Texas - Day 13 - El Paso

Mountain View RV Park, Van Horn
Sunday, 15 November 2020

today's route

detail of El Paso route

On the road
Once again, I was on the road by 7:30 because I knew today was going to be a long one, full of driving.  Even Google said it would take 2 hours to get from the campground into El Paso, and that would assume I was actually driving the 80 mph speed, which of course I wouldn't be going anywhere near, and also of course I'd have to drive at least 2 hours back again.

For a short distance I still got NPR and heard this week's Puzzlemaster puzzle, which I was astounded to find I could solve in my head in very little time.  Perry Mason just popped into my head as soon as he'd given the clue, and from there it didn't take long to come up with pray and sermon, though it was a bit harder doing it in my head than on paper.  Usually I don't even understand the puzzles, let alone have an idea how to solve them, so this was a once in a lifetime thing.  Not that I planned to enter, but I was still pleased with myself.

Like the view I got 2 days ago on US 90 from Marfa, I-10 covers flat land that runs to a ring of mountains all around.  But after a while, I started losing the mountains on the north side, while those on the south side got closer.

We passed by the town of Sierra Blanca which, for some reason, seems to have lots of motels but almost no national chains.  From the highway, the town looks very poor.  I'm attaching the link to its Wikipedia page because of the unusual mix of information here - everything from trainloads of sewage brought from New York City to proposed nuclear waste site denied due to high seismic activity there to well-known people being arrested at a nearby checkpoint for narcotics and weapons.  https://en.wikipedia.org/Sierra-Blanca  None of this shows from the interstate (one of my problems relying on interstates for travel).

At the exact moment I got shoved sideways by strong winds, I saw a sign saying "High Wind Gusts."  Farther along, going past a mountain meant I hit some really squirrely winds being mismanaged by the mountain.

We stopped to take a walk at a rest area, and I think Gracie must have twisted her ankle.  At first I thought she was limping because of stickers, because Dexter did get a couple in his foot.  But after checking Gracie's foot (and all the others) 3 times, I decided it wasn't a sticker problem.  I remember one or the other of the dogs having this same problem some time ago, where he or she limped around for a few days and gradually limped less often as the leg got stronger.  I just hoped it was the same thing here and I wasn't going to have to find a vet to take a look at her.  But she had a definite limp all day.

I continued to see flat land dotted with houses and farms; a feed lot with the cows' heads stuck through that metal framework I've seen before and birds flying overhead; a small community huddled at the base of a mountain.

By the time I was about 2/3 of the way to El Paso, I noticed the mountains had greatly receded all around and had ended entirely in the west - though I knew that wouldn't last because El Paso's got plenty of mountains nearby.

I started seeing a very strong Texas Highway Patrol presence and, at one point, they had 2 vehicles stopped at once on either side of the road - and one was a semi, which I rarely see.

There was little traffic for most of the drive in because it was pretty early on a Sunday morning.  But after 2 hours of driving, when I got to the El Paso area it was late enough for there to be plenty of traffic.  At one point a motorcyclist passed me in my lane when somebody else was in the lane next to me.  What on earth made that idiot think I wasn't going to suddenly jerk to the side (because so many driver/texters do things like that), or that a wind gust wouldn't do the jerking for me?  It was scary and infuriating.

Manhattan Heights Historic District/Scenic Drive
My first aim was for the Scenic Drive Overlook, which I accidentally found online and assumed it was a scenic viewpoint on a drive above the city.  For once, Google's directions were good enough that I got to the entrance to the drive with no problem.  Sadly, the entrance was as far as I got. The first thing I saw was a sign saying No Vehicles Allowed.  Except by then I was already into the street and would be forced to back up - and except the sidewalk area was crowded with people, including many children - and I was terrified I'd hit somebody in trying to extricate myself.

I finally got the attention of passing pedestrians (through Dexter's window, he was very interested) and asked if there was some kind of event.  They said the Scenic Drive is closed every Sunday from 7:00 until noon.  Too bad there wasn't any mention of it online.  Anyway, I asked for their help in backing up and they said I didn't need to because, see that little street up ahead?, I was allowed to go up there and it made a loop around to where I started.  And it did.

Where I started was right by a park that covered a city block and, unusually, was covered with real grass, which was green.  They must pay a fortune to keep it watered, but it was like an oasis.  The park was part of Manhattan Heights Historic District, which was obviously one of the nicer parts of town and certainly had one of the better views.

You can see a bit of Newman Park in the foreground, 
and the beginning of the Scenic Drive climbing in the background.
Between the 2 are some of the neighborhood houses.

I thought these houses looked both unusual
and expensive, but imagine the view!

a bit of the view from the park

The houses surrounding the park, and in the vicinity, were primarily stucco and reminded me of a very fancy upscale neighborhood in Mexico.  And, the fact is, that view (above) probably includes Mexico.

I managed to find my way back down the hill by a non-Google-sanctioned route with no problem.  This time I was aiming for the St. Patrick Cathedral.

St. Patrick Cathedral

Dedicated in 1917, this church serves local Catholics, who make up nearly 50% of the population.  It looks much more impressive in person, because our eyes let us filter out all those street lights and things.

I passed through 2 more historic districts: Rio Grande Historic District, which includes some wonderful old houses and reminded me of the way Austin looked before gentrification, and the Downtown Historic District, which includes the San Jacinto Plaza, because every Mexican town must have a plaza.

I passed by part of Univ. of Texas-El Paso, which has more than 20,000 enrolled, including 80% Mexican-American students.  In fact, it's 2nd only to the UT campus in the Rio Grande Valley for being the largest US college with a majority Mexican-American enrollment.  Apparently it has a strong post-graduate degree program.  I noticed too that the El Paso Community College has several campuses around the area, all of which meant to me that education is important in this town.

I passed the Consulate General of Mexico and was sorry I didn't know until later that only 3 blocks away was the 1800s Mexican Consulate, which was likely worth seeing.

I belatedly found this website with 9 - not the 10 it says - factoids about El Paso.   https://www.tripsavvy.com/interesting-historical-facts-about-el-paso

I've only been in El Paso a few times before - usually just passing through on my way east or west.  Our family was here when I was a teenager, but I remember only our trips into Juárez and nothing about El Paso.  So this was my first real time here and I was surprised to discover that I found it a charming place.  I wished I'd been able to get reservations at Hueco Tanks State Park, which is much closer to town, or that I wasn't restricting myself to staying within the borders of the state-of-the-month so I could stay at nearby New Mexican campgrounds.  Some other time, though, I'd like to come back.

Back on the road

I've noticed before, and I noticed it today, that the return trip always seems shorter than the outgoing trip.  And as often before, I saw different things.

The first was something I saw when I stopped for gas on my way out of town.  Highway decorations.

These are deceptive - I didn't even notice them at first.

I saw highway signs telling me how far I was from Dallas (581 miles at milepost 51) and San Antonio (510 miles at milepost 79).

In El Paso I saw lots of signs for Fort Bliss, one of the largest of all US Army posts.  On the road I saw license plates from many states - OH, CA, ID, TN, PA - and wondered if some of them were here because of Ft. Bliss.

I saw a sign saying "Inspection Station - All Trucks Exit" but, in fact, they made everybody exit.  It turned out to be a Border Patrol checkpoint.  They asked me how many people were on board and was I a US citizen, and I guess I looked honest because that was that.  They had signs saying they used search dogs and I had a sudden clear memory of a search dog going crazy in my little Volvo back in the early '70s when my friend Paula and I had finished a joint just before reaching the border on our way home from Mexico.  My how times change.

I passed a semi/trailer that had a sign on the side saying "ecofeatherweight.com" and "increased capacity, reduced emissions."  Yes, times are changing.

I was pleased to see a state trooper stopping a silver Kia that had passed me earlier.  The speed limit here was 80 mph, which shows how fast the Kia was likely going to warrant getting stopped.

Van Horn sits just barely to the east of the line between the Central and Mountain Time zones.  Since I was only in El Paso for the day, I didn't bother changing my clocks, which meant I was there even earlier than I'd thought I was.

It was a lot of driving but I'm glad I took the trip.  I'm just sorry I couldn't camp any closer so I could spend more time there.