We left Palo Duro Canyon reluctantly as we had a reservation for another night. We decided that with the 20 degree temperatures expected we had two choices, winterize the camper by shutting down the water system or continue south. I picked Midland TX as a destination since they had a FedEx ship center where I could pick up a delivery.
Before we left we did laundry in the little town of Canyon. I had a few items for our purchase of the van that I needed to print. So while we were doing the laundry I pulled the printer out of the car, found a plug and printed documents. I’m sure that was the most novel activity that the locals had experienced but they didn’t seem very curious about it!
I researched RV campgrounds and found one outside of the town of Big Springs. I had tried several by phone and finally found a vacancy at the “Whip In” right alongside of the busy freeway. When we got to the Midland area I found out why the RV spots were full, the area is a boom town for the fracking industry and there is very little housing available for workers. Many of them live full time in their RV’s. Our RV was sandwiched in between two other RV’s. We had about four feet on either side. And compounding that, the two-day shipping isn’t really two day, the countdown doesn’t start on the date of pick up, nor does it include Saturday.
The area was an interesting mixture, businesses everywhere to support the oil industry, an oil refinery across the road and a big plateau overlooking the area that has a huge wind farm on it. A land of contrasts.
However, on the plus side, we saw sun! It was actually quite warm the first couple of days and we took the dogs on a short hike on a nature trail at the Big Springs state park in town. I caught a picture of a road runner. It was also nice to have info signs explaining the trees, shrubs and cactus. The town also has a very nicely landscaped area around the big spring that the town is named after.
We decided to go see a movie that night. It was a novel experience! They warned us that the air conditioner was broken in the theater. It wasn’t broken in the “off” position. It was constantly “on” and the temperature in the theater was about 50 degrees! I had thrown my usual light jacket in the car. Dave had his rain jacket. We could have used winter jackets!
And yes I do remember the movie, but I didn’t like it. A Star is Born, hard to watch someone drink himself to death and wonder what in the heck the woman saw in him except for a chance to punish herself with his drinking. That isn’t a strong woman lead role model, in my opinion.
And then, with our usual weather related luck, the air turned cold and windy and it settled in to rain. This was a product of the aftermath of hurricane Sergio. We picked up our paperwork signed it, sent it back in and drove out of town under glowering skies, (with many thanks to our friends Bob and Barb who helped us by taking the car to the dealer to close out the lease and prepare it for the purchase).
The first Roadrunner I have been able to photograph.
This is how close we are to the next camper.
The Big Spring overlook. Nicely landscaped area.
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