Saturday, April 26, 2014

On to El Paso, Texas

(Ft. Bliss, El Paso, TX) Hi 83 Lo 70 -- Extremely high winds and dusty conditions are predicted for today, so we were glad we made our trip to El Paso yesterday. The weather conditions were ideal for our 200-mile trip.













The views were beautiful as we headed toward the Guadalupe mountains. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)



































El Capitan is 8,064 ft high. It isn't the highest peak in the Guadalupe range, but it's the most recognizable.












The descent was fairly steep, but only a couple of miles long.
2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (41)

When we got back down to flat land we were surprised to pass through an area of salt flats.













2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (70)

I noticed this middle mountain looks like it might have blown it’s top at some point. Could it have been a volcano?
2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (80)

Desert vegetation.
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The road goes on and on. There’s a lot of nothing till you get to something.
2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (85)

We arrived at the Ft. Bliss RV Park. It's big for a military park, with well over a hundred sites, all concrete pull thrus. Here's our site.
2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (99)

The view behind us. Nice!
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There are several small picnic pavilions all around the park.
2014-04-25 views from artesia to el paso TX (102)

This morning Jim did the laundry in the park laundry room, and I crocheted while we watched a couple of John Wayne westerns on TV. When we were in Artesia we saw a beautiful statue of John Chisum, a famous New Mexico cattleman, and wouldn't you know it, "Chisum" was one of the movies we watched this morning.

This park is outside the base, so we took the short drive into Ft. Bliss to do some shopping at the PX and commissary. The forecasted high winds weren't very bad when we left, but now that we're back the gusts are really picking up and rocking us pretty good. We were warned not to put up our portable satellite dish, but Jim took a chance and got a little creative in anchoring it down.












A byproduct of high winds is dust in the air. Here's a photo I took out our back window this morning before the winds came.












And here's the same view when we got back from the base. No more mountains!













We're hoping these winds don't last long. We have some sightseeing to do.

5 comments:

Cheshire Cats said...

If you have time it's well worth booking at tour to see the rock art at Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site just north of El Paso.

Jim and Sandie said...

The winds are fast moving through AZ so hopefully they will be for you also. Nice anchoring job.

Al Bossence said...

That same John Wayne 'Chisum' movie was on our cable TV this morning as well. They have been playing John Wayne movies all week. We sure don't miss the big South-West winds.......

goathearder said...

Is that a salt flat or is it White Sands. I'm not sure of the road you were on but you would have been pretty close to White Sands.

Mike and Terri said...

Great anchoring job with the satellite dish! That area you traveled through is beautiful.

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