Just North Of The Border

Leaving camp the next morning, we made our way to El Paso, TX where we had our first ever glimpse of the southern border and Mexico. We have never been anywhere even close to either and found it quite intriguing. It was definitely not what we were expecting and the mountains off in the distance around Ciudad Juárez seemed to call out to us with their beauty. Stopping at a shopping center to resupply and fuel up, we were enthralled by the atmosphere and the culture.

With our quick resupply finished, Jennifer and I scoured the map trying to determine our next route. The interstate appeared to be backed with construction just outside of town and sitting in traffic just didn’t seem that exciting of a prospect to us. After a few minutes, we discovered state road NM-9 that ran along the border and it looked like it would be a little more of an interesting ride. Interesting was right. The views from this road were absolutely breathtaking. Open country for as far as the eye can see and absolutely no cell service, except for the two spots that our phones thought we were in Mexico. We truly felt alone and in the middle of nowhere and it was great!

We continued along NM-9 until we came to the quaint little town of Columbus, NM. Revisiting the map and recognizing that it was getting late in the day and we had only covered 75 miles since leaving El Paso, TX, we decided to turn north on NM-11. This would bring us back to I-10 and allow us to make up some much needed time. That was, until we happened upon a border patrol station that was doing routine vehicle/passenger checks. After waiting in line for 10 minutes and not really knowing what to expect, it was our turn. The Border Patrol Agents approached and asked “Are you U.S. Citizens?” and “This thing is sweet, is it a 4x4 Van?” Which then led to a 15 minute conversation between the Border Patrol Agents, Hadley and I about the van and traveling. Pulling away, I felt sorry for the people waiting behind us but mostly Jennifer and Bailey because I knew they’d been wondering what was going wrong and were we going to have to stay here for a while.

With the border patrol station behind us we continued north to I-10 and then west to the town of Lordsburg, NM where we stopped for fuel. While fueling up, Jennifer discovered that there was a public park south of town where free camping was allowed. With the sun completely set and the tanks topped off, we made our way to Veterans Park and chose our spot near some other travelers and turned in for the night.

The next morning, we were quick to get back on the road and pick up where we had left off. We made our way to the town of Wilcox, AZ for a special stop. Our friends had recommended a stop at Dos Cabezas, a cute little coffee shop located in the heart of town. Keen to take their advice, as they’d never steered us wrong before, we popped in for a bit and were once again pleasantly surprised. The coffee and food were delicious and the atmosphere was down right delightful. We highly recommend a stop in if you’re ever in the area and in the mood.

After coffee and breakfast, we were back on the road for our final push to Tucson, AZ. It was still early in the day and we were able to make it there just in time to get the van set up and join our friend for lunch.

The next few days were spent catching up with old friends and exploring some of the things that the Tucson area had to offer. More on that next time…..

Off To A Bad Start

Our trip west to Nevada didn’t start exactly as we’d hoped. Before we could leave Virginia, we needed to wrap things up on our rental home and do our final walk throughs with the property management. This meant we needed a place to stay, since we couldn’t be in the house and all of our things were in a container. So we rented a cute little cottage on the York River. However, cute doesn’t always mean a good idea. Well that’s not fair, it was a great place to stay, just not at the time we did it. You see, the cottage was built in the 1920’s and it wasn’t what I’d call thermally efficient. If you don’t know what I’m getting at, it’s a really nice way of saying it didn’t hold heat very well and it was frickin’ cold in Virginia that week! We did our best to stay warm, but ultimately Jennifer and the girls came down with some nasty head colds between the cold nights and all of the running around we were doing trying to get things done. This ultimately affected the first 3 days of the trip. North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Louisiana were just flashes in the pan as we blazed southwest chasing warmer weather. We had every intention of stopping in New Orleans along the way, but with highs in the low 30’s and 20mph sustained winds meant it was a no go with sick kids. The first few days were literally spent driving and our nights were spent resting and recovering in hotel rooms. Not a very glamorous start, I know.

Things started to change when we hit Texas though. Temps started to warm up as we breezed through eastern Texas, ultimately stopping in the center of the state at San Antonio. Here we rented a VRBO for a few days. This allowed the kids to recover and all of us to do a reset, knock out some laundry and do a little exploring. We’d heard a lot of good things about San Antonio from almost everyone we knew, so we were keen to get out and explore the city.

The first day consisted mostly of taking care of life maintenance things like laundry and checking out Jennifer’s car that had developed a hard crank/start issue somewhere along the way from Virginia. With laundry done and a loose camshaft position sensor connector locked back into place, we were ready to see what San Antonio was about.

We started off by visiting the old Pearl brewery as the city had revitalized this district and turned the grounds into an outdoor entertainment/shopping venue filled with little boutiques and eateries. Most of this was closed early in the morning when we visited, but we hear it’s a popular place to chill at in the evenings. Next we made our way to the Alamo district. Starting at the famous River Walk, we made our way along the shops and restaurants until we reached Casa Rio, which was the first restaurant to open its doors on the River Walk back in 1946. The food was amazing and well worth the visit. After lunch, we finished walking the loop and made our way to a place I’ve wanted to visit since I was a kid.

The Alamo is an interesting place to experience. This small mission, in the heart of the bustling city, embodies everything Texas. Defiance to the end and bravery beyond comprehension. The shear scale of the Santa Anna’s forces outside of the mission walls is hard to judge with the surrounding buildings and cityscape, but the historical placards and dioramas placed around the site do an excellent job of helping you see past that. What it must’ve been like to be inside of those walls with the constant bombardment and impending doom…..

Finishing up at the Alamo, we made a quick trip back to our VRBO to let Zephyr out and take a break before heading back to the River Walk for dinner and a cruise. Yes, we did the touristy thing and took the river cruise at night. It was actually pretty amazing and we learned all sorts of interesting facts about how the river walk was conceived and constructed as well as the history of the buildings and the area. Well worth it in our minds and we highly recommend that if you’re ever in San Antonio, you do the same….