El Paso City

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
Night-time would find me in Rosa's cantina;
Music would play and Felina would whirl.

Man, I love that song.

2 hours later we rolled into El Paso. The sun had risen just before we passed the city limit sign, taking away from me one of my favorite parts of the drive to AZ.

From thirty thousand feet above the desert floor I see it there below
A city with a legend, the West Texas city of El Paso
Where long ago I heard a song about a Texas cowboy and a girl
And a little place called Rosa's where he used to go and watch this beauty whirl
I don't recall who sang the song but I recall a story that I heard
And as I look down on this city I remember each and every word


There is a spot on the freeway just outside of El Paso that when you reach it, the entire city is visible below you and it sparkles in the darkness with all the city lights. It is an awesome sight, one I was looking forward to, but we missed it by about 30 minutes. The sunrise was beautiful though, even from the highway.

We stopped at the first breakfast joint we could find, and spent way too much money on a mediocre breakfast in a stinky old restaurant. The NY Cheesecake pancakes I had were heavenly though. Thank goodness for them or I might have had to go somewhere else.

After sittin' a spell, we headed back to the car. We were parked in a parking lot between the restaurant and a gas station, taking up two spaces laid end to end (we towed a trailer). As we were getting the kids all buckled in another truck towing a trailer was pulling in next to us. I had the passenger doors to our car open and was standing at the back passenger door putting Port into his car seat. The guy in the other truck was coming in crooked so I purposely left my door open to guarantee access to my seat (and give him a visual as to how close he was) in the event that he decided not to straighten out his park job. Would you believe the guy actually got out of his truck and asked me to close my door so he could pull in??? If he pulled in any further, I wouldn't have been able to get in the car at all. He wasn't going to straighten out at all, he just wanted to pull his vehicle in the rest of the way. I lingered where I was, gave him the dirtiest look I could muster and left my door open until I was ready to get in. Jerk.

Our goal for the day was to get to Deming, NM, estimated at about 3 hours away. Once there, our plan was to check into a hotel and rest. We decided that since we were so close we should head out to White Sands, NM for a visit. Off we went, following the map. We headed out on a road that should have taken us to the national monument, but instead it took us straight to the military base (and an hour out of our way). At the military check point, we were informed that we could not go through without military id and that the road we were on shouldn't have even been on the map - supposedly it was some big secret or something?? We had to drive all the way back and take the long way, up and around a mountain to our destination. It turned out to be a beautiful drive, so I guess it was ok. However, by the time we got to the sands, I was starving and cranky from lack of sleep and ready to get back to the hotel. We stopped in the park at a particularly beautiful dune and Kiddo and Hubby got out to explore.

Figuring it was time for a diaper change for Port, I pulled him out of the car seat. He hadn't had a poopy diaper the day before but when we were having breakfast that morning he made a big one for me, so I wasn't worried about poop. Boy was I wrong! Little Port had bombed his diaper, his onsie and his seat, and in the process of getting him out of the seat he managed to get me and a blankie too. *sigh* I spent pretty much the entire time at White Sands leaning into our car cleaning up poop. Thank God I thought to pack a box of gallon ziploc bags and a roll of paper towels. Unfortunately, the emergency outfit I thought I had packed in Port's diaper bag was no where to be found, so I had to improvise and put one of Kiddo's shirts on him. It was all I could get to in our tightly packed car. I did manage a great shot of Port though; the light reflecting off the sands made for gorgeous light in the car.
Isn't he gorgeous??!? If I do a 100% crop of just his eyes, I can see myself perfectly in the catch lights. I love his little hat! lol! He looks like a little explorer.

Here's another cutie in a cute hat - shots courtesy of Hubby and his freaky wide angle lens!Yes, Kiddo was still in his jammies. We were going for comfort here, not fashion. Isn't that obvious by my outfit as well? ;) Maybe some day they'll make yoga pants for us tall chicks. *sigh* I am tired of looking like I got caught in a flood.

We didn't have any sunscreen accessible so after only a few minutes we split before the burning set in. It really is a beautiful place and I hope we can go back someday and spend some time taking photographs. There are so many great images waiting to be captured!

Another one from me. I don't think I got any of the front of Hubby; he was always heading out to take a picture and walking away.

We made it to Deming at a reasonable hour and settled into the Roach Motel, er uh, I mean the Motel 6. It was exactly the same as it was when we stayed there 10 years ago. And I mean, EXACTLY the same. *wink, wink* I would not recommend staying in the Deming Motel 6 unless you are desperate or broke. And now you know why we stayed there. lol!

That night we ordered hot wings from Domino's and slept fitfully. I managed to pump in the middle of the night (yay!) so I had some extra milk stored in the morning.

Until,

D :)

Here's a kind of funny rendition of El Paso City by Marty Robbins. God rest his soul.