Today, we made it all the way to Midland, TX. The speed limit, after we passed through El Paso, went from 70 mph to 80 mph, and the highways ranged from "you gotta be kidding" rough to "smooth as velvet". Very little construction too, and that made a difference in how fast we made it to Midland. 
Countryside again changed from rocky to desert, to flatlands, to fields of pecan trees and hay fields in places. Only hit one Border Patrol stop somewhere between the Texas border and Midland and it didn't long to get through that stop. Figured the gas mileage would suffer due to running at 80 mph much of the way, but still managed to roll out 28.3 mpg. Vette still running great. Didn't see a great number of cars on the highway to Midland, but there are sure a lot of trucks on the Texas highways.
Driving at 80 mph was quite a change, but the miles sure disappeared behind us in a hurry. We arrived in Midland to stay with some old friends from El Paso, Bob and Ginger Ellwood. We hadn't seen them since they came to visit us in New England about 10 years ago. Brian and the Ellwood's son Mark and daughter Andrea were friends when we lived in El Paso and we hadn't seen them since we moved from El Paso in 1980. They have grown up, needless to say. Andrea and her fiance came over for dinner, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing Andrea and meeting Errol. Errol is a doctor and has a Nissan GTR. For those of you who know your cars, this is one of the hottest cars in the country right now and is a heck of a lot faster than our Vette. More on it later. KSo nice to see Bob and Ginger and Andrea and Errol, her fiancee. After Ginger and I hugged we started talking non stop like magpies. Friends for 32 years and in the past 3 decades only seeing each other twice. Ginger remains a terrific cook and made a delicious Mexican dish for supper. We've all put on a few years and pounds, but to me they look the same.
After supper we resumed catching up, so much news. Ginger is very involved in making banners for her church, can't wait to see them. S
glad to see you made it to Midland..and catching up with old friends..Ken, 80 is bit better than 100 some states ago..live it up and catch you at the next stop..which is..maybe El Paso?..so long for awhile..Love, Kate & Rich..xoxo..miss you!
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