the endless landscape didn't really make its full appearance until after Las Cruces, but it was worth the wait.

and the effort. first there was an ice storm with which to contend. apparently it is not possible to traverse the States at this time without hitting some sort of nasty, inclement weather.

it was a fairly gruesome sight around Odessa TX. at least five overturned and smashed-up semis. one tanker that had jackknifed and then landed fully across both lanes of traffic on the other side of I-20. times like these make me eternally grateful for having grown up and learned to drive in Omaha and environs...and that i bought new tires before this trip. many prayers for the drivers of those trucks.

at last, las cruces passed and we were in the most beautiful part of the drive - flatlands with mountains and rock formations in the fore and back grounds. several times the road crested a small rise and the view ahead took my breath away. it was between las cruces and tucson where i got my time of contemplation. unsurprisingly, i was mostly sad. Missing Mike a lot.

i must also mention a strange site that began our day. i took the dogs for a walk behind the hotel in big spring and came upon a foot-high adobe wall, enclosing three small squares of land. it was indeed a cemetery, but one of the most peculiar i have seen. every gravestone was marble, flat in the ground, with only a name. no dates. each one was exactly the same. there was a sign at the entrance that showed who was buried in each plot, and their birth and death dates. no name to the cemetery. the sign was on paper enclosed in plastic. thoughts? insights?