October 20, 2010: The Gila Cliff Dwellings
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Today will be entirely occupied with our drive from just east of El Paso all the way back to Dallas. It is a drive we have made numerous times before. Along the way, Fred took quite a few pictures, and I think that this time I'll include some of them in the photo album.

Driving Through West Texas

From El Paso to Midland there isn't much to see. This part of Texas isn't suitable for much of anything- there is not even any oil out here. It is bare, desolate, mountainous scenery, although it has its own particular type of beauty. Of all the pictures that Fred took along this stretch, I've selected seven of them to include here. Click on the thumbnails below to have a look:

The Oil Patch

From Midland/Odessa to Abilene, there's oil in them thar hills, although not nearly as much as there used to be. The crisp clear morning air had given way to clouds and some air pollution, pollution caused by the large populations living in the cities along this stretch and the industry that attracted them here. Oil wells are a common sight, although now they are sitting in the middle of cotton fields. If you want to see some of the pictures that Fred took along here, click on the thumbnails below:

The Windmills of Your Mind

There are two or three areas of the country that are big into wind power. Perhaps the most spectacular is the area west of Palm Springs, California, where the winds coming through the coastal passes keep the windmills in operation continuously. There are huge turbines all along the crest of every hill out there. Another wind power area is Texas, and the area around Loraine, Texas, between Sweetwater and Abilene, is the epicenter of that industry. The windmills are more spread out than in California; they stretched for many miles along the Interstate and on either side of it and, as the oil wells were further west, the windmills are often in the middle of cotton fields. If you'd like to see a few of the pictures Fred took of wind power in action, just click on the thumbnails below:

The Windmills of West Texas I though I would also include one of the movies Fred made of the windmills as we drove past them.

The rest of the drive was pretty boring, not only because there isn't much to see but also because we've done it so many times, and I am sure we will do it again. In any event, we reached home late in the afternoon, concluding our trip that included The Biosphere, Picacho Peak and Camelback, Sedona, Meteor Crater, Silver City and the Gila Wilderness.

You can use the links below to continue to a different page for our Western Trip, or return to the Western Trip Index to go on through the rest of the photo album.

	October 20, 2010: The Gila Cliff Dwellings
	Return to the Index for our Western Trip