El Paso
March 19, 2022
We left Tucson and drove east on I–10. Because Arizona does not have daylight savings time, we finally entered a new time zone when we reached New Mexico.
The scenery was mostly not remarkable except for Texas Canyon just past Benson, AZ. Once we were approaching Las Cruces, we started to see orchards and a few vineyards. Apparently, this area is a big fruit and nut producing one. We were surprised that the fruit and nut trees were not blossoming yet, since at home in California most trees blossom no later than the second half of March. We were worried that the trees were suffering from no water. But we returned through the area a couple weeks later, and things had changed. So apparently fruit trees bloom later in this climate.
After a quick lunch we continued on to El Paso, having driven about 320 miles from Tucson. We checked in to our hotel in the historic downtown area, a block or so from San Jacinto Plaza.
We then drove about 20 minutes to the El Paso Archaeology Museum in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains. The museum had a nice collection of pottery going back centuries, from Mogollon, Casas Grandes, and Anasazi cultures, as well as pottery, baskets and weavings from Pueblo and Athabaskan Indians and other peoples of Chihuahua.
We returned to our hotel and visited the El Paso Museum of Art adjacent to our hotel, which had European art to Contemporary art, including a big collection from the Kress Family. All the museums we visited today and tomorrow were free.
Contemporary Art, from a follower
of Martha Ortiz (at the Art Museum)
We had dinner outdoors at a restaurant just off the Plaza, and the area was buzzing with activity on a spring Saturday evening.
Sunday, March 20, 2022
We left early and drove along the base of the Franklin Mountains. We visited Franklin Mountains State Park and took a short nature walk. We could see very few flowers and the extent of the drought was quite noticeable. A photo is at the top of the page. Spring does not equate with green in this climate.
Then we drove back towards the city, stopping at the Greetings from El Paso mural, located in a strip mall west of the city. Murals would become a theme on this trip. Our hotel has a place of honor, being painted inside the E in El Paso.
On our way heading east, we stopped and looked at the campus of The University of Texas at El Paso, home of the Sun Bowl. It has a nice museum and garden, but the museum is closed on Sundays. We did think the campus architecture was nice.
We then headed to the Mission Trail, part of The El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, about a half hour south east of the city. We visited first the Socorro Mission, aka La Pursísma Socorro, which was the most attractive and interesting of the three mission churches we visited. A staffer from the gift shop gave us a 15 minute talk and tour which quite informative, telling us about the establishment of the mission, the local community, the construction of the church and materials used, and how it flooded and has been restored. The building dates from 1843. We really enjoyed visiting this Mission.
From there we drove a few minutes to Ysleta Mission, but the church was not open. The photo is on the title page.
We then went to the Ysleta Cultural Center and saw their nice museum which has a lot of information about the Tigua Culture and the Missions. After lunch, we went on to the third Mission on the trail, San Elizario, where we just caught people coming out of the Presidio Chapel. The interior is from the 1940s but the outside is older and attractive. We then took the walking tour of the village which included the Presidio and its history museum (“Los Portales”), barracks, the square, the old jail which has a legend about Billy the Kid, and several mercantile buildings. There was a lot of activity in a strip that had several art galleries in old buildings. The most active spot was “Shooters Smokin’ BBQ” which seemed to very popular on a Sunday afternoon with motorcycle riders.
We then retraced our steps back north to El Paso. In the late afternoon we walked around the downtown area to look at some of the murals and the old Kress building.
A colorful street adjacent to our hotel.
We were worried that we would have trouble finding things to do on a Sunday, since many things were closed, but we ended up having a great day. It was the last warm day for a while, too. Tomorrow, we head to Carlsbad, New Mexico and two national parks.
The map below shows many of the places we visited in El Paso, as well as places we will visit later in the trip in and around Las Cruces, NM.
