I had never been to El Paso or the large region surrounding it. There are five national parks sites within a few hours of El Paso that I had yet to visit. Additionally, El Paso was one of the few remaining 100 largest U.S. cities that I had yet to visit. And of course there are some large universities in the area that needed a quick visit (I collect photos of university signs). I decided to visit in early March before it gets too warm and before the spring break crowds flood into the national parks. And finally, with my car lease up at the end of this year and I still had well over 25,000 miles I could put on the car, it was time for a driving trip.

OKLAHOMA: I had been many times to and through Oklahoma over the years. The main reason this time was to stop in Oklahoma was to take photos of the signs of the two largest state universities in the state: Oklahoma State and University of Oklahoma (I have seen the football teams of both universities play in Manhattan KS). The other large university in the state is Oral Roberts Univ. in Tulsa, another trip someday. On the way back towards home I drove though the extreme northwest part of the state and stopped at the Washita Battlefield National Historic Site.
TEXAS: Texas is a huge state, I had been into most of the north and east portions but never the west. This trip cut across much of that area. Big Bend National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park were both due a visit. Likewise for Ft. Davis National Historic Site and the Chamzial National Monument. ANd on my way headed home I went through the panhandle to see the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument and the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. After this trip about the only thing left in the state to visit are North Texas University in Denton and the LBJ Ranch near Austin. Unknown if I will ever go as far south as Brownsville and Corpus Christi.
I did appreciate that most Texas highways, even the two-lane highways, have a speed limit of 75 MPH. And in western Texas the speed limit on interstates is 80 MPH. I thought only Utah allowed that. Nice!
I had highway 277 between Wichita Falls and Abilene mostly to myself on a early Saturday morning. I can see why because the scenery is very monotonous and boring. Much cotton must grow in that area though because in several places I saw streams of white something along the sides of the road and sometimes just off the road. It looked fluffy white like cotton but hard to tell going by quickly.
Western Texas is much different that the eastern and central parts. High elevations with some steep climbs and descents on the interstates I-20 and I-10. But the mountains are mostly just really big rocks vs. having trees/bushes/grasses on them.
I do like the way Texas allows a U-turn on interstates -- no-stop exit and take the inner lane all the way around to head the other direction. Sweet NEW MEXICO: I have been through most of New Mexico. The only part left unvisited was the southeast corner. This trip took me there. Two national parks there: Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands National Monument. I was hoping to also go back to Las Cruces to photograph the sign of New Mexico State University (I had stopped there in 2004 for gas on the way to Arizona but that was before my university sign photographing days). And, for the third time I spent the night in Tucumcari NM. Funny how that town is such an often visited town -- just happens to be out there all by itself. I will long remember driving east towards the town in 2004 and watching a distance thunderstorm over the town.
The drive going east of Las Cruces towards White Sands National Monumebt has some incredible big views. The mountains have jagged tops almost like flint would be shaped into an arrowhead.
KANSAS : I have lived in Kansas for a total of 14 years. And, I had driven through most of the state, except for the southwest section. This trip took me through there, including the famous western town of Dodge City. I also wanted to visit the Ft. Larned National Historic Site (despite that being such a bad name, I would like it better it the folks who named it were more learned and named it Ft. Learned. Sigh. Oh well, the commanding officer's name won out).

MISSED VISITING:
--Big Bend National Park.
--Dodge City Boot Hill Cemetery
--UFO Museum and my meeting my second cousin in Roswell

OBSERVATIONS: Some observations made while traveling in this area:

• Oklahoma puts a speed limit of 75 MPH on its toll highways and a speed limit of 70 MPH on non-toll interstate highways. On Friday I did like they just make you stop once for a toll (pay at the beginning) vs. Kansas making you stop twice (once for a ticket and second time to pay). However, Saturday I learned I must take back that statement. Between Norman and Wichita Falls I had to stop four times to pay tolls for a total of $5.35.
• Oklahoma burns their right of ways along their highways. For miles it was a 20 - 30 yard wide strip of burnt grass, sometimes with a barbed wire fence still standing in the middle of it.
• Even though all trees are totally bare in Kansas City area, in Oklahoma the dogwood trees had their white leaves.
• Oklahoma City interstate highway surfaces are very rough, need replacing.
• Stillwater OK reminded me of another college town, Boulder. Why? Because you must stop at nearly every intersection for either a stop sign or red light (all lights are timed to make you stop).
• The town of Sylvester TX, north of Sweetwater TX, looked like a totally dead town. All of the ten or so buildings along the highway has basically collapsed at one point. Yet, highway drivers still need to slow down when going through town......???? Then what was hilarious was the big road sign just west of town that pointed to the Sylvester Cemetery. That struck me as funny: cemetery for an entirely dead town. So, "dying in Sylvester is redundant".
• The 100 mile stretch between Colorado City TX and Odessa TX along I-20 is basically one very wide metropolitan area. A long string of businesses and outer roads. And heavy traffic, thus, only 60 MPH or 65 MPH along that stretch.
• I may have said this in years past for other trips but the east-west interstates seem to have 2 - 4 times more big trucks that the north-south running interstates. The exceptions are the north-south interstates that run along the Pacific coast and through Florida. Certainly I-70 through Missouri and Kansas have much more truck traffic than I-29 and I-35 in that area.
• Texas has an curious way of marker signs for road construction zones. While I saw very few "Road zone begins" signs, I saw numerous "End of work zone" signs. And in many cases the "End of work zone" signs were followed within half a mile of a second "End of work zone" sign.
• Small towns in Texas and Oklahoma and New Mexico make a big deal of having a highway sign that points out where the town cemetery is. The road to it is usually on the outskirts of the town itself on some lonely-looking county road.
• When I was first getting into Kansas from Oklahoma heading to Dodge City I was surprised by the large set of hills. Then a bit further north it turned into what is typically thought of as Kansas --- flat, flat flat.
• Normally when I am driving on two-lane highways early in the morning, especially before sunrise, I have the road to myself. However, many people in Texas are up early and on the road and driving 75 MPH.

The Bests:

1. Hard to pick just one thing spectacular on this 2500-mile trip. It was interesting to see that part of the country but the only thing that really surprised me was the beautiful highway bridges in El Paso.

The Worsts:

1. Best Western Airport Hotel in El Paso. Main purpose of a hotel is to sleep and that place is designed for partying.
2. Small towns and their 25 and 30 MPH signs on the highways passing through them when all I want to do is make time.

The Totals:

• Miles Driven: 2517
• Driving: 45 hours in 5 days
• States: 4 -- Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico
• Major Universities: 4 -- Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas El Paso and New Mexico State University
• Pictures Taken: 260 (and deleted 28 of them)
• National Parks: 9 new ones: Ft. Davis, White Sands, Chamizal, Guadalupe Mountains, Carlsbad Caverns, Alibates Flint Quarries, Lake Meredith, Washita Battlefield and Ft. Larned