Tuesday 9 July – Sunny 39 Celsius. We left at 830 in the morning and headed to El Paso Texas.We got to El Paso West RV park in Anthony, Texas. It’s a nice park and we had site 50, arriving about 230.
We set up and had a couple of beer and then we went off to Cabela’s to look around; then Clint wanted to try Cracker Barrel for dinner, yuck. We both had breakfast, yes for dinner, but no matter what you called it……..not so good. Some photos of the area.
Wednesday 10 July – Sunny, 40 Celsius BUT no humidity, like that makes a difference. Off to the big mountain. Up the mountain to the Border Patrol Museum, which was FREE! It is not a big museum but it’s well done and very informative. We enjoyed looking around. We do love museums, I believe we spend more time in museums than in breweries.
It’s a really nice museum and right next door was an Archaeology Museum which was also free. I wonder, how they do that? There must be a lot of costs of maintenance, staff, insurance etc. It was also a really nice museum, the displays were awesome and we watched a movie on the cliff dwellers. During the late 1190’s, yes that long ago, many Ancestral Pueblo people were living on the mesa top. Just to mention, a mesa top is flat topped, elevated ridge or hill and surrounded on all sides by steep escarpments. It also stands out as it is surrounded by flat land or a plain. This went on for about 600 years but then they decided to built pueblos beneath the overhanging cliffs. Some of the villages had more than 150 rooms, very interesting piece of history. About the late 1270s, they began migration into present day New Mexico and Arizona.
After that we headed to Fort Bliss and somehow ended up at a cemetery, which was huge. It was chock full of white crosses. A lovely, quiet spot but not where we wanted to be.
We had to stop at the office and ask how to get out and get to Fort Bliss but finally got there. The GPS was having a bad day methinks. We got to the gate but the guard told us we had to go back to the office and get a day pass from the people there. He told us that everyone who comes into the Fort has to get a pass, even if you’re visiting the museum. So back we went, there were lots of people in the gatehouse and we had to wait and then fill out a bunch of forms to get a pass. We had to fill out the reason for our visit, our race, address, SIN number etc. It was quite a long form. Took us about 22 minutes and then we went BACK to the gate where the Army MP, who was from Jamaica, let us through. This was after he told us that his uncle moved from Jamaica to Ontario and did we know how to find him. Ummm….no. Ontario is HUGE. Few facts and a bit of a sidebar; I love facts and sidebars………………….
- Ontario is the most populous province in Canada with 14.45 million people representing 38.3% of the country’s population. …and……. Ontario is the 2nd largest province with 1,076,395 sq km (415,598 sq miles), second to the province of Quebec with 1,542,056 sq km and 8.18 million people.
- HOWEVER, two of our three territories are also large, one being larger than Ontario and Quebec, Nunavut is 2,093,190 sq km and population is 38,780 people and the NorthWest Territories is 1,346,106 sq km and population is 44,826
Finally……… we got to the Museum. They had a chopper and several tanks outside at the entrance. Inside the building was pretty great. Lots of terrific displays, fairly large, and very well done. We watched a movie before we went in. It was very interesting and we were probably there about two hours. They really do up their museums first rate.
Then off to Ode brewery and we split a flight and it was okay beer but not really to our taste. Edgar, our server, was a really cool guy, we had a nice visit and he gave me a copy of a magazine. It’s called Azul Arena. And Edgar Picazo Merino is the Editor-in-Chief! and the magazine promotes local and regional arts.
Next stop, El Paso Brewing Company where a couple were playing Jengo. We split a flight there and it was meh………..
Off to the Hoppy Monk were Clint had a glass of Porter, one of the worst he’s had and I had an IPA which was okay. BUT we ordered some appys (appetizers) and they were terrific. Clint ordered tacos and he really enjoyed them he gave them a 7/10.
I had cauliflower wings which were so good and Brussels sprouts done up with nuts and agave. So very good. I do love my sprouts.
Thursday 11 July – 40 Celsius and sunny and then in the late afternoon went down to 26 Celsius and rained. Off to the Mission’s Visitor Center and then we did all three missions, which were all free. The missions were called Ysleta, Socorro, and San Elizario. When the missions were built they were all in Mexico but after a few years the Rio Grande River changed direction which changed the border. So that meant they ended up being in the USA. We like Missions and these were all very beautiful.
We also went to the Billy the Kid jail which was an old house made into a museum.
Then we went to Licon Dairy to the saloon and grill. Clint had a burger and I had a Buffalo chicken burger, we both had waffle fries. We give this meal of 4/10. My sandwich was so salty I couldn’t eat it. They had no liquor license so I didn’t even have beer to wash it down. Insert sad face…………………
Got out of there and we drove past Trumps wall
Well that was fun, now off to the Magoffin house. It was $7 each to get in and we watch a short movie at the Visitor Center. Then a lady tour guide took us across the road to the house. There was only us and one other guy on the tour. It was typical Mexican adobe architecture, mud and plaster but it was really nice. It started raining and when we finished the tour, it was pouring rain. And by pouring rain, I really mean torrential downpour………….
Super hard rain and as we drove away the streets were flooded. Some areas were 2 feet high. It was crazy.
Well tomorrow we are off to Tombstone, Arizona! I’m excited, I love cowboy and western anything……………
Trums Travels 