While on a trip to Texas, I drove to an area near Fort Lancaster just south of interstate 10; the spot was a picnic area at the top of a plateau over-looking the valley/canyon made by the Pecos River.  The constellation Vela is to the east of Puppis, which allows us to see a bit more of it in late spring.  To the north of Vela are the dim constellations of Pyxis and Antlia.  Unfortunately, my latitude, the time of year, and clouds/haze along the southern horizon prevented me from seeing any of the open clusters that appear along the galactic equator in Vela.  Unannotated image.