Smoke and Dirt

We drove from Ft. Worth to Carlsbad today; about a seven hour drive. There have been several wildfires in Texas and New Mexico and the smoke was lingering in the area. We saw fire trucks on the road and plumes of smoke but no actual fires. I can't remember where this town was but it was typical of what we saw. It is hard to see the smoke hanging over the town but we could smell it and the horizon faded due to smoke and dust blowing in the high winds. FYI-You can click on any of the photos to make them larger.

The winds were so strong that Buz had to tightly grip the steering wheel to keep control of our car. We saw several large wind farms with massive windmills that were taking advantage of the potential energy. When I got out to take a few photos it felt like I was in a sandblast machine. It was a bit painful and very annoying. I didn't take many photos as I didn't want to risk damaging my equipment.

Not a snake!

I took this as a joke because every time I stepped out of the car Buz reminded me to watch where I put my feet because "This is snake country." We stopped here so I could photograph an empty cotton field and the smoke hanging in the sky just above the horizon line. Not sure you can see the difference in color from the top to the bottom of the sky in this photo but it was quite obvious to us as we were driving.

Sometimes in areas where there was no vegetation or where the vegetation had burned, the wind blew the dirt across the road creating a brown/red out! It was similar to blizzard conditions in Wisconsin, just not white. I didn't really capture any shots of this phenomenon. I certainly was not going to get out of the car for that!

Blowing Smoke and Dirt

The temperature kept climbing as we approached Carlsbad and it finally broke 100 as we neared the city.


It was wonderful to arrive at Ron and Barb's, unload the car and cool off in their inviting home. As we toured their new house (they had just moved here in October of last year from Montana) I noticed several vibrant quilts throughout the home. As I was about to ask about them, we were shown Barb's fabric/quilting workroom and I realized she had made them all. They are both avid birders and Ron enjoys capturing the winged creatures with his digital camera. Barb plans to use some of his beautiful images as inspiration for future quilts.

After a light dinner of sandwiches and salads, perfect after our long dusty day in the car, we sat on their patio watching road runners and hummingbirds bathe in Ron and Barb's misting spray water feature as the sun set.