Brrrr

 2/19- Van Horn Texas

   After we thawed out a bit this morning we headed out into the Chihuahuan desert. I think this is Mexican for a whole lot of nothing. There is the occasional mesquite tree and yucca but mostly it’s a lot of dirt and rocks. It’s amazing that they try to graze cattle out here. 

   We did stop off in the oasis of Carlsbad where A’s folks lived for 30 years. We both have spent plenty of time in Carlsbad so it was fun trying to find their old houses. It took some u turns and backtracking but we eventually found their places and sent pics back to her mom. 

   Then off into the desert until we came to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We had been here many years ago stopping by on our way to Carlsbad. When we were in Carlsbad they had a huge forest fire that burned some 7000 acres. Thing of it was on our way back through it was hard to tell that anything had burned there being so little out there. The visitor center which then was just a small cabin had burned and they have since replaced it with a big new building. 

   I had been thinking lately about what it would have been like back in the day of Billy the Kid etc. The distances they would have had to travel between Tucson and Laredo and Tombstone were boggling. The idea of just getting on your horse and riding across this desert would have been tantamount to suicide. The desert is a mean hard place and there are many ways that it can get you. Even Indians would have had a hard time moving through these hot hard prickly landscapes. 

    We crossed the border into Texas and lost another hour. Hopefully someone will find it and return it. We are camped for the night in Van Horn rv park. This is basically just an open patch of dirt with electricity and water hydrants. 

    It was very windy all day mostly blowing from the north which was behind us. It did make keeping the rv between the lines a little challenging. It never got much warmer than 40 today and tonight goes back into the teens. I thought going south it was supposed to be warmer!?

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