Saturday, November 9
Before we left Mountainview RV Park, Lisa picked up some jerky. The highway to El Paso started to flatten out, but it was still full of trucks.
El Paso West / Anthony KOA
The RV park was behind a Camping World right on the New Mexico and Texas border at Exit 0. I do not think I had ever seen an Exit 0 before. We arrived at around 12:30, and when I went to check in, they informed me that I was there a day early, but they had room for me. When I checked my spreadsheet, I had incorrectly put the wrong day of the week down. I asked them to add another day to my reservation.
Texas Welcome Center
After setting up, we ran over to the Texas Welcome Center to see if they had any advice on attractions to visit. They didn’t have much information, but they provided some guidance about parking at the Chamizal National Monument, as well as where we could see across over into Mexico.
Chamizal National Monument
We next headed to the Chamizal National Monument, where we learned the fascinating history of how Texas and Mexico fought over chunks of land in El Paso, whose ownership became questionable when the Rio Grande changed course. The result is that a concrete dike was built to keep the Rio Grande from shifting and its location was established by treaty. Some of the land on both sides of the border is now a park.
On the way to the monument and at the memorial itself, we could see the “wall.” As much as this wall has been in the news, it was somewhat surreal to see it. I wish we had brought our passports so that we could have crossed the border.
El Paso Mission Trail
We then decided to drive down the El Paso Mission Trail and check out the various missions. It was an enjoyable drive that took us through several Hispanic and Native Indian neighborhoods. We did not stop at any of the missions, though.
Ode Brewery
We decided to check out the brewery scene as it was getting late. We found a couple near our campground around the campus of UTEP. The Hoppy Monk was the first place we stopped at, but we could not find a place to park. so we went a mile away to the Ode Brewery. It was a find, as we enjoyed talking with the waiter about their beer and the local culture. He also told us about the local favorite drink called the Michelada, which we decided to order, and he took personal responsibility for making it.
Sunday, November 10
Camping World
Today, we are heading out to White Sands National Monument, but we first stopped at the local Camping World to pick up a new water filter. My current filter seemed to leak at the connections too much, so I thought I would try a new water filter.
White Sands National Monument
Our first stop was to pick up some sleds along the way at the Walmart in Las Cruces. They sold sleds for about $10 each at the White Sands Visitor Center, but I was able to pick up two for the same price at Walmart.
The route was very flat once we crossed the Organ Mountains next to Las Cruces. We had to go through a Border Patrol checkpoint on the way to the Monument, which was interesting. They just looked at us and told us to continue. They checked a screen facing away from us before waving us on. Maybe it was an x-ray or thermal detector?
It was packed when we got to the White Sands National Monument visitor center, and many vehicles blocked other cars. We went into the visitor center and bought some wax for our sleds, which were recommended in my research to help them slide down the sand. We also briefly walked through their displays and watched their movie, showing us that the dunes were gypsum. After a stop in their bathrooms, we drove into the park after showing our annual pass to a park ranger checkpoint. We were getting our money’s worth out of the National Park pass.
The dunes were full of grass and other plants at the beginning, but as we went farther in, they became pure white and incredibly surreal. We stopped and walked a boardwalk nature trail before driving on to find a hill we could try sling on. We tried several hills and were able to sled pretty well, but not as well as we could on snow. I do not think the wax we bought made a difference, or we just were too impatient to put enough on the sled. It was a beautiful sunny day and a lot of fun walking barefoot in the sand. We spent several hours at the park and had a good time.
White Sand Missile Range
On our trip back, we visited Missle Park, which we learned was at the White Sands Missile Range base. My military ID card got me in without going to the visitor center. There were probably about 50 historical missiles on display, and monuments explained their purpose. I was familiar with many of them, but Lisa wasn’t, so she especially found them fascinating.
Las Cruces
We then headed to Las Cruces for dinner at the High Desert Brewing Company. It was so covered by vegetation that we had trouble finding it, but many cars around it were a giveaway. We sat at the bar and ordered dinner and a flight of beers. We talked with a local artist beside us and compared our views of their beers and the brewery. We enjoyed the beer and food.
El Paso
We then went back to El Paso and went to an overlook on the Transmountain highway. It was surprisingly busy, but it provided some beautiful views of El Paso and beyond. We then headed home.
Monday, November 11
North El Paso Veterans Day Parade
Today is Veterans Day, so we decided to attend some Veterans Day activities in the area. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the parades happened on Saturday, but we did find one taking place in North El Paso in conjunction with Fort Bliss. We got there about an hour early, so we took the opportunity to walk around their Memorial Park and look at all their memorials. This was also going to be the location of the post-parade speeches.
The parade was more significant than expected for a workday. The Junior Marines were probably the cutest group there. Though we hung around after the parade at the post-parade podium area, we decided to check out Las Cruces instead.
Las Cruces, NM
Since we were hungry, we first decided to check out the Little Toad Creek Brewery in Las Cruces. It was in a downtown area with some municipal offices so it was mostly abandoned for Veterans Day. Though this was not the brewery’s location, they did have a nice selection of beers so we got a flight of eight and some tasty sandwiches.
We then headed to the Old Mesilla Village, where we saw several historical buildings such as the Basilica of San Albino, a gift shop where Billy the Kid stood trial, and La Posta restaurant with many birdcages with tropical birds. There was a square where some costumed native American dancers were performing. The square had several historical markers explaining how Messila had become part of the United States with the Gadsen Purchase and how it was an essential stop for the Butterfield Stage Coach. It was pretty cold and windy, so few people were there. Before we called it quits, we walked through a couple of stores, the church, and the La Posta.
Anthony, TX
We then headed toward the trailer but stopped at a souvenir shop near our trailer where there was a lot of metal art. The shopkeeper let us walk around in the warehouse since it was so cold outside.
We then got gas and headed back to the trailer for the evening.