Into the desert

I took a series of pictures to show the transition from forest to desert as I traveled through western Texas.

At this point trees are still quite plentiful. My camera couldn't quite show what the hills look like here. They are all the exact same height. They just plateau at the same point. It made me feel like I was at the bottom of an ocean that had been drained. For all I know this may be the case.

Here the soil becomes sandier and the trees begin to become bushes. The desert was not as hot as I thought it should be. Maybe because those windmills were helping to keep me cool.

Now it is looking more like a desert, without the cactus. I haven't really seen very many of those yet. The vegetation is just lots of small bushes growing in sandy soil.

Apparently rest areas have awards.

The grey blob on the right is not a camera problem. That is me seeing the rain in the distance. You can see far enough out here that an entire rainstorm is very visible from afar.

This is a vehicle inspection point. I was worried they might feel like searching my car. Not because they would find anything illegal, but because I have lots of things in my car and searching it would take a while. I figured at least having a distant licence plate would illicit a few questions. They asked if I was a U.S. citizen. I said yes. They asked if this was my car. I said yes. I was told to have a good day. No documentation required. Not even a full sentence to listen for an accent. Apparently being white is all I needed.