Finally back in the west

We are at a picnic area west of Albany, Texas on US-180 (map).

Somewhere between here and Dallas we crossed the invisible and sometimes imperceptible dividing line between "the east" and "the west," about which I have written several times. Travel for us is always more comfortable in the west, and, specifically, we usually have many more choices for overnight stops.

This picnic area is one of perhaps three in a span of just 30 miles along this stretch of road, and we chose it because it extended quite a ways off the highway, and is on a knoll with a panoramic view. That view consists primarily of open range, but it is also dotted with myriad modern windmills generating electricity. We were amused after dark to see that all the aircraft lights on the windmills blinked in unison, even though they extend for miles.

We had a pleasant drive yesterday on US-180, part of which was familiar to us from a visit to Fort Worth three years ago. The stretch we are on now is new to us, and we always prefer to cover new ground. We'll be doing so now all the way to New Mexico, mostly on 180 after a brief detour north to Stamford, where a friend's ancestors were early settlers, and we will be hunting for monuments to that effect.

I had been contacted on one of the bus boards by reader Paul in Abilene asking to meet up, after I posted that we'd be following the I-20 corridor to Phoenix. When it became clear we would not be going through Abilene this trip I emailed him, and he actually drove up here last night for a quick visit. We've now left I-20 behind, as it swings further south before joining with I-10, and we will proceed mostly due west from here.