of the pot were frozen together. The handle on the
water pump was frozen. The sponges in the sink were
frozen. The stove wouldn't light because it was too
cold for the fuel to vaporize. And, to add insult to
injury, raccoons got the animal proof latch on the
cooler open and ate 3 apples and a half pound of
sliced turkey. The ranger said the low was 19
degrees. I slept well though,
Went to the lodge at the campground and had coffee,
into Fort Davis to get an oil change and then to
Lupita's lunch wagon for a Tournado Burrito: sliced
pork, lettuce, tomato, onion and then smothered in
guacamole.
Saw a large handpainted sign outside Van Horn, TX that
said "Van Gogh Gallery" so I got off the interstate
and almost rolled past the town. The gallery is a
combination bookstore, curio shop and Van Goghish
paintings museum all seemingly shaken sometime in the
past by an earthquake and then resettled by feral cats
with urinary tract problems. There was an old and not
so sober man tending shop but he was not the
owner/painter. He was holding down the fort for "the
boss" who he couldn't seem to tell me much about.
Drove towards El Paso. Got off I-10 and onto Rt 20
the old two lane road highway. It runs for about 60
miles right along the Mexican border. Miles and Miles
of cotton fields and pecan orchards. And all
Hispanic. Stopped in a bakery and the woman behind
the counter spoke no English. The quick stop cashier
said that just about all the cotton workers cross over
from Mexico every day. And, I passed 2 very large
high schools right at the end of the day when all the
kids were leaving. Made me remember the Lower East
Side Tenement Museum Kate and I visited in New York
City in January. Few of those immigrants spoke
English and now, 2, 3, or 4 generations later, even by
people's last names, you can't tell where their
families came from.
Planned to stay tonight at Franklin Mountains State
Park in El Paso. I called in the afternoon to make
sure they had room; they did. And then I couldn't
find it. No one I asked knew anything about it. The
two gates I found that I thought led to the park said
"park closed", and no one answered the phone because
it was after 5:00. I got totally lost trying to get
out of the city, found myself very low on gas on a
road with the next town 52 miles away. But the drive
was beautiful. I raced the sunset west and the pink
and orange sky made the mountains look like paper
cutouts. I made it to Columbus, NM and Pancho Villa
State Park in the dark.
I've passed at least 10 Border Patrol regional
offices. They are all brand new and each has a number
of buildings and acres of vehicles.
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