880 Miles

(Ok, I know that these next few posts happened over the last two months, but I'm going to go ahead and blog about our adventures as a keepsake for our family.  I hope you enjoy reading about our January and February adventures.)

Whew...we made it all the way across Texas!  It's 880 miles.... Beaumont to El Paso!

Remember from the last post that we "raced" across Texas to beat the impending snow storm???  Well, this was it!  If you look closely, you can see the flakes :)  The kids were so disappointed that they didn't wake up to 2" of snow to play in.  However, you would not believe how excited they were when it started "snowing" at 9:00am!  They ran out side to catch snowflakes on their tongues.  And they did!  It was so "warm" though that as soon as the snowflakes were hitting them, they melted.  So really... the were soaking wet like they had been playing in rain :)

Pure joy!

What we didn't get at the base of the mountain was there on the top of the Franklin Mountains!  So pretty!

We had a great 5 amazing days in El Paso (January 8-12).  A major reason El Paso was a must stop on our journey is that our eldest daughter, Faith was born there at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center.  We showed her the sights of her birth city... the border town we called home for 3 years.  The best part of our tour of duty there was our little jalapeño and some dear amigos y amigas that we made.

First, we enjoyed the sights of El Paso, our old house, Ft. Bliss Army Post, seeing the hospital that Faith was born in, some of the famous shops, driving along the border and looking at Juaréz, Mexico (we did not cross the border in El Paso), sharing our "before kids" history with our kids.

Enjoying the El Paso Saddleblanket Co.

They don't call 911 in Texas!

The Rio Grande and Juaréz, Mexico at sunset.

Juaréz, Mexico

The border crossing at night in downtown El Paso...over this bridge is Juaréz, Mexico.
(Sorry it's blurry... we were driving by it without stopping!)

Then, we enjoyed visiting with old friends.  The last time we all saw each other our first borns were all babies!  Even though it's been 12 years since we last saw each other, it was as if we saw them only last week.  Dear friends are like that :)  Watching our kids play together and establish new friendships was priceless.  We are so blessed that God has placed such amazing, sweet people in our life at the perfect time.  The Grays and the Greens are two families that were such a blessing to us back in the late 90's and again... 12 years later.

The Gray and Montgomery children 

The Green children with the Monty kids

We also did a lot of school in the mornings, then headed out in the afternoons for *F*U*N field trips!!!

First field trip:   White Sands National Monument... Alamogordo, NM.

http://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm

We always start our time at national parks in the visitor center...to learn about the park and to pick up Junior Ranger books.

Working hard on their Junior Ranger books.

After working on their badges in the visitor center we head out for a nature hike, as required to earn the badge.  

This was a GREAT park ranger...she LOVED her job!  What a joy for the kids!

After earning their Jr. Ranger Badges, our friends the Greens joined us for a picnic and sledding!!!  

Jolie catching air off the jump!

Faith spinning down the hill.

DT giggling all the way down!

Thank-you Lord for another fabulous day!

Second field trip:  The Border Patrol Museum

http://www.borderpatrolmuseum.com/

This is a neat little museum.  We learned the history of the Border Patrol and their vision.  We got to play in vehicles they used "way back in the day".  There were also a few "vehicles" on display that were confiscated by those attempting to cross our borders.  We were impressed with the valor and courage with which Border Patrol agents serve America.  They are an often forgot agency responsible for the defense of America.

The symbol of the Border Patrol

This is a homemade motorcycle used to smuggle illegals across the border, often 4-5 on the bike at once!

See the boat in the picture below:

This smuggler's boat was made from 2 truck hoods!  

Our third field trip:

Hiking and Geocaching in the Franklin Mountains State Park

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/franklin/

First things first...SNOWBALL fights before hiking!!!!

Hiking the Cottonwood Trail...if you look in front of us... you'll see where the trail leads:
all the way ahead and UP the mountain!

Yeah, we were prepared to hike in snow :)

It's so much fun hiking in the snow!!!  The kids were very happy :)

Made it to the top!
The reward:  a GREAT view 

Long hike down... 

We took the Geomate Jr. (http://mygeomate.com/) that we got the kids for Christmas out for the day's adventure.  We hiked, geocached, and we found our first two caches!!!!!

Our very first cache!!!  Whoop!!!  This one is called Agave Hill.

Cache #2

Cache #2

What is a cache?  What is geocaching?  Check out:  http://www.geocaching.com/  to learn what this fun hobby is all about!  We're modern day treasure hunters :)  2 caches found... only 1,667,351 more to find!

Adios El Paso and the great state of Texas...

Sunset over the Franklin Mountains

Cruising towards our last Texas stop...

The spontaneous trip to Del Rio was so fun, we decided to continue our spontaneous adventure to El Paso.  We planned to make an overnight stop in Alpine, TX so that we could run down to Big Bend National Park.  Since we headed down to Del Rio, we were no longer traveling I-10.  Instead, we traveled Hwy. 90...and there is pretty much nothing on the long stretch from Del Rio to Van Horn on I-10!


So, do you think Hwy. 90 is a long stretch of boring???  (Drag out a map of Texas, find Del Rio and Hwy. 90 west... and join us as we cruise this stretch of highway...)

It's all a matter of perspective...there are actually quite a few surprises on this road!

Pulling through Immigration Check Points is always good for getting your adrenaline pumping...
Will the canine go crazy when smelling the RV and make the Border Patrol want to look inside????

You can count Border Patrol agents along the road...

Driving over a hill you discover a breathtaking view...
Pecos River

Finding the first saguaro!!!

"Caravaning" with other RVers....

Spotting a UFO during the day near the town of Marfa!!!

Upon closer inspection, we learned that it is an Aerostat---it's an early warning system for unidentified aircraft flying near the border.
(You can learn many interesting things when traveling with a retired Air Force officer!) 

Make sure to take a pit stop in Langtry, population 40 ....to learn about Judge Roy Bean, "The Law West of the Pecos."   Click here to learn about this character

Judge Roy Bean's Saloon AND courtroom!

Bellying up.....

There were morals in the Wild West :)
I love it... no LOUD cussing and NO spitting

Well....we were having so much fun being spontaneous that we did not even check the weather forecast.  This is important since the one thing Jon does not want to do is drive the RV on snowy/icy roads, checking the weather is always part of our planning.  


So check this out... we were cruising down Hwy 90 with the air conditioning on, enjoying our spontaneous adventure, when I called ahead to Alpine to make a reservation.  We were told that a SNOW STORM that was on its way in that very night!  After saying, "No way!" a few hundred times, we had a decision to make.  Stay in Alpine for 2 or 3 nights instead of 1 or make a run for El Paso...adding 4 1/2 more hours onto our day.  We decided that we would go for El Paso.  We learned that El Paso also had the same snow forecast!  That would be ok though, since we'd already be at our destination.


Our desire was to stay at the Ft. Bliss fam camp in El Paso.  The only problem with most military fam camps is that they are first come, first served.  Ack... I like reservations!!!  We called ahead at noon to see if they had any slots available... they had 3.  


We prayed that God would hold one slot just for us.  So we started our mad dash to El Paso... at a blistering speed of 55 mph.  About 45 minutes outside of El Paso, one of our children said they needed to go to the bathroom.  We asked them if they could hold it because there was no time to spare.  We had to get to the fam camp to secure our spot, as we had no back-up plan and the weather was starting to turn cold and rainy.  That child exercised great sacrifice for the family, allowing us to arrive in El Paso without a bathroom stop.


We pulled in... Jon jumped out to see about site availability and the child jumped out to take care of business :)  


I prayed for a slot, but I was still a tad stressed.... you can read it all over my face!  (Jolie took this picture while we were waiting to hear if we got a site and I planned on deleting it.  However, now I'm glad that I have it... as it tells a story.)

Did we make it in time???  Did we get a slot???????

YES!!!  Yay... we made it!!!!  Do you see the truck in the window over my shoulder???  He pulled up LESS THAN A MINUTE after us... he did not get a slot.  Why?  BECAUSE WE GOT THE VERY LAST SLOT!!!!!!!  We were so full of gratitude that God answered our prayer!  It meant so very much to us that we would get a site at the fam camp while staying in El Paso.  He cares even about the little things.

A little ceremony and gift to the hero child that made us getting the slot possible!!!
Thank-you Daniel for preferring your family over your own comfort :)

We enjoyed our spontaneous adventure to Del Rio!  We learned to enjoy the journey and surprises that this amazing adventure brings.  However, we still check the weather forecast :)