Abilene to Andrews

We got an early (for us) start at 9:45 a.m. for our trip of 170 miles to Andrews, TX. Along the way we saw mesquite, and then more mesquite, and then smaller mesquite... Occasional cattle and oil wells dotted the landscape. We were surprised to see a great profusion of windmills. They went on for miles and miles, towering over the mesquite and the cattle.

Our route took us through Big Spring, TX. When I worked at Paramount Petroleum, it was bought by Alon USA, whose main US refinery is in Big Spring. We stopped just to take a few snapshots. It's easy to see why a large refinery was built here--lots of flat, cheap land and lots of oil.

We arrived in Andrews around 2:30 p.m. and found the Chamber of Commerce RV park. It has six sites with utilities and a large parking lot for boondocking, and it's all free (well, there is a donation box). When we arrived there were two empty spaces, so we pulled in and set up, then went to sign in at the Chamber.

We went for a walk up to the nearby park, which had a wonderful playground called Kids Kingdom, which a sign boasted was built by volunteers in 5 days. The photo shows only one part of a really complex setup. Water birds own the lake. It was covered with ducks, geese, and swans. A sign warned "Don't disturb the duck eggs," but we didn't see any. If I were a duck, I think I'd lay my eggs on the little island in the middle of the lake, where they'd be safer from predators and kids.

We were relaxing after dinner when the rain started. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and Venture was a sounding box for all the raindrops slashing across the sky. We were sure that major hail was about to destroy our roof. Our GFI circuit breaker tripped. Because of the solar installation, the breaker is located in an outside compartment. Needless to say, Ken waited until the worst of the storm had passed before going out. Fortunately the storm was relatively brief, and apparently nothing was damaged. At least now we know that we can ride out a pretty severe storm.

I sent in a campground listing update to Days End, including the information that the prairie dog town mentioned in the original listing was no more. The prairie dogs were, according to the lady at the Chamber of Commerce, too destructive, so they were relocated to a ranch. Hmmm.