Bucket List Trip 2016~Day 39~ Deming, NM -White Sands to El Paso, TX

After a fantastic breakfast buffet with BACON at our Quality Inn Hotel in Deming,

we were off again traveling east on I 10.

I was very excited today, because I would be revisiting old stomping grounds.

 I lived in El Paso in 1971-1973.

I had revisited twice in the late 90s.

The scenery didn't change much.

 Coming upon Las Cruces I could see it was no longer a small town.

 Pecan Orchards are a common site along the river.

 Las Cruces is no longer a 1 exit town like it was 45 years ago.

 Drove through Las Cruces to White Sands National Monument.

 Amazing how hot it can be,

but get in a place like this where there is shade,

and a cool breeze happens.

The part I like about water cooling ACs is you can (must) keep the doors open.

A vivid memory I have of this gift shop was in 1972

when my parents and grandparents drove from Kentucky to visit.

We loaded up in 2 cars to go to White Sands.

They parked their car about in that empty space.

We were inside the shop, when some folks started running.

 I looked out this window and saw smoke,

and someone running in that direction with a fire extinguisher!

I just acted casually because nothing would ever happen to us.

However, it was Poppa's car.

He had left his pipe in the ash tray and possibly when we slammed the doors,

it flipped into the floor.

Thanks to the employees, the car only had smoke damage with some damage to the front seat.

Dad and Poppa rode back in that car to El Paso where it was repaired

and the rest road back in our car.

I don't even remember if we went on to see the sands. 

The next day I was ill at my stomach.

My family thought it was nerves.

Turns out I was expecting their first grand child!

 Can you find the camouflaged car?

 Picnic grounds.

 Surfing.
A piece of cardboard would work as well.

Some plants hold water that causes the sand to harden which helps the plant to survive,
because the sand can't leave its roots.

Some plants grow taller as the sand mounds up against it.
When the wind blows away, the plant can't support itself and breaks down.

Does look like snow.

Still some water from the monsoon season.

 For the fun of it to break the heat,
we would took a few trips to Cloudcroft & Ruidoso in the mountains.
I always remembered this tunnel where it was desert like on one side and moderate climate on the other.

 We drove just far enough today to check that out.

 Above is the desert side going up the mountain just before the tunnel.
Below is the other side of the tunnel.
Trees!
This Kentucky girl was always so happy to see green things growing.

 It wasn't a very long tunnel either.

Going back down the mountain, you get a view of the White Sands on the other side of Alamogordo, NM.

 In 1972, we bought a 55 Chevy that was found in a junk yard in Orogrande, NM.

Orogrande consisted then of a junk yard and a gas station, I think.

It hasn't changed much except things were gone from the junk yard.

Our Military possibly from Ft. Bliss were busy.
Saw a long convoy of these vehicles going down the dirt road beside our highway.

Eating dust. So proud of these folks for doing that for us.

 Our first view of El Paso, TX.

I'm in awe at how much it has grown.

All of the spaghetti road structure had been started back in the 70s and seemed to have stalled.

Now what used to be a 2 lane road is a busy 6 lane freeway.

 First apartment.

 Not too far from the apartment is a place called 5 Points.

This building on Montana St. at 5 Points used to house the Sears store.

I worked there during the Christmas holiday.

It was close enough I used to walk to the job.

 Now it houses the Police Department.

 Further up the street is Montana Street Church of Christ.

It hasn't changed any.

We hope to go to church there Sunday morning.

 I loved eating at Leo's Mexican restaurant and always craved it.

GPS no longer could find it, but this felt familiar to me so we stopped and ate.

The waiter said this place used to be Leo's, but the proprietor passed away a few years ago,

and the place was sold to the people running it now.

Menu changed and doesn't taste the same, but the food was still good.
Mr. G said it was a bit spicy for him.

There is another Leo's in town, I hope we get to try.

 Something just a bit different about the sauce and the cheese than what we have back home.
This plate at El Sarape II included fried beans with brown toast cheese,
2 cheese enchiladas with red sauce which is milder than green,
a beef tamale and a beef gordito at a grand total of $7.25!

 We couldn't afford to eat out much back then so I only got to eat here a couple of times.

I hope to try one of these again, at least before I leave Texas.

 A car dealer was still located where we bought our brand new Chevy Nova.

It was a straight shift, no radio and of all things no AC in El Paso!

It was totally stripped so we could afford it.

If memory serves me correct we set up payments and it's total was a bit over $2000.00!

Yes, cars have gone up in 45 years.

I'm not even sure you can buy a stripped car anymore.

 We got a great deal for football weekend.

For every 10 nights I book on Hotel.com, 

I get a night free worth the average of what I spent on those 10 nights.

I had saved them if we got caught in a high priced area.

I really enjoy having separate TVs on football weekends.

Well, we have 3! this weekend.

Its a 2 bedroom and with the free night, the cost came to what I have been paying for a 2 queen room.

Unlike a condo, we don't have to do cleaning!

 

 Each bedroom has it's own bath.

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Follow along on our trip as I will try to post daily.

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