We left Van Horn and past Kent early. About 50 miles east of El Paso we turned off the freeway (Interstate 10) and onto route 20, a parallel road which let us take a short detour down a street to a small border crossing for a glimpse of the Rio Grande. The river was about 15-20 feet across there, no grander than the San Lorenzo River in downtown Santa Cruz California this time of year. Next we pulled off to see the Elizario Mission Chapel, built at the present site in 1789. I found it reminiscent of my own home mission, Ste. Francis Xavier on Kahnawake Reserve in Quebec. Both Catholic missions were established by colonial powers, for better or for worse, to service the local Indian/Native peoples.
El Paso was an industrial strength hub of cars, construction, factories and the University of Texas El Paso Campus. Styled after Bhutanese architectural traditions (angled wall elevations, friezes, tiles, small windowed facades, etc.) it is an impressive campus. AH spent a week in Bhutan as a guest of the Bhutanese governement there several years ago and had heard about this site so the visit/walk-around was accomplished. The world's largest photo art book (bigger than any coffee table) is in the library, with a new page being turned every few days. It weighs about 135 pounds and the images dimension out at 60"x72" (5 feet by 6 feet). Creating it strained bookbinding and printing skills. I assume you COULD order one (contact UofTEP for more details).
Tucson: We found a decent motel with a pool here. We also found "Las Cazuelitas De Tucson" restaurant at 6th and 35th avenues. VERY good food and AH (who spent time in Veracruz, Mexico) pronounced the Cheviche as excellent!
Today we are off towards California via Pheonix (but will try and bypass the freeway maze there by some byways)... my apologies for the photo - but we all think of cactus with Tucson! More photos below in the gallery.
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