I DID IT!

Day number three, we left Midland, Texas at around 8:40AM. We were totally confused with the time change this morning. We were just taking our time getting packed up - thinking it was 7:30AM - wrong. All of a sudden the reporter on the news said 8:30AM and we both put it in high gear. We were amazed with the number of trucks that had pulled in after dark. This little truck stop was packed. We hopped back on Interstate 20 heading east on a clear morning with not a cloud in the sky. We ran into a little construction just past Midland, but traffic was running smoothly despite the "frost heaves" in the road. Bob and I thought that the Alcan was smoother - well maybe it wasn't that bad. There were numerous wind generators along I- 20 on both sides of the road - all moving at a good rate. We also saw lots of oil rigs pumping along the side of the road. This area along I-20 continued to be flat, just a little greener than Arizona. Eventually, we started to see a little contour in the land instead of the flat landscape. A few little hills started to pop up here and there. We were surprised that we did not see any cattle ranches. I've always imagined huge ranches in Texas. Oh well.... We passed a huge Fina oil refinery in Big Springs east of Stanton. It has been operational for 80 years. It stretched for miles and boy did it smell. I would not like to be living near it - pretty disgusting!

Diesel has been running around $3.13/gal and we have not been able to understand since they have all these oil wells and refineries.
We stopped for lunch at one of the many rest areas on I-20. I will say one thing for Texas, they have some very nice rest areas. They are always attractive and very clean. I took over driving for a couple of hours, so that Bob could check on our route and catch a little nap. When we decided to switch divers again, I pulled into a Pilot rest area and I finally did it. A FIRST - I actually attempted to back the 5th wheel into a parking space. To be honest, there were no trucks around the spot so I had lots of room. I didn't quite get it straight in, but at least I gave it a try and Bob even said I didn't do too bad.
We made it as far as Greenville, Texas on Route 30 around 5:00PM and pulled into our favorite "resort" - Walmart and managed to find a place where we had trees for shade. That is a plus, since it is 93 degrees in the 5th wheel - just a tad warm, but it will cool down as soon as the sun sets.