Cars

Cannonball 911

Day 3

I was awoken at 5:30am by a loud but familiar sound - my father bumbling around at the other end of the house. Some things never change. Just as well - I had to fight my way through Dallas' rush hour traffic and then make my way across all of West Texas. The sooner I could get on the road, the better.

This is Highway 121 and it passes right through the area I grew up in. Things have sure changed in the suburbs since I left after college. Most of the time I've been back visiting lately I don't know where I am. There are shopping centers, malls, and restaurants EVERYWHERE. It's just crazy. I remember my uncle driving us to the north end of Plano when I was quite young to set off fireworks outside the city limits. There was nothing there then. Not anymore.

Today's NDE? A metal ladder on the lefthand breakdown lane, jutting into the number 1 lane a mere 3 or 4 feet. I'm sensing a pattern.

There were a few traffic slow downs here and there, but soon I was on the west side of Ft. Worth and gathering speed....

...And that was a bit of a problem. There was a vibration coming through the steering wheel around 75mph that only got worse from there. I noticed it as soon as I first drove the car but considering what was ahead I decided to stop at a tire shop to have the wheels and tires rebalanced. They needed it and it helped. Well worth the brief delay.

West Texas gets its share of wind. There were thousands of these giant windmills spread along the route.

There was a rather ominous-looking dust storm around Odessa. You can see some of the brown/red dust that filled the skies for about half an hour.

I like this. How anyone could have ever been forced to drive this stretch at 55mph (back in the 70's) is beyond me. This is more like it.

And I stuck to it religiously.

Approaching the hills outside El Paso the blue skies came to an abrupt end. My father had already warned me that I'd be seeing rain from here until sometime tomorrow morning.

I hit El Paso just as rush hour traffic came out to play.

This is the only shot I have of New Mexico. Did I miss anything?

As I neared Tucson the temperature started dropping and the rain increased significantly. Going over a small pass outside Benson some snow started mixing in with the rain. I was hydroplaning in spots since the road couldn't drain fast enough. I was tired as well and decided to slow way down and follow an 18-wheeler for the last 20 minutes until I hit town. I wouldn't make Tucson that night but I was close enough.

Day 3: 961 miles and 15 hours. Melissa, TX to Benson, AZ.

Forward to Day 4

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