The homeward drive has reached its halfway point. It’s fun to consider that we have gone from sea level to 7800 feet in the space of four days. Today finds us back in the Mountain time zone for the first time in a long time. We’re in Colorado Springs tonight after having needed two days to get across Texas. Here’s a brief recap of the trip so far.

We left New Orleans and drove to Shreveport, and got a bonus. The weather forecast had been for heavy rain; it rained, but only lightly. Interstate 10 took us through lots of bayous and swamps on our way north. That night found us staying at the Shreveport Elks along with another couple from the tour. We had a great time visiting, and the lodge served wonderful smash burgers for dinner.

Onward we went, headed across Texas. We made a stop just east of Dallas at a Buc-ee’s travel plaza, after so many people said we should. It certainly was the most amazing gas station we’ve ever seen. Then it was on to our evening stay just outside Wichita Falls at a Harvest Host site; we were dry camping at a really nice winery. We did some tasting and enjoyed a charcuterie board.

The weather took a turn the next morning. Our drive to Amarillo was much cooler and very windy. It’s always fun to drive a big metal barn down the road at 60-65 MPH with a 20-30 MPH crosswind. We made it safely, and spent a little time exploring. It was our first time being on the old US 66 route, and we had our first clue that we are getting close to home: had a coffee at Dutch Bros.

Today finished off our time in Texas, then had a cameo drive in New Mexico, and finished off in Colorado. The road and the weather were both good, and it was a steady climb to Raton Pass. No driving tomorrow, we leave for Wyoming on Monday. More then…