Pecos, TX: Drive Friendly - The Texas Way

Welcome to Texas! Where trucks come in white, white or white , the horizon is decked with oil wells and the welcome gift at the hotel is Bud Light. Today we traveled 356 miles from Santa Fe, NM to Pecos, TX, leaving us with a quick 238 miles to go to reach Del Rio. For the most part, the terrain was flat, dry and covered in sage brush and short bushes that looked more like tarantula legs than plants. I’m guessing they’re some sort of cactus, but really have no idea.

It was far from our prettiest day of driving – we’re definitely not in Oregon anymore, but was a good day to sharpen our random knowledge. For instance, it may only come in handy when playing Trivia Pursuit, but we can now say that we had lunch in Roswell, NM, best known for its 1947 UFO incident (no UFOs were sighted along our drive); stayed the night in Pecos, home of the very first rodeo…or so they say; and that five acres of land between Loving, NM and the Texas border goes for $27,000. Other sightings include seeing our first Texas cowboy loping along the side of the highway, miscellaneous picnic tables scattered throughout the desert, just in case anyone wants to stop and absorb the view – which Mikayla did – and lots and lots of barbed wire! We were also only the second customers to ever order pizza on the Internet from the Pecos’ Pizza Hut, which apparently makes us memorable and from out of town.

While we haven’t heard any “y’alls” yet, it’s clear this year will be an adventure and that we have a lot to learn before we’re considered Texans. Did you know that to pass a car (or more likely, truck) in Texas you don’t have to change lanes? Instead, the slower vehicle moves over to the shoulder as the faster vehicle approaches. I guess they take their welcome sign seriously: “Drive friendly – the Texas way.”

Here’s to Texas!