an old stagecoach stop:
Our coach:
Paladin on the back of the couch during lunch:
An interesting mountain:
We stopped again, at a parking area (there are various kinds of stopping places: a rest stop has bathrooms, a picnic area has tables but no bathrooms, and a parking area doesn’t have any amenities… which is fine for us, being self-contained):
Our coach:
Road Ranger fuel stop:
There was both the Road Ranger truck stop and a Love’s fairly nearby; we would normally have gone for the Love’s, but the Open Roads app indicated that Road Ranger had a much better discounted fuel price:
A river, and a lot more greenery; we’re out of the desert now:
Our exit:
Our destination, Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm, nestled behind a pecan tree farm:
Chick-in:
Guided to our site by the owners:
I started this post with a picture of our coach ready to leave; let’s end with our coach just arrived, before putting the slides out:
Video: Presidio, Texas to Marathon, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 120 miles from Presidio, Texas to Marathon, Texas.
Travel from Presidio to Marathon, Texas
We drove our coach 120 miles, about two hours of driving, from Presidio, Texas to Marathon, Texas.
The map route, heading north then east:
An interactive map, with potential stops:
Leaving the campground:
Presidio:
Mountains:
Elephant Rock:
US Border Patrol inspection station; the officer just waved us through without stopping:
Marfa:
A brief stop at a rest area:
Alpine is a cute town:
A couple of low bridges; just a foot of clearance on the first one (we are 12’ 7”):
Exploded train cars?
Our destination:
Video: Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 275 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas.
Travel from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas
We drove our coach 275 miles, about five hours of driving, from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Presidio, Texas.
That was about double what we normally aim for, but we felt we could handle it, since we had two week stays on either side. And yes, it was fine; it didn’t feel like twice as long, due to taking several stops, plus the drive was pretty easy (no significant mountains or other challenges).
The map route, heading south:
An interactive map, with our stops:
Leaving the RV park:
Our coach with the slides in while traveling:
Heading down the highway:
Carlsbad cavepeople in the median, and a mural of their historic aquaduct, the Pecos River Flume, which is also famous for being the only river that crosses itself:
National Parks Highway:
Entering Texas from New Mexico:
Paladin on the dash, approaching a rest area:
Continuing on down US-62, past the Guadalupe Mountains:
US-62 to SH-54:
A flood gauge:
We quite liked this region of Texas; nice mountains etc:
Dip:
Big dip:
Van Horn, Texas:
A fuel stop:
There wasn’t a great place to stop for lunch around the Love’s, but I had an alternative plan; I had spotted a good place to park our coach elsewhere in town:
Near a Pilot travel center (which we didn’t use for fuel, as we don’t get a discount there):
We went to Wendy’s for lunch:
A funky camera artifact:
Lunch (it’s pretty rare to have Wendy’s, but their fries are actually quite nice, for fast food; I like the skins-on style):
Birds on a wire:
Back to our coach:
Back on the road; we noticed cotton on the side of the road:
Probably from a cotton field:
Another stop:
To check out a roadside art installation, Prada Marfa:
A selfie, with our coach in the background:
We spotted a border patrol blimp in the sky:
Welcome to Marfa:
Thunderbird Restaurant sign:
Mural:
We saw several old gas stations that had been converted to other activities:
A border inspection station; unsurprising, being just north of Mexico:
Paladin asleep:
Elephant Rock:
Pointy mountain:
Presidio, Texas:
Our destination:
Jenn checking in; the office is unattended, payment by check in an honor box:
We also got to pick our site here; plenty of available options:
Taking a break; happy Thanksgiving
We’ve been taking it easy recently, not doing many interesting things, so I’ve caught up with scheduled blog posts; the next post will be travel to our current location, which I don’t like to publish until after we leave.
So, after doing a new post every day for the past year or so, I’m going to take a break for a week, ostensibly to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday week. See you on Monday the 28th!
(I will still do single-picture daily posts on my personal blog, if only for the Micro.blog challenge going on this month.)
I’ll leave you with this picture of a roadside attraction from that travel day:
Video: Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico to Carlsbad, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 125 miles from Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico to Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Travel from Ruidoso Downs to Carlsbad, New Mexico
We drove our coach 125 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico to Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The map route, heading east then south:
An interactive version from my trip planning, with potential stops marked; we only stopped at the first one, “Atlas Missile Silos Official Scenic Historic Marker”:
The first part of the drive along US-70 was quite pretty:
Fox Cave:
Buildings:
There are several places named Picacho, though I always think of Pikachu from Pokémon:
Nice hills and trees:
US-70 becomes fairly flat and barren:
We stopped for lunch at a “roadside table” area; like a rest stop, but no bathroom facilities (which is fine for us):
Between the two tables and their fascinating shelters is a sign for the Atlas Missile Silos Official Scenic Historic Marker:
On the opposite side, a motorhome with an interesting trailer configuration, carrying a side-by-side and towing a car like a dolly:
We killed half an hour while having lunch, to avoid arriving before check-in time. When we got underway again, Paladin remained on the back of the couch, looking out the window:
Apparently towing vehicles like this is quite common in New Mexico:
After Roswell, the highway is super flat and boring, so I didn’t bother taking many pictures:
An oil refinery in Artesia:
Oil pump jacks:
A nice entrance to our destination, Carlsbad KOA Holiday:
The office:
Heading to our site:
Video: Las Cruces, New Mexico to Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 122 miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, including some wind and light snow!