Day one of my road trip odyssey did not start all that fortuitously--I received an email on my Blackberry while I was gassing up in Phoenix about the death of one of my good college friends, Tristan Campbell. Tristan and I met in Prof. William Chester Jordan's European History class freshman year and we took another class of his together. He also attended Episcopal services with me and I always looked forward to his passage readings. Tristan was from NYC by way of Jamaica, but he was an Anglophile through and through. I will always remember his kindness, his intelligence and sharp wit and his beautiful soul. Once he told me that my nose was "mathematically perfect" and sometimes he would just send me Facebook messages that said, "Ginger, you are awesome. I love you." They were meant in the most non-creepy way and I always smiled when I saw them. We'll miss you terribly, Tristan, and I hope you are somewhere finding all the answers to the questions you had in Prof. Jordan's history class. The email mentioned there may be a memorial service during reunions, so if I can make it I will try to get to NJ for it.
My route today was very easy: I-17 South to I-10 West towards Tucson. Driving through Tucson was surprisingly fast. After two years in the Phoenix metro area I forget what normal towns are like. I saw a sign for the Saguaro National Monuments and I wished I had time to stop. I wanted to get to Ft. Stockton, TX, however, as it's the best stopping point between El Paso and San Antonio. After Tucson, all the signs on I-10 point to El Paso, which is pretty exciting.
The interstate past Tucson takes you through some pretty rugged country. This part of the state was used as Cochise's hideout when he was fighting the US Army, guerrilla style. Once I hit the New Mexico border, however, the road got very straight and very flat. There's not much in New Mexico until Las Cruces, which is only 50 miles from El Paso. Surprisingly the scenery in west Texas was much more interesting than New Mexico.
El Paso is the US city equivalent to the famous Ciudad Juarez, which is currently in the news due to the drug violence plaguing the city. If I had time I would have tried to go to Mexico, but New Orleans calls.
I stopped at the Lucchese outlet in El Paso to get some cowboy boots, I got a fabulous chocolate patent leather pair for $139, bargained down from $269, original retail price $600. I love shopping!
After El Paso the scenery continued to be pretty, but boy, is it empty! All I hit was a US Border Patrol checkpoint outside of Sierra Blanca. They were stopping all trucks and cars. I got asked if I were a US citizen which got me thinking if that was legal or not (since they don't have a suspicion that I am an illegal alien). I guess in Texas driving while half-Asian is not a problem.
I ate dinner in Van Horn at a restaurant called Chuy's, which advertised good Mexican food and free wi-fi. My enchiladas were very tasty and they did in fact have wi-fi! I got back on the road and kept going, but I forgot that most of Texas is on central time so suddenly it was 9pm instead of what I thought was 8pm. I did make Fort Stockton eventually, rolling in around 10:30pm. The last part of the drive there was a gorgeous lightning display next to me. It never rained on the road but there were huge streaks across the sky and from clouds to ground. I'm in a suite at the Holiday Inn, since all the other rooms were full. The guy gave me a good deal on it, though, and there's free wi-fi here and free breakfast, which is all I care about. Oh yeah, and a king size bed. Party in room 219!
Tomorrow: I plan to remember the Alamo in San Antonio and will hopefully make it to Lake Charles, Louisiana.
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So if the scenery in west TX was more interesting than that in NM, what was it like? What did you see? Hills? Casti? It was dark when Grandpa, Aunt Jane and I drove through that area in 1996.
ReplyDeleteThe enchiladas sound yummy. What was the proportion of gringos vs. Mexicans in that restaurant?
Were the policemen polite when they stopped you?
Too bad you didn't have time to stop in the Saguaro Nat'l Monument in Tucson. That's such a beautiful spot.
Love, Dad