Unfortunately, my camera is not cooperating today so no photos to share.  Hoping that a re-charge will help and I will be more successful tomorrow. The temps got quite low last night and I awoke to find Dad in full sweats and his ski hat on as well.  We had come full circle – just last week we had the AC on and were wearing shorts! WOTD as quoted by Dad:  This is an amazing country with so much diversity, I am really glad we made this trip! I love you.

Our ride to El Paso took us past alot of flat barren land with mountains, bluffs and mesas in the distance.  However, the sun was out and the sky was blue so the brisk air was only a minor distraction.  The nearer we got to El Paso the more mountains we saw.  Looking towards the Rio Grande, we could see fields and orchards and green pastures.  Of course, we could also see Mexico.  The Border Fence stretched along the river like a snake, but really didn’t lok too ominous, though we were at a pretty far distance. At all of the crossing point exits we saw a reminder that guns were not allowed (a handgun with a red circle/slash) which made us feel better that we had decided to stay north of EP.  We were amazed about the sheer size of the city though as it sprawled to fill its valley, not too many high-rises, but LOTS of highway interchanges and spaghetti bowls criss-crossed our own Route 10.

Moving on to Las Cruces, NM we encountered miles and miles of cattle feeding in trough facilities, some goats and sheep as well. These appeared to be stockyards, not dairy farms.  When we crossed the NM border, we began to see pueblo style houses in unique colors and evidence of a concerted effort to maximize solar energy resources at a local level.  We pulled in early and were pleased to see the scenery surrounding us to be majestic mountains and pleasant views that should make for great sunrise/sunset photos (IF I get some, I will add to this post). Unfortunately, we have arrived just before a major Mariachi Music Festival so we will miss that, but we have to forge on. We are very close to home now and will be near Phoenix tomorrow – that is probably a good thing because I am feeling a little puny today, like an illness coming on.

It should get pretty cold again tonight, so we will get out the long johns (if we can find them).  Pray for my camera.