Trip - Day 9

So Friday the 21^st of July, we made the final leg of our trek home to Lubbock. Going over the Raton Pass in beautiful, sunny weather was much more pleasant than going through in a severe thunderstorm with hail.  As we drove down the east New Mexico plain and into the South Plains from Dalhart to Lubbock, we sometimes experienced heavy winds, but mostly it was sun, dry air and straightforward driving.

We stopped for a fast food lunch in Dalhart, Tx. and by chance we were following a Christian youth group, and the Philmont Boy Scout Group http://philmontscoutranch.org/ who were in town. The Boys Scout Group included one girl member.  The leaders of the Christian group encouraged their group to eat up because others needed seats.  I was not so impressed with the Boy Scouts.  I was in line for ordering, and a couple of scouts stepped up ahead of me, to be with a buddy, but then the three of them decided to abandon their place in line and advanced my place as a result.

I was distracted but my traveling companion saw a pheasant on the side of the road.  We also saw antelope in New Mexico.

We were amazed  but should not have been at the low cost of gasoline in Hereford, Tx. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English  something like $1.87 plus per gallon. Hereford has become an industrial hub for using corn for producing ethanol that is mixed in with gasoline.  In Lubbock, gas was $2.19 plus per gallon.