We left Vicksburg on October 27, 2002, after touring the Battlefield. We crossed Big Muddy on I-20 and here is what it looked like from the van:

Big Muddy

That's a railroad bridge. There is a train on it. The river is below. It was raining.

Here is Lorri trying to stay awake while driving the van. She did.

Here is the interior of the van. Isn't it messy? We both worked out that morning at the "fitness room" at the hotel. Those clothes you see hanging are our smelly, wet workout clothes. Maybe Lorri wasn't tired in the last photo. Maybe she was about to pass out.

We spent the night of the 27th in a motel in Grand Prairie, Texas, near Fort Worth. After driving 500 mile in the pouring rain and finding ourselves in a metropolitan area, a motel stay seemed appropriate.

October 28, 2002, STILL RAINING when we left Grand Prairie. Still raining as we cruised by Abilene. Still raining in Midland and still raining in Odessa. Miraculously, just past Odessa the skies cleared, the wind stopped, the sun shone and we decided to stop at Monahans Sand Hills State Park. Good choice.

Monahans Sand Hills State Park, TX

We had nearly forgotten what the sun looked like, so I quickly snapped a few photos in case it stared raining again. These "sand hills" looked a lot like sand dunes to me. What's the difference? The campground was a good one, with electric, water and hot showers and populated by only a few hardy souls.

I was struck by the shadows of me and the van across the road and on the dune on the opposite side, so I took a self-portrait. There's Lorri, enjoying the last of the sun.

Miraculously, the sun came up the next morning. Well, I knew it would come up, I just wasn't sure if we would see it because of clouds or rain or something. But it was bright and beautiful, so we pushed on toward El Paso and into New Mexico. At Deming, NM, we headed a little north to find City of Rocks State Park, our camp spot for the night.

City of Rocks State Park, NM

We camped among boulders that dwarfed the van. I was impressed by the way the camp sites were spread out and thoughtfully placed among the rocks. October 30, 2002, was another sunny day but a little cool in the morning. We scrambled about the rocks for a while and checked out the botanical garden, before we jumped back in the van and took a loop through Silver City before heading back down to I-10.

Silver City, NM

Silver City is proud of its "Ditch" and the fact that Billy the Kid lived there when he was a kid, literally. Since I couldn't find Billy, I took a photo of the Ditch, and that's it, above. I forget how the Ditch got there. I think it had something to do with water and bad street design. Perhaps it was a civil engineering problem.

Before leaving New Mexico, we stopped for a bit at Steins Ghost Town. Here is some advice for those of you who may be considering a stop there: don't.

Steins Railroad Ghost Town, NM

Here are the two best photos I could take of Stiens. If, despite my advice, you find yourself at Steins, say hello to the guy in the little market for me. If he asks you what you call kids born in a bordello (there were many bordellos in Steins), be sure to reply "brothel sprouts!"

That night we stopped in Gila Bend, Arizona, and stayed at the Best Western Space Age Lodge and had a delightful dinner at the adjacent Space Age Outer Limits Restaurant. It wasn't as bad as you might imagine. The place was built in 1963 & 1964 by a guy who owned a plastics plant and a metal fabrication company and a fascination with the burgeoning Space Program. Soon it will be included in the National Register of Hysterical Places. Here is what it looked like:

October 31, 2002, we got back to our home in San Diego. It was still there. What a trip! What a country!