My Chicken Ran Away to the Bush

Today was our day to move from Terlingua to El Paso, Texas.  It was a 4 hour bundle of excitement, we must say.  We were serenaded on the way by our iPod, with such classics as Burl Ives's "My Chicken Ran Away to the Bush", which is exactly what we think probably happens a lot out here.

Compared to the terrain we drove across, Terlingua was an oasis.  Just a flat plain of scrubbrush.

We claimed a victory of sorts when we arrived at the border patrol stop south of Alpine, answered a few perfunctory questions while a dog sniffed all around our truck and trailer, and were waved on with a pleasant "good day."  David was all set to offer the cats up to the border patrol officers if they were suspicious that the cats were really mules.

We hadn't gone more than about an hour and a half, having passed through Marfa, Texas, when we stumbled across this pretty trendy shop on the roadside:

It was actually located in the metropolis of Valentine, Texas:

For the most part, the scenery was flat, flat, flat.  This unending landscape of excitement was finally interrupted with a stern message that we took very seriously:

However, ultimately, we took great comfort in the fact that our RV park is right next to the highway, next door to an RV service company, and only 3 miles from the local Freightliner dealer/service shop.  And there's a Camping World nearby, too!  We think there isn't much of anything that could go wrong that we couldn't get fixed right away.  So we're feeling pretty secure.