Deming, NM

A pleasant sunrise from Blythe.  Sorry about the big light in the middle of the palm!

Here I am again -- 10 hours, 477 miles later.  I was really, really tired when I left Blythe, but I tried a bit of a different program today and feel much better tonight.  A stress-free day (no 2 hours in LA traffic!) and a very civilized 75mph speed limit helped too, no doubt.  Cruise control all the way.

I left Blythe a bit before 7am (pacific time) stopped for a big breakfast around 9:30 am (mountain time), about 104 miles down the road.  I ate the WHOLE plate of food, and it was a lot.  Another lesson on fueling the body as I seemed to need it.

A rest stop near Tonopah, about 87 miles into Arizona.  I loved the warning about the local fauna.

I stopped often, it seemed, for purposes that mostly escape me.  I wanted a Dairy Queen soft ice cream.  Actually, I wanted a Blizzard but decided it would be hard to eat with a spoon at 75mph.  I found a Safeway for some milk and bananas and yogurt.  Got some gas -- going through that quickly, but I think I'm probably still getting 34-35 mpg even at such high speeds.  I also just wanted to get out of the car more often, keep the circulation flowing in my legs,, break the monotony.

Not too long before I left Arizona behind the road climbed up and up and up, through huge fields of huge rocks. I think it was called Texas Canyon. This rest stop was great -- I really wanted a photo of the rocks, and while you couldn't get to them (there was a big chain link fence with barbed wire strands on top keeping us out), there was a walkway along the entire length of the fence and I enjoyed walking it.  Great area.  

I'd really have liked to spend more time exploring the eastern-most portion of Arizona off I-10.  So much history here -- Chiricahua County, Apache Pass, Cochise County, and much, much more.  Too bad it's not a pleasure trip with time to kill.

I arrived in Deming around 4:30, asked about a good Mexican restaurant and yes, I ate the whole thing once more!  Almost  -- didn't eat the fried round thing, but loved the beef enchilada, the tamale and the chiles rellenos, rice and beans.  Real stuff -- not Americanized. 

I should have eaten earlier -- to stay with my new program of eating better during the day to keep the energy up.  But, there just wasn't much out there -- desert and fast food, for the most part.  I'll do better tomorrow.  Destination:  Big Spring, Texas!