I wanted to go see White Sands National Monument and since we were going towards Arizona, I asked Trapper if he minded taking a side trip to New Mexico. He said, “No,” and I said, “Ok, in that case, let’s go see White Sands National Monument!”
So we set off toward Las Cruses, NM. But, between us and Las Cruses is El Paso, TX. I didn’t like this town 10 years ago when I came through here and I still don’t like it. There is virtually NO border here. The picture you’re going to see – well, we’re on the US side and what you’re seeing is the Mexico side. If you look just under the bottom guard rail on the bridge – you’ll see a little canal/dry river bed kinda thing. Yep, that’s the Rio Grande and in the middle of that is the border. Oh, and if you missed it, the Rio Grande is basically dry here.
Enough about the border situation. I’ve explored remote parts of our border over the past month (in Big Bend) and this area is the weakest link. Seriously! I didn’t want to spend the night anywhere near El Paso, so we stopped 40 miles east at Howdy’s Truck Stop. It looked a little questionable but not horrible for a quick overnight stay. Everything turned out fine. It was loud, but truck stops are!
And then! As I looked on the calendar, thinking February 26 meant something to us, and the realized – tomorrow was our 8th Wedding Anniversary! What???? We almost missed our anniversary??? Yes, we did.