Our travels to Tucson from Alabama were relatively uneventful. Each day, except the last, we drove about 500 miles. Birmingham - Shreveport - Big Spring TX - Deming NM and a 200 mile sprint to Tucson on Monday, January 25th.
Some moments....
Very heavy rain as we were leaving Birmingham. Throughout Alabama and Mississippi saw dozens of utility repair trucks heading north to deal with storm damage expected from winter storm Jonas that was slamming the northeast. Roanoke was buried in snow the day after we left. Storm left 30 to 40 inches of snow in much of the area we had traveled through.
We were in heavy traffic near Jackson, Mississippi and were passed by a truck pulling a full double decker car carrier.. Truck made a quick lane shift and the trailer started wobbling so severely we were sure it was about to tip over and spill cars all over the highway. Driver got it under control but it was a very close call. Scary.
Couple, our age, sitting in a booth at a Wendy's restaurant somewhere in Mississippi. Man looking tired, beaten, head bowed with oxygen tube running to his nose. 4-5 yo child in a stroller next to booth moaning and continually beating its head on the back of the stroller. The back of the child's head had a large patch of bare skin where the constant beating had worn the hair away. My assumption is that this was their grandchild they had decided to take under their care. What a sacrifice. What a different path than ours.
Young woman at the same Wendy's came over to us, smiled and asked us how our meal was. Can't imagine that happening in New York.
Louisiana weather miserable. Cold, 35 degrees, wind, 25 miles per hour.
Gambling a big deal in Louisiana. Shreveport had huge casino hotels like Los Vegas. Every motel and convenience store had its own little "casino" with video gambling machines.
Eastern Texas - lots of pines, rolling hills, huge houses with big metal gates, and the "Silverado Cowboy Church."
Vast flatlands of west Texas looking like prime tornado territory speckled with forever bobbing oil pumps and thousands of huge whirling white wind mills stretching across and beyond the horizon. Big Spring had the feeling of a town way past it's prime. Many boarded up, broken down buildings surrounding the town's only high rise, a ten story abandoned hotel. Nice sunset though.
New Mexico had a homey, friendly "Welcome Center" and the motel we stayed at in Deming (Quality Inn) was by far the best one so far - china plates and cups/in house bar and restaurant/quality decor and furniture and it was one of the least expensive so far. Very windy in Deming. Wind was 35 mph when we were checking into motel. I had to lean backwards to get the car door shut and then had to crawl under the car to remove a large tumble weed.
We met a couple from Quebec in the parking lot and compared gas mileages. I told him I was disappointed that our Prius was only getting 44 mpg. He told me that was about what he was getting about the same mileage with his non hybrid Sentra. He said he was keeping it at 65 mph whereas I've been regularly going 73 to 75. I slowed down to about 70 for the rest of the way to Tucson and the mileage improved right away. Will try to keep it under 70 on the way back East in March.
We met a couple from Quebec in the parking lot and compared gas mileages. I told him I was disappointed that our Prius was only getting 44 mpg. He told me that was about what he was getting about the same mileage with his non hybrid Sentra. He said he was keeping it at 65 mph whereas I've been regularly going 73 to 75. I slowed down to about 70 for the rest of the way to Tucson and the mileage improved right away. Will try to keep it under 70 on the way back East in March.
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