Odometer: 112,165
7:15 Marco is getting up. 08:00 after Marco spoke with the Sheriff office in Natchitoches we are leaving. On Hwy 20 we pass Dallas, Arlington and Fort Worth.

Out of town we take Hwy180 and witness how quickly the vegetation changes again from green to nearly desert like. Over hundreds of miles we drive through cotton fields spotted with oil pumps and through more or less ghostly towns. Some of them nicer and better maintained than others. Hobbs is a digger town with about 28’000 people – maybe a place to stay for the night. But it turns out to be a real ‘Nest’. Since it is only after 4:00 p.m., we continue to Carlsbad, hopping this will be better. It seems to be a bit better and it would be another 170 miles to El Paso. We check out several hotels and finally stay at Motel 6. Dinner we have at the Pasta Court. After dinner we drive the 27 miles to the Caverns to see the bats flying out at dusk. Hundreds of thousands of bats! We only saw them from far but it was still impressive.