Are We Through Texas Yet? Yep, Welcome to New Mexico

Are we EVER going to have warm weather again!?  It was 40 degrees when we headed out this morning and is supposed to be 25 degrees tonight!  There is something wrong with this picture!  You go south to get WARM!  We went to bed early last night since we didn’t have hookups and planned an early start.  We were up by 6:00 AM and on the road at 7:30.   Most of the trip today was STILL in Texas!  You don’t realize how big it really is until you drive straight across the widest part.   We certainly didn’t have to worry about rush hour traffic!  Just us and the big trucks!  It is kind of nice sometimes to start the drive in the dark and watch the sun come up as it plays across the landscape and brings all the colors to life.  It just feels so peaceful and quiet.  The landscape was pretty much the same as yesterday, just open desert.  We hadn’t seen a train in a long time but finally saw one this morning.  I love trains!  Note the scale of the train to the mountains.  A neat sight way out in the open just rambling along. 

  

Most of the rest of the way through Texas we also followed the Rio Grande River to El Paso and on into New Mexico where we crossed it.  The one spot that we did see the Rio Grande River as we crossed it in NM was almost completely dry.  I guess due to so much use for irrigation.  The Rio Grande defines the border between Texas and Mexico.  We couldn’t really see the river but we could see towns in Mexico, especially from El Paso which is right at one of the border crossings.  El Paso has just exploded and I just couldn’t get over how massive the area has become and it looks like there isn’t a single spot left without a house on it and they are sprawled even up the mountain sides. We have been to El Paso twice before and stayed at Fort Bliss Army Base.  But this time we were just passing through and the traffic on a Saturday was extremely heavy and just all kinds of stores and businesses that anyone could imagine! Give me the little bit smaller towns!  Just after we passed El Paso, we entered mountain time, so by setting the clock back we gained an extra hour.  You mean I could have slept that extra hour this morning!?  

FINALLY! We crossed the state line into New Mexico!  It was about the last third of the trip and STILL just more open flat desert and mountains!  We are only at the Escapee Dream Catcher RV park for one night.  Deming, is just a small town but is an area where some Rivers to spend the winter.   The town is just old and nothing fancy but they have a Wal-Mart!

 

We have been to Deming before and the last time we stayed a week in November of 2011 at the Rock Hound State Park a few miles outside of town.  The state park is in the mountains you can see in the background of the picture of the Escapee campground.  We really enjoyed it and that is where I had my National Geographic photo moment with a coyote, the one you see in my profile picture on my blog.   It is one of my very favorite pictures! We were just in the right place at the right time.  The campground gives you a nice view of the desert landscape. Plus people go there for the rocks and minerals.  Each person is allowed to carry out a maximum of 5 pounds of rocks.  What some people will do for entertainment!  I kind of wish we had made time to spend a couple of days at the state park again because we enjoyed it so much out there.   So tomorrow we will finally be in Tucson at our destination for the winter.  Make it warmer there, PLEASE!