December 7,2011 El Paso, Texas

In my head I heard Marty Robbins singing for all he is worth!   We are in the west Texas town of El Paso.  It was not our destination, but we’re glad to be here. 

Today is D-Day and I want to thank everyone who has ever served in our armed forces in any capacity. Dan and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service to our country and for our freedom.  You are our heroes.

We were greeted by a breath taking 22 degrees when we stepped outside the camper at nine this morning.  The sky was clear and Carolina Blue.  When we lived in Columbus,  Ohio, as I passed the church parking lot one day, I saw the sign … Ïf God’s not a Tar Heel, how come the sky is Carolina Blue?” and I thought, “Yeah, that’s right!”  Today would have been a good day to have that sign on the back of the camper.

Before leaving we went to the see the fort at Ft. Stockton.  It was a Buffalo Soldier fort.  If I knew, I had forgotten that the Indians had given the black soldiers the name, “Buffalo Soldiers”, because the dark curls on the heads of the soldiers reminded the Indians of the Buffalo.  There were many photographs of the fort, the soldiers, and the town in the 1880’s.   Rifles lined the walls and one of the barracks was open for inspection.  I will never complain about a hard bed again.  The mattress was thinner than the 4 boards it was laid upon.  Each bed had a locker at it’s foot  and a place to hang a uniform and a couple of hats on the wall at the bed’s head.  The sketches in the museum were of the soldiers and they were done by Frederick Remington.  You’ve probably seen them at some time or another.

In the town, we began seeing some signs of Spanish influence in the area in the architecture and the numerous  houses with red tile roofs.  Their streets were broad and had very little traffic. 

As we drove from there, it became apparent that whoever built the road seriously took J.B.’s instructions to, “ … make straight in the desert a highway.”    We drove straight out of Ft. Stockton for 41 miles, literally, before the road curved in a very slight arc and then headed to the horizon again, straight ahead.  We didn’t have to worry about falling off the flat earth, everywhere we looked we were surrounded by mountains.  So, the flat earth is secure because  it is hemmed in by a rim of mountains  all the way around,  keeping everyone from falling off… or so it seems.    The mountains slowly appear  on the horizon and after an hour or so they are really coming closer and then after more time, there they are.  Mammoth, sharp structures erupting from the flat areas  of the earth with no introduction at all.  We’re used to the Appalachians being approached by the piedmont area.  No such thing here.  The mesas and other mountains look as though they just sprang up from the earth in various materials and colors from sandstone, to limestone to huge iron colored bedrock, and areas of talc that is being mined.  We saw no oil rigs today.  It’s as though they do not exist.  It seems the bleached blond tufts of grass have taken the place of the oil wells and are everywhere among the mesquite, yucca, pear pads and tumbleweed bushes along the road’s edges.  At one point we were warned not to pick up any hitchhikers.  It seems we were in a prison area.  We greatly appreciated the advice and heeded it!  Besides, there is no room for anyone (or much of anything else) in the truck cab.

I must tell you that Dan is really upset.  He is truly disappointed that we have not been driving on roads paved with squished armadillos and flattened birds.  Other than the one armadillo on the side of the road looking up at the sky, we haven’t seen another armadillo dead or alive.  We’d been led to believe they were everywhere along with the roadrunners.  Today we only saw two birds.  It is really unusual, we think, that we have seen  wildlife.  There are cattle, horses, sheep and goats, but nothing else so far. Ah, tomorrow is another day.

 A thought that ran through my mind while I was looking at a side saddle in the Ft. Stockton museum.    I wonder if the women , having to ride side saddle with their left foot in a stirrup and the right leg dangling over a pummel , ever suffered from their right leg  falling asleep?   Chew on that for a while and if you know, let us know!

Blessings,

Texas Trooping Travelers