Wednesday April 6

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When we awoke in Van Horn it was to the still-howling wind and about 55 degrees – it sure felt cold!

We could have a leisurely start to the day because of all the time changes – and my head is still spinning – in Van Horn we were in Central time, but we were just like 3 miles from the border with Mountain Time. So our phones changed themselves prematurely. AND, to make things even more confusing, we were expected to lunch with dear LME friends from way back in early 2000s, Charlie & Karin McClain, in Las Cruces NM. So we couldn’t arrive too early. And then by the time we eventually got to Tucson for this night, the time changed yet again!! So driving west is longer!

Anyway, we hit 2000 miles of driving soon after leaving. And 37.5 hours. So are we in Egypt yet? (an inside joke for our English family)

The topography changed many times – from mountains misted in dusty air to mesas to weird boulders. From strange sort-of-yuccas to none of them. Tumbleweeds everywhere – but not ready to tumble.

Near to Ft Hancock the wall started, and continued through Socorro, which abuts up against El Paso. We went from no one living within sight to crowds and traffic again. In those 2 cities there was absolutely every store you could imagine.

We saw miles and miles of what we thought were pistachio trees, because of the ad for a special store – but they were in fact pecan trees.

So we had a marvelous 2 or 3 hours with the McClains. They wintered in Las Cruces for 3 years and then moved out here permanently in 2006, better for Charlie’s health. They have a lovely house, so well suited to being in the area. As they had accompanied us on our 2005 Marriage Encounter tour of England, Karin dug out her album and we shared lots of fond memories. We were so glad we could stop and visit.

Things we learned:

We saw one train with 4 locomotives (2 in front, 2 in back) with 138 cars!!

Passed over the Continental Divide.

And wondered at the zillions of miles of barbed wire that seemed to have absolutely no purpose at all.

Eventually we did see some cattle – black and white ones.

The casita AirBnB we are staying in for 4 days is precious, and includes a lovely courtyard. We had stopped at Sam’s for gas ($4.15, grrr) and some ready-made chicken, lettuce, milk, bread, eggs, and even before we unpacked our clothes we walked a little around the property. Gambel’s quail were everywhere, cute little things, and #9 new bird for this trip. Sitting outside in the perfect temperature was lovely - for as long as it lasted. Still had to unpack and do this blog 😊.

All I know is, my body thinks it’s much later than my watch does and I’m ready for bed! Birds are calling in the Saguaro National Park tomorrow morning. (Apologies for the side-ways photos. I did turn them once.)

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