I had enough of the cold in Central TX so I headed to the SW desert ...
First "desert" landmark, crossing Lake Amistad..winds blowing like 60, thats Govners point, my fav camping
site ( when the temps are over 80* )



Last years report you saw the overall pic of the Pecos river, here's a pic right over the west bank
trying to show how steep the drop off is...a real impediment to E-W ancient travelers.



Here's a great shot of our locomotive crossing that dry wash bridge just East of Sanderson, doesn't show but it's blowing snow



Nice pic of Sanderson, snow starting to stick !



SNOW on traditional desert plants really looks "christmassy beautiful " ( remember, I'm traveling the desert to get away from the cold & snow "up north " )



Thats a desert snow plow on the city road.



Where am I ?????? Last August this exact location was 105* WARMER ( train conductor said it was 10* outside )



Read my lips



Arrive in the Desert Town of Tucson Arizona

The Tucsonites where DEVASTATED !! Night temps to 17*
Decorative Cactus plants didn't fare well, The pads just broke right off with the freeze



I went out to see the "Gem, Mineral, fossil and art show "...cold didn't have much effect on the minerals



cant take too much of that "desert" heat Headed back to Centx, wild cactus did not handle the cold too well either, lots of dropped pads on some and most turned purple



Another great pic of the Loco heading through a pass



Here's a great self portrait pic. Low aftnoon sun cast a shaddow of bridge & train against East wall
( I'm 8th seat back in the end car )



Sundown on Amistad, 2 fish boats out in 75* WX



Last great pic of the locomotive pulling into the station in Austin TX..



I did buy something of interest ... a repro made in China arrowhead

heyt hat's pretty cool hal. i liked those pics of the desert too. looks like a pretty neat little trip.

hal that was a really cool post. I had my first train ride last year from ft worth to austin and it was a really cool trip. wish i had more time to do that more often. you really see alot more than traveling the interstate

Train travel today is like a sea cruise, the trip itself is the attraction, NOT the destination... for
those in a hurry, drive your car
I enjoy every bit of the ride, if we're not seeing the grand canyon or the Bluffs of Big Sur.....It's absolutly AMAZING what people have in the backyards that line the tracks

Lunk....I WAS VERY LUCKY ... I shut the water off at the street and did a poor job of draining water from
pipes. The closer I got to returning to the house, the more I was sure such a strong freeze would have
damaged SOMETHING...
No damage but I'm not going through the scare again...installing a low level drain valve in case the
need arrises again