What a Dirty, Ugly, Trashy Road
Texas Highway 285 North
I have never been so disgusted as I was driving Texas Highway 285 North today from Fort Stockton, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico.
Not only is this road in the midst of road construction the entire distance but it is also lined with one oil refinery after another. Hence the smell. I smelled oil, tar, and even a skunk or two along the way.
The landscape is entirely brown dust and sand, and the edges of both sides of this highway are completely littered with trash.
Evidently no one picks up the numerous amount of shredded tires anymore than they pick up orange construction barrels that have been ran over or blown over. And don’t get me started on the huge amount of plain trash. Plastic bags, cups, straws, cans, and bottles. Entire garbage bags look like they have been dumped.
I remember seeing a lot of trash in the state of Washington, but this was worse. Way worse. I took these photos about every mile and they don’t do it justice.
It looked a lot worse than the photos show. Just take some time and examine each photo and tell me that what you see doesn’t piss you off?
I shook my head and am pretty sure I had a disgusted look on my face the entire 200 miles of the trip. We finally made it to Carlsbad. We gained an hour and entered a different time zone. We are now in UTC Mountain Zone.
Today we stay inside and relax for the evening. Tomorrow the new adventures begin, so stay tuned.
Sorry for the rant. Stuff like this makes me wonder what foreigners must think of America. I hope everything we see here in this area is not as trashy as the trip was. I know I will never drive that section of road again.
Don’t Mess With Texas Litter Campaign
In Texas each year, approximately 362 million pieces of visible litter still pile up along state-maintained highways. Seventy percent of this litter is small trash like napkins, cigarette butts and fast food wrappers. In 2021, litter cleanup efforts cost more than $50 million. Violators can face fines starting at $500. If what you toss weighs more than five pounds, you can pay up to a $2,000 fine.