After a wonderful visit, we reluctantly left our friends and headed west towards Big Bend National Park. Originally we were going to head south to the Texas Hill Country. Sadly, by late morning, the sunny skies had given way to angry clouds, and we decided to head due west to better weather.

Wild flowers along the roadside.

Happily, we were able to drive through part of the Texas Hill Country. Peggy has been reading some novels that are set in that region, and it is as pretty as she expected with gently rolling hills, small trees, green grass, and more orange, pink, yellow, and blue/purple wild flowers.

Driving west on US 190 in the Texas outback was pure pleasure. There was little traffic and in many areas, the road is straight as a string.

The road goes on forever.

Occasionally we came across small towns, usually with no more than a single traffic light. After a couple of hours, the clouds began to break up and the sunshine felt wonderful. (It’s tough duty, but someone has to do it!) As we continued to head west, mostly flat countryside replaced the hills, and there was evidence of brush/wild fires and our first sighting of cactus plants. Peggy also warmed up enough to shed layers- first her blanket, then her fleece and finally her sweater!

Old County Courthouse in Brady

It’s interesting that the land is so flat that it was hard to believe we were actually climbing. (Our GPS has an elevation function that is fun to watch when driving in the high country.) By the time we got to Ft. Stockton, we were at nearly 3,000 ft. elevation. Along the way, we would come to valleys where the elevation would drop down for a period and then climb back up to a higher elevation than before. We saw several wind farms along the way, one of which was the largest I had ever seen. It was nice to see lots of windmills instead of oil well derricks.

Squawteat Peak near Ft. Stockton

We will spend the night in Ft. Stockton and will leave for Big Bend National Park in the morning. As it is pretty much desert, we don’t expect to camp there and will probably return to Ft. Stockton before continuing west to Carlsbad.