El Paso

We finished our laundry and wrapped up our conversation with Ralph and gave him a big hug and got going. When we got out to the truck there were four messages from our company wanting to know why we hadn’t left yet. I really was in no hurry especially since Ralph told us about the storm and all of the wrecks he saw.

But I made a fast pot of coffee and away we……crawled? We no sooner got on the highway and traffic was at a crawl. Every hundred yards or so was someone in the ditch or in the median. I never saw so many wrecks. It was black ice, nature’s nightmare. Traffic was so backed up for so many miles. We drove 15 mph for over an hour. It took me 2 hours to get 48 miles. Pops was exhausted and went to lay down.

I finally made it to Memphis and things were looking a little better as far as the weather. Most of it had gone through now and crews were trying hard to clean up. I’ll bet tow truck drivers made a fortune that night.

Once I reached the Mississippi River Bridge and got across it into Arkansas the roads were much better. I actually could drive 55 mph now, and traffic had thinned down. It was almost 11pm. I talked to my sister on the phone for awhile. I sure do miss her.

I passed the factory for Loreal and Maybeline, I think it was Little Rock, Arkansas. Check your makeup and let me know. I am pretty sure, Little Rock. I also saw the factory for Ocean Spray and Morning Star Foods. It is cool to see where these familiar items are produced. Fruit of the Loom comes from Mississippi. Crayola is Pennsylvania.

I called my friends at Rest Assured and talked to JoAnn. I knew that someone would be there working and figured I could say a quick hello without disturbing their work too much. It was good to hear her voice. I miss my friends from there and the residents.

When it was Pops’ turn to drive we were about to enter Dallas. I stayed awake to help him navigate through Dallas and Fort Worth and then I hit the sack. I slept good! I woke up once when he stopped to go to the bathroom and then right back to sleep.

When I woke up again we were at a rest stop in the desert of Texas somewhere. I got up and went inside. While walking in I noticed a man sitting on the bench outside with an army duffel beside him. I looked at me and smiled and I smiled back. When I came out Pops asked me if I had anything to make a sandwich. I figured he was hungry but he said it was for the man. He was a Vietnam vet on his way to California and he needed something to eat. He never asked for a ride (which we couldn’t give anyway) or for any money.

I had some chicken in the refrigerator so I heated it up and melted some cheese on it and put it on a bun. While it was heating I packed up some other stuff we had, applesauce cups, an orange, a banana, 2 bottles of tea, some cookies, some potato chips and a yogurt and gave those to him as well. He thanked us over and over again. It feels so good to help someone. Pops and I felt good all day long. And to think last night while driving I did a lot of thinking about how I eat too much and how can I stop eating so much.

We passed a place where Border Patrol was pulling people over to check their vehicles. We passed a rest stop that didn’t have pavilions, it had tee pee with picnic tables inside them, we saw a lot of awesome scenery and a lot of sand. I mean a lot of sand.

We did catch a glimpse of the Rio Grande River when it came up next to the interstate we were traveling. Mexico is right there, Wow.

We entered El Paso and I was amazed. It is a big city in the desert. They have everything here, every store or business you can name, I think it is here. I was surprised. I thought it would be different. How can the desert sustain all of this?

Anyway, we are probably here for a while. There are 5 other FedEx trucks here too. And I am told not much if anything comes out of here. I hope we don’t sit for a week, but a day or two would be nice. I’m beat.

I love all you. I will talk to you later.