Saturday, 12 May – Southern Star RV Park, Van Horn, TX79855

An early start this morning, we want to get a bunch of miles under our belt today.  So we are on the road just after 9am and the first stop is for diesel just up the road in Junction.  We notice a huge jump in the gas prices this year, today we paid $3.059/gal and that is after shopping around on Gas Buddy.  Last year we paid an average of $2.34/gal and never more than $2.56.  US Oil production has grown to more than 10.5 million barrels per day, the highest on record. And energy firms keep putting more drilling rigs to work, so why is it so expensive at source?  Export is the cause it seems.

We hop back on the I10 west and travel for miles and miles and miles, 364 to be exact, much more than yesterday’s effort of a measly 150 miles.  The speed limit is 80 mph, we sit around 70 or just below.  The drivers are very well behaved, no one sits out in the fast lane ever, but they don’t need to, traffic is so light they can do their 80+ mph in the 'right' lane. 

I10 literally goes for miles and miles across south Texas, but there are hills in the distance!

The scenery starts off flat and not much of anything apart from spindly trees, dust and road signs.  We did see sheep though!  Most of the time our entertainment was trying to ID the various roadkill. Skunks are easy, you can smell them before you see the trademark white streak on black.  Sadly a lot were baby deer. We did see a bit of action, a ute had driven through the Armco barrier east bound and was being winched onto a tow trailer.  It would be so easy to fall asleep when driving long distances along this monotonous interstate.

Scrub, dust and rocking horses!

Around 2pm we took a break at Loves, Fort Stockton where we bought some more refrigerant - just in case.  Happily the AC has not missed a beat today and it was on max most of the time as the outside temps soared to 31C.  Fort Stockton is not very big, mostly truck stops, nary a McDonalds in sight so K had to make do with Carls’ Jnr.  Although he enjoyed it, he is holding back on switching his unfaltering allegiance from the Golden Arches. “ If Carls is as good in NZ as here, I might be swayed” - watch this space!

We decide we have another couple of hours driving in us so carry on along the I10 towards Van Horn.  There are very few exits or towns along this stretch.  We have been out of the flatlands for a while and find we are steadily climbing, up to a lofty 4,470 feet at last count, as we traverse the Guadalupe Mountains.  The boost has been on pretty much constantly and we are keeping a close eye on the temp in case it increases.  Texas is mostly at sea level but Guadalupe Peak (also known as Signal Peak) is the highest natural point in Texas with an elevation of 8,751 feet above sea level.

At about 4pm we arrive at Van Horn and although it is a Saturday, it looks a bit like a ghost town, nobody around.

Main Street on a Saturday afternoon in Van Horn TX - where is everybody?

Our first RV Park option looks decidedly dodgy, a tired looking plot of dust and even though we could use our Passport America 50% discount here we decide to try the next option – Southern Star RV Park.  It is better, not much to offer as a destination though, but we do have full hook up, 50 amp power, free WIFI and a tree, oh and dust.  Nobody in the office so we pick a site and go back and fill in the paperwork, pop a check in the envelope, and here we are for the night.  There is a State Trooper vehicle next to a travel van the next row over, so we can assume an employee of Mr Trump’s is staying here - nothing but the best!