Out West Trip: Day 4 (Georgetown TX to Carlsbad, NM)

And, we’re off! (yet again…but this time for real! After some last minute work and packing, we hit the road. Last night, we decided to take the backroads instead of the highway. As we left Georgetown, we did have to get on the interstate — for one mile — our one mile of interstate all day! As we headed west, we found a few “Roadside Attractions”. The first one we stopped at was the “Car Parts T-Rex” in Bertram…the next two were less impressive. We went a bit out of the way to see the Falkenstein Castle, which really wasn’t all that great. And then the Bottle Trees in Llano were “No Photos”. Really?

dirt whirl

new mexico - 25 may 2011

I worked for about an hour as we drove, then helped Chloe with her homeschooling. West Texas and then southeastern New Mexico were lacking in amazing sites … desolate fields with giant windmills and then oil wells for the most part. We saw some impressive cyclones and then waves of dirt storms as we continued west. Landfills, incinerators(?) and more lined the “highway” as we entered New Mexico. The “highways” got narrower and narrower until we were almost in Carlsbad. Carlsbad itself is one huge construction zone at the moment, but we found Walmart and picked up the needed groceries before headed north to the KOA.

carlsbad koa - 25 may 2011

The girls headed right to the pool while I set up. I joined them after checking in at work and then we all came back to the campsite (the girl who checked us in was surprised by our “RV” and wanted to be sure we didn’t need a Kabin. After dinner, Rob and Chloe tossed a ball and then got out the telescope for some night viewing.

Trip Stats:
Roadside Attractions: Car Parts T-Rex, Falkenstein Castle, Bottle trees. (Total: 6)
States: Texas, New Mexico (Total: 6 – GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM)
State Plates Spotted: 2 (Total: 20)
Miles: 499 (Total: 1605)
Gallons of gas bought: 20.5 (Total: 92.7)

car parts t-rex - 25 may 2011