Day 6 - Leaving El Paso

Thursday - March 5

We were awake early, packed up and left our hotel just before daybreak.  Since we had stayed the last two nights at the Candlewood Suites on the northeastern edge of El Paso, we knew we had to navigate our way southeast on I-10, right thru downtown El Paso, so we were hoping to beat the "morning traffic rush", which we did.

Yesterday when we left the El Paso Saddleblanket World Headquarters we saw the most fascinating "artwork sculptures"  gracing a couple of overpasses on I-10.

 The top section on each of these huge things was twirling in the breeze!

 Well, this morning in the early morning light they were glowing!  Apparently powered by laser technology?

Such a unique sight to see as we headed east out of El Paso on I-10!

We also were blessed with an incredible sunrise!

When you see this Speed Limit 80 highway sign, you know you are in the middle of nowhere, and likely many miles from the next town.  Oh boy, set the cruise control and cover some miles across the barren landscape that is west Texas very quickly!

Looking to the southwest the sky was looking very ominous.

We pulled off the highway at Sierra Blanca to check out the Southwest's only in-use government structure made of adobe, the Hudspeth County Courthouse.  Sierra Blanca, which is named for Sierra Blanca Mountain (6,950 feet) to the northwest, grew at the juncture of the nation's second transcontinental rail route in 1881 (Southern Pacific and Texas & Pacific).

While we were snapping a photo of the adobe courthouse, we noticed that the temperature here was 23 degrees!  Yikes!  As we continued to travel east on I-10 our car's windshield began to freeze over because apparently the windshield washer lines had frozen so the wipers were useless! 

 We pulled over to use the ice scraper to scrape the windshield clean.  Thankfully these conditions only lasted for a few miles!  We soon reached the I-10/I-20 split where we stayed on I-10 and the weather warmed a little to above freezing as we gradually drifted southward toward San Antonio.

As we neared the town of Fort Stockton, these large metal cut-outs of cowboys and cattle sits high on the hill welcoming travelers to Fort Stockton.

 We stopped in Fort Stockton to get fuel.  We pulled into a Wal*Mart where we noticed cheap fuel prices, and was surprised to find a new Wal*Mart convenience store located at the fuel pumps.  How nice!  It contained basic traveler needs inside....restrooms, coffee, cold drinks, snacks....such a nice added convenience!  I would love to see these at all Wal*Mart fuel stations.

We continued on our drive east, now enjoying milder temperatures and sunshine and blue skies!  Our next stop was in Ozona, the seat of Crockett County, and the only town in the county's 3,215 square miles, a vast ranching and oil area, and also one of our nation's top areas for wool and mohair production.

We stopped at the Davy Crockett Monument, located in the town's square, the monument is a tribute to the legendary frontiersman and Alamo hero for whom the county is named.

 Interesting architecture in the Crockett County Courthouse!

 We walked across the street to the Crockett County Museum.  this three-story museum features a blacksmith shop, a Western heritage room, wool and mohair room, a bank room, a business room, and much more.

I was totally captivated by the many displays of women's slippers!  The Madye Slipper Factory started in the basement of this building.  I thought about my Mom as I admired the hundreds of pairs of slippers displayed throughout the museum.  She loves these slip-on slippers!

How would you like to get your hair curled with this early hot roller machine?

 

In the bank room, seeing all the early ways of banking (donated by the Ozona National Bank) I thought of my sister, Donna, and my niece, Carla, who both work in banks

 We really enjoyed the three floors of the Crockett County Museum and all the history so well-displayed there.  And it was a nice break during our drive across west Texas!

We then traveled to Sonora where we planned to check out the Caverns of Sonora.  This cave ranks as one of the most beautiful show caves in the world.

 We were greeted by a bunch of peacocks (the owner's pets) as we arrived at the Caverns of Sonora gift shop/ticket office.

We went on a two-hour guided tour.  We saw formations growing on the caves ceilings, walls, and floors as we walked along the almost two miles of passageways and hundreds of stairs.

 I took so many photos during this tour it was hard to decide which ones to upload to this blog.

 Caverns of Sonora has such spectacular beauty, rivaling anything Carlsbad Caverns has to offer.  Also, Caverns of Sonora are less "touristy", sort of off the beaten path, more intimate with only three other couples on our tour.

                                    Awesome!

                                                  Incredible!

Following our Caverns of Sonora tour, we then drove the short distance to Junction where we rolled in to Cooper's Bar-B-Q for a delicious lunch!

Afterward we drove into Kerrville where we planned to stop for the night.  The next morning we did a driving tour around Kerrville, up to the hilltop along Rim Rock Drive, overlooking the town, and saw a deer roaming the neighborhood.  It is under the big shade tree!

 

On to Gonzales, via San Antonio, on day 7 of our Spring vacation...NEXT!