From Santa Fe to Odessa

I am off for my adventure in Texas. I left Santa Fe in the cold and dark (19° and 4:45am). I love driving at this time because there is no traffic and it is so relaxing. I was a little worried about getting through Clines Corners at I40 since with all the snow that New Mexico and Texas received the Interstate was closed. Luckily I wasn't getting on I40, I was going south on US285 to Roswell. The drive was uneventful until just out of Roswell where I stopped at a rest area to find middle of nowHere placed by The 3DTs. The rest area was empty and I drove around to the back and followed the clues. I found the box under a rock, under snow.

R2D2 Mailbox

I was glad that it wasn't frozen in place. I stamped in while sitting in the warmth of my car - the temperature at this time was only 24° and it felt just like that. After replacing the box I continued until I reached Roswell and made my way to the Girl Scout offices to find In a Nut . . . Tin placed by GSSunshine. This was a quick and easy find and I saw it from the car as I pulled into the parking lot. Again I stamped in while sitting in the car and then replaced the box as I found it. My next stop was at the Roswell Convention Center to find Twinville Trekkers' Beatles Series #24 "Come Together". It was easy to locate the box but hard to retreive as it is on the bottom of a mailbox painted to look like R2D2 and it sits in front of the Convention Center on the busy Main Street. When the traffic took a break I was able to grab the box. I took it to a bench to sit and stamp in. By the time I was done and got the box back in place my hands were frozen. Once I was back in the car and thawed out it was time to leave New Mexico and enter Texas.

Mural in Brownfield

I drove down US380 until I reached Brownfield. I stopped near the Courthouse to find jb kokopelli's Gary P. Nunn. I had no problem locating this box and no problem grabbing it as the area was pretty quiet. I took it back to the car to stamp in. After getting the box back in place I headed to a gas station to fill the car and empty my bladder. With all that taken care of I continued on. My next stop was Odonnell to find another jb kokopelli box - Hoss Cartwright. The town was quiet and the little park where the box was hidden was empty. I found the box and took it back to a bench to stamp in. By this time the temperature was much better - it was now 53° and it was a beautiful day. I got the box back in place and continued on my way. I drove through Lamesa and then Tarzan. In both places I looked for boxes and came up empty handed.

Hoss Cartwright

The day was almost over and I made my way to Midland. I stopped at Resthaven Memorial Park Cemetery but the box wasn't in the tree where it should have been and I did find a latch to a sisterna box and the little rubber seal on the ground in front of the tree but no box. It actually looked like it might have been mowed over. I left the cemetery and made my way to Sibley Nature Center - here I walked the Sibley Nature Trail in search of three boxes - I didn't find any. I was feeling like I should call it a day and just check in to the hotel. But once I was back in the car I decided to look for two more on the way to the hotel. I first went to Rockhound Stadium and easily found Boots Tex's The Home Run That Never Was. A great story and a great stamp. After I was done there I continued to the Commerative Air Force Museum. The place was closed and the lot empty so that made for a quick and easy grab of the box - another of Boots Tex. This one was The Pliska Aeroplane. Again a nice stamp.

Now it was almost 6:00pm and I was tired. So I found my hotel in Odessa and checked in. The high temperature for today was 69° - quite a bit different than in Santa Fe. I am not complaining - it was a wonderful day and I enjoyed every minute of it. Now I am resting and I continue my journey tomorrow.