That stretch of I-10 between Kerrville and the I-20 merge may be the closest this country has to an autobahn. Nobody goes slower than 80 because there's nothing out there to tell you not to. Gotta watch your gas gauge and your rest stops, though, because you don't want to get stuck out there. I remember stopping in one town (Ft. Stockton?) to gas up and asked the clerk if there were any restaurants in town - not just a convenience store with a microwave but an actual place to sit and eat. She perked up and said "There's a new I-HOP a couple of exits down." Looked clean and the food was passable but it was kind of sad that the snazziest place to eat in town was the new I-HOP.
We always left East I-10 at VanHorn over to Hwy 90 and east into San Antone. Hardly any traffic,lots of wildlife. Once we had to stop so wild turkeys could cross the highway. I thought the country was beautiful.
Traveling east from Monahans on I-20 in late 1975, I covered 109 miles in an hour in my 240Z.
I was gonna mention that you forgot to mention Ft. Stockton.... the beginning (or the end) to the longest straightaway in Texas (probably the US) nonstop. But you did mention it ;)
I have a place south of Alpine and would move out there in a hearbeat if I could.
I love it out there.
Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century.