MidAmerica tour

[krigl]

After an exciting trek through the NW Texas border countryside, including dramatic El Capitan, we are now approaching El Paso.




And here we are. This whole set will be us simply passing through El Paso, as there is so much to see!


El Paso is an impressively rendered place, similar to Albuquerque but a bit nicer. It was made five years after the New Mexican capital, so that’s to be expected. Five years. Five. Years. Where did they go? I had just started posting here when New Mexico came out. Oof.


El Paso isn’t perfect though. It has no functioning gas stations, as I found right here when I got the ‘low fuel’ warning and saw this lovely gas station but no option to use it.


Hmm, well, what to do, what to do. Plenty of options. I could cheat, teleport and return. Nah.


I’m supposed to be delivering these cars to Alamogordo, so could drive straight there and risk it, but I doubt we’d make it.


I’d love a coffee, but… the truck’s thirst comes first.


Interesting. Red cabbages? Grapes? Purple basketballs? There’s a gas station to the south of El Paso,
but that would mean going out of my way and having to wait for a bunch of traffic lights…. nah.


Always great to see the bank, dentist, optician or lawyer you use doing well. Good on ‘em, I say. Keep it rolling in.


The last choice is to take the western road to Las Cruces, and then drive from there to Alamogordo. There’s a gas station on the way to Las Cruces, and at least we’ll be going in the right direction.


Decided on the fourth option. We need to do the Las Cruces – El Paso route anyway, as it was added by the Texas DLC. Chances are we’ll end up late, though, and we’re doing a real job for once with money at the end. After all, the quickest route from Carlsbad to Alamogordo is directly within New Mexico, so this whole trip is one big detour, really.


Well, after all those exciting deliberations, with mind newly made up, and running on fumes, we aim to exit El Paso in the direction of Las Cruces. The scenery in the city has been fine, but now we’re on to one of the nicest parts – very distinctive and unique to El Paso.




What these strange structures are for I can’t imagine. Art, I guess.


Exotic-looking suburbs.


In Albuquerque, the intersection in the centre of town is very cool but completely dominates the city. It’s like it’s almost the only thing that’s there. In El Paso, the intersection is similarly huge, colourful and awesome, but there’s much more to see.


Wow…


Nice skyline.






The University of Texas El Paso has architecture inspired by that of BHUTAN!! How bizarre is that? Cool, though. Sauce: https://www.utep.edu/about/bhutan.html


These are the Cerro Bola Mountains in Mexico, and right there stands the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez. The message painted (and regularly repainted) on there by evangelical Christians in humungous letters for everyone with a view of the mountains from their home or car to see says ‘The Bible is the Truth. Read it.’


Love the designs around this city’s roads.




Finally. My thirsty truck has reached a gas station.


Oof. Very welcome. Think I’ll get myself a good strong espresso as well.
Next time – to Las Cruces and Alamogordo.
Krigl

[krigl]

This time we're almost exclusively in New Mexico, though much of it is added by the Texas DLC...


Pink donut lorry appears as we're fuelling up at the northern edge of El Paso. Inspired, I head back inside to grab a donut to go with my coffee.


Bridge by the fuel stop.


Driving back onto the highway, we pass the border sign. En route to Las Cruces now.




The El Paso - Las Cruces - Alamogordo triangle has some great scenery packed into a small area.


Mural on the outskirts of Las Cruces.


We've toured it previously, and there's no need to enter the town, so we won't.




El Toro says shop... where...?


I documented the road from Las Cruces to Alamogordo a couple of years ago, but still, it has cool things to see, so here are a couple of shots.


In 2017 SCS hadn't quite fully upped their rocks game yet.


Monument concerning the White Sands test range, if I remember correctly.


Those typical early-ATS paper cut-out mountaintops have gotta go at some point. Hopefully SCS will revamp NM a little after California, Nevada and Arizona. Just a little, bring it up to the standard of the rest. From Oregon onwards everything is hunky-dory.


And this is the White Sands visitor center - I think. Didn't stop.


Entering Alamogordo.


The landscape here is very pale. Reminds me of northern Utah.




Delivering to Tesla. Enjoy your Priuses, Elon. Incredibly, even after driving maybe 3 times the distance we should have done, we weren't late!


Taking a break. Nowhere to get the paintjob changed in this town.


The next morning, Mr T needed me to haul more cars. T for Traitor.


Those are definitely not Tesla cars. What are they, Chevys? Ah, but it's the real companies mod, I guess. The building is Tesla, the cargoes are not.


Let's get going back to El Paso then. Last trip in New Mexico for a long time, I suppose, though there might be one route heading into Oklahoma.


This route to EP should also be new with the Texas DLC.


It's very straight, which I like as it feels very American. I hope the midwest brings more totally straight roads.


Those mountains look familiar. Next time: back to Texas, with more of beautiful El Paso.
Krigl

[krigl]

This time we’re heading out of New Mexico for the last time back to El Paso and with it finishing part 1 of this six part tour. We’re going to check out this stunning city a bit more. And at the end we get ready to embark on part 2 – I’d like to do that before returning to Scandinavia for part 3 of that tour.


El Paso lies ahead.


Advert for the airport. It might be nice to take a job from there.


Well, finally we’ve reached The Ed. The what?


Farewell New Mexico! Parts 2 – 5 of the tour will be exclusively in Texas.


Ah, it’s The Edge of Texas! Right there. It’s a steakhouse.


Their establishment stakes a claim to being the most well-publicized restaurant in the state.


Steaks. A claim.


Anyhow, we’re back in El Paso, and that means more screenshots. Architecture, colours, design, myriad details… my drone is working overtime.






Back at that great-looking intersection. This time we’re going over it.






Four levels! I hear some have five… like the one mentioned in the latest blog post about improvements to Texas coming in 1.48. They mentioned the town of Texarkana, which is BIG news, as why would they suddenly create a town right on the border that is half in Arkansas and half in Texas if they were not planning to release Arkansas perhaps after Kansas? And Arkansas is above Louisiana, which is also connected to Texas, and both states are relatively small – together being about the size of Montana, so doable. Could that mean a double release of Arkansas and Louisiana is next? That would be awesome!


That’s one of the new ‘real billboards’ for some logistics firm SCS were mentioning a couple of days ago, I think.


Whereas this is added by the real companies mod, I guess.








Okay, okay, let’s get these delivered.




Done. End of Part One.


Start of Part Two – the Mexican border region from El Paso all the way down to Laredo and San Antonio. So, not quite all the way to the coast.


Expecting to see more wild-west style landscapes on the way, but we’ll see.


Can’t believe the local government puts so much effort into making their roads look nice! Well, off to the airport now, it’s time we left El Paso behind and headed southeast to Van Horn.


But first - a quick stop-off at Walmart for a six-pack of bottled water, a bobble-head, a pair of sunglasses and a partly eaten sandwich.

Krigl

[krigl]

Off to El Paso airport.




Getting a bit misty.


Here we are. Discovered the second thing that's less awesome about El Paso. The airport is non-functional, it's just a jobsite. That's a real shame, as having jets slowly winging their way into the sky, or roaring over the truck on final, really adds something to a city, makes it feel like a bustling, cosmopolitan place.




Still, the pickup point is quite cool. We're going to sleep there today, as you no doubt do. Not in the way, am I?


An ancient three-holer is also chilling on the ramp. Nighty-night.


Starting off at sun-up.




Heading out of town into the arid landscape of eastern Texas. It's going to be quite a long trip, through Van Horn and along the Mexican border before heading north to Fort Stockton.


One last look...


...and we're on for the second part of the Texas tour.


A very dusty part of the state, but it has a lot of character.


A viewpoint / rest stop. Can't imagine it's exactly comfortable to sit out there most of the time. Anakin definitely wouldn't like it.


Wigwams on the other side of the road. Perhaps a motel?


Finally worked out what these are - they're inspection... stations/points/whatever, not maintenance. Of course. But they're all shut for now.


Closer look. I wonder if SCS will eventually bring them online, first removing the traffic cones.




We've arrived at Van Horn, but we're not going to visit the city today. Like Odessa, it lies on the roads that make up the inverted 'central Texas triangle', so we'll tour it properly in Part 3.


Leaving the highway to head more southwards, parallel to the Mexican border.


The embankments look like circus tents... wait, is it that donut truck? Are they following me, or what?


A Van Horn jobsite.


These look pretty eroded. I can imagine muddy water running from them in the rare event of rain in these parts.


Taking a short break at a rest stop just past an orchard while a freight train thunders by. Well, at least with baking heat, and a polluting road and a railroad with diesel powered goods trains right next door, they don't need to put much pesticide on those oranges. Very few living things could survive under these conditions.


It says Fashion Shop Marfa, though Marfa is not exactly close, and there is at least one settlement between this place and Marfa. Perhaps it's a badly placed asset? In any case, it might be supposed to represent a small Prada museum/shop full of ultra-expensive Italian bags and shoes which is found out here in the desert near Marfa, which as far as I can gather is the main tourist city of the region.


Not far away is a village called Valentine.


It would be cool if you could get your truck serviced at different looking places depending on where you are - and in rural America they looked something like this.

That's it for today. Next time we head through Marfa and pass by Paisano Peak, a cool volcanic-looking feature.
Krigl

[krigl]

On the way to Marfa and Paisano Peak today.


Still passing through Valentine.


Local war memorial.




Leaving town, we spot something intriguing in the distance.


A blimp!


A lot of radio masts in this state, and now blimps? It's a CONSPIRACY, I tell you!


Farewell, O blimp.




He refused to photograph her with mere cows, so she was forced to take a selfie. 'I like cows', she said.


Approaching Marfa, a local cultural centre in this out-of-the-way part of the world.


Long past the sign, and no sign of Marfa. Mind you, 'Marfa Fashion Shop' was even before Valentine. A strange town, Marfa.


Okay, here we are. A different look to this cemetery.


Ancient factory.


A new church, too.


Fine little place, Marfa.


Courthouse in the background beyond the train.


Some 'Arizona-style' buildings.




Approaching Paisano Peak. It looks like a volcano, but apparently it's just the remains of one left after the proper volcano erupted 35 million years ago. It's some kind of intrusion jutting out of the ancient crater.






Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude.


Just realised it's a lot greener around here.




Another view of the Peak.


That's it for now. Next time we pass through Marathon and Sanderson on the way to Fort Stockton.
Krigl

[krigl]

On our way to Fort Stockton today.


First up will be Marathon, however.


That distant settlement looks a bit like a ghost town.


Leaving the vulcanism-scarred landscape behind us.


Marathon. Someone probably parked their waggon there 150 years ago and never came back for it.




Pedestrian safety is paramount. No sidewalk on the bridge, so a footbridge is provided.






This area kind of looks like Croatia.


Sanderson lies on a junction. We need to turn left here.


Like this. That pink donut lorry is haunting me, I swear.








A mini rest stop with two 'no dumping' signs. Evidently it's an issue around here.


As we approach Fort Stockton we pass several ranches.


Such places are huge, so it's not surprising that you can't see large herds of horses or cattle. Why would they stand right next to a noisy, smelly road? A couple of animals can be seen, however.


Another ranch.




Outskirts of Fort Stockton. It's on the 'mid-Texas triangle' so we won't tour it in detail now.


There are several motels in Fort Stockton, though you can't sleep there. Well, not officially. I just park up and 'g_set_time 7' the night away cos I'm a Jack Daniels swillin', Harley ridin', ZZ Top lisnin' rebel.


Nice display at the delivery point.






So, let's sleep here.


Next morning - early pickup at Fort Stockton. Next time - back to Sanderson, and then further along the border toward Del Rio.
Cheers! Krigl

[krigl]

Very early start at Fort Stockton today.


I loathe country music, but this is Texas, so...




Very dark out on the road south to Sanderson.


Here comes the sun.








Here's Sanderson.


Horse standing under rock, waiting for cowboy to leap onto its back and then yell in agony.




Feels a bit like we're back in the old west.


Bona-fide cowboy standing next to a window full of washing powder, or something.




More echoes of olden times, thems were golden times. Reminds me of RDR2.




Dryden - where the train left from. Red Dead Redemption 2 was a great game. Shame Rockstar let the jerks spoil multiplayer for the many more mature players who just wanted to continue living in the world Rockstar created but with a character of their own.


Really looks like a place where time stood still.








A bit more dramatic countryside as we approach Del Rio.










On to Del Rio next time...
Krigl

[krigl]

Driving into and out of Del Rio in SW Texas this time.


We're still heading southeast parallel to the Mexican border.




Unfinished or a ruin?




The train is in the lead as we approach Lake Amistad, but I reckon we can take 'im.


Amistad... sounds familiar. The name of a Spanish slave ship on which the captives rebelled. The ship was trafficking slaves... and they called it 'Friendship'.


Train still ahead. We can do this.




Ha! Truck wins!


Arrival in Del Rio.




Delivering these Portacabins to Home Depot.


We'll just take it round about and then get changed out of these Country clothes.


New 80's style paint job. Let's explore a bit and get some sleep.




Check out that red glowing STOP sign. First time I've seen that. Certainly gets the message across.


Spent the night parked here.


Not sure about this paintjob. It looks horribly pixelated close up, but I'm not sure if that's deliberate or not.
The quality of today's SCS skins is generally high, so I guess it's supposed to be like that.


A bunch of stuff just dumped at the side of the road. Looks kinda picturesque, though, with the flowers and palm trees.


New cargo, destination Junction to the northeast.


Getting out of town. We'll be back to Del Rio twice more.


For the most part it's quite a bland, average town, with just a few bits that have some uniqueness about them. Just like a real-life place.


The ATS Bank is a bank that's on your side. That's right - if you get some horrible illness, lose your job and can't make the payments on your mortgage because the prices of meds and treatment are so high, they totally won't take your house away and kick you and your family out onto the street. They're 100% on your side. Yep. Mm-hm.


Out of Del Rio now and heading NW.


Lake Amistad again.


There are the bridges we were racing on earlier. That is one big lake.
We'll continue up to Junction next time.
Krigl

[krigl]

This time we’re driving east from Lake Amistad (and before that Del Rio) to Sonora and then turning SE to reach the city of Junction.


Leaving Lake Amistad.


Driving east. Not sure what this is. Some kind of customs checkpoint? Looks different from the big inspection halls that seem to be everywhere in Texas.


A small ranch house.


The road takes us through cuttings through the landscape.


A large drilling rig. Have to say I was expecting more signs of oil drilling in Texas, but we’ve only seen a quarter of it so far, maybe.


Sonora. A nice little scenery town.


Looking back from the last shot.






Quaint cottages in Sonora.


Here we should turn to the SE and start heading for Junction, but OH NO a truck has spilled a load of pipes. The situation seems easily solvable, however.


Made it. Just a few tyre ruts across the grass to speak of our passage.


More cuttings. This region seems quite lush and green. Well, we’re getting closer to the Gulf Coast.




It’s great to have been playing SCS games since 2013. I still really appreciate custom scenery and not seeing the same bridges and access roads everywhere.


Pylons, yay.


Time to come off, we’ve reached Junction.


In-N-Out Burger, with a lightning symbol. I’ve had burgers like that before. They don’t mix well with trucking.


Delivery time.


And that’s it for Junction for now.


Back in Del Rio for the second of three trips from that town. This time – east and then southeast to the large metropolis of San Antonio.




This cab has heated windows, though I doubt we’ll need this capability today.


We’re carrying glass glass glass to a car factory south of San Antonio, though the glass isn’t for cars. They’re renovating some offices, apparently.


That trip will have to wait for next time.
Krigl

[krigl]

Driving from Del Rio towards San Antonio today.


Leaving Del Rio...


One of those 'small unique bits' in this otherwise 'kinda average' city.




Outside on this route we have a ranch with various farm animals, yes, yes.




Some of them would seem to have escaped.


Veggies are better, they're not going anywhere.


Two level crossings close together.


The roads diverge and cross the water at different heights.


Got that Snowrunner feeling. Just a little bit.




Haven't seen one of those for a bit.


Uvalde - another small, nice, scenery town.


It's mainly just this crossroads.








Charming detail.








Dried up river. A lot of them in these parts.


To finish off today, a fine rest stop.




Niiice. I can feel the warmth... hear the insects...


After a brief break, during which I fell asleep with my head on my arms for half an hour and awoke to several flies in my lukewarm, untouched coffee, we continued on our way to San Antonio. Next time.
Krigl