What an adventure — A windy adventure to be more concise! Wild weather has been experienced throughout the country over this past week, manifesting as very windy along our southern route. It was windy and cold on South Padre Island with an intensely moist fog; it stayed windy albeit a bit warmer in the McAllen area, bringing grit to eyeballs and coating Vanda’s interior with a fine dust. More wind was encountered along the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park, although we did savor one day of reprieve from the wind, basking in the warmth of the sun while finally able to view some birds out in the open.
Today was the worst of it, however. We’ve not experienced any storm like this wind & sand storm, as we left Texas to drive into New Mexico. We encountered for the first time what I have always heard described as “zero visibility”, and yikes, it IS a scary situation. We were able to get off the highway onto secondary roads towards our next campsite when the worst of it occurred. These photos do not do come close to showing the “zero vis” as we were both enthralled with watching it and also keeping an eye out for cows and cars on the road. (iPhone photos through the van windshield, fyi)
We are in camp now, early but unable to go hiking or biking! Vanda is rockin’ and rollin’ in this wind, there is an eerie orange glow from all of the dust, so we’ve turned on the air conditioner just to avoid opening the window and vent. We have everything we need right here with us — John is looking at recent photos, I get time to write a blog update, sit quietly to breathe, and I may even take a yummy nap before making dinner! Life is so good.
This photo is from this morning’s sunrise at the wetland area at Balmorhea State Park, a fascinating area fed by a massive fresh water spring that pumps fifteen million gallons of water per day!
