El Paso TX -- Juarez Mexico

We left San Antonio pledging to return.  We learned early on during this adventure that we weren't going to be able to "see it all" but this is certainly a city that we will visit again.  

  

Our next planned stop was El Paso, TX.  Knowing that it would be a long, long drive across Texas to El Paso (over 550 miles), we decided to stop in Stockton overnight.    This time of year (early March), the Texas countryside is beautiful, generally shades of brown and goes on for miles and dotted with cattle, oil derricks and windmills.  What we didn't expect to see was a windmill farm that you could see for miles.   The windmills were constructed in a single row along the top of the hill line.   "Icy" in Texas made us laugh so hard, we almost . . . .  This was a placard along I-4 between Stockton and El Paso.

                            
Cattle Country             Roundup Corral               Oil Derrick                     Windmill/Water             Windmill  Farm              "Icy" in Texas

We stopped at a rest stop somewhere along I-10 and Ron took Chessie for a walk.   Our "conversation piece" drew attention from a couple who had pulled in just ahead of us in a fifth-wheel.  We discovered that we were all headed in the same direction -- Stockton.  They suggested Wal-Mart as a quick overnight and we all said "see you there."    Once we reached Stockton, we saw a number of campgrounds advertising full hook-ups for $10 a night and we couldn't pass that up.  These campgrounds fill up every night with folks like us -- just passing through -- staying for one night!

Remember the couple in the fifth-wheel?  Well, they had told us about a steak house just east of El Paso.  It was supposed to have one of the best steaks in Texas AND had an overnight RV parking lot.    We decided check it out in the Texas guidebooks and found out that Cattleman's Steakhouse at Indian Cliffs Ranch (http://www.cattlemanssteakhouse.com) was voted as one of the Top Ten restaurants in Texas.  When we pulled into the parking lot around noon, our new friends from the rest stop had already pulled in and set up in addition to another motor home and a fifth-wheel.   The eight of us created our own "happy hour" in the parking lot and went to dinner later in the afternoon.    

Ron and I would recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling to El Paso.  It's actually about 25 miles east of the city but well worth the drive.  The dining room is huge, the drinks great and the steaks are out of this world. . .    When you turn off the highway, you drive across 5  miles of desert and begin to wonder what you are getting into.  All of a sudden, the ranch appears -- barns, livestock, llamas, farm animals, and peacocks.  The props and decorations certainly make the property look like a ranch out of the late 1800's.  

                               
5 Miles of Desert                       Cattleman's Steakhouse                              Corral and Fields                Garden                              Peacock                   Sunset from the Veranda

Cindy and Hans (folks in the motor home at Cattleman's) were headed to the same FMCA Rally in Albuquerque only via Santa Fe.   The four of us decided to caravan to El Paso and do some sightseeing.  They are full-timers too and recently sold their home in Texas to travel the country.    We drove as far as an RV dealer/resort property west of the city and "kicked tires" on new motor homes for a day and then went to Juarez, Mexico for lunch.  Hans speaks Spanish so it was great fun having him along as he could interpret some of the signage.  We found others that didn't need any translations -- check them out below.

               
Cindy & Hans                      Texas Countryside Stockton to El Paso               Juarez from El Paso

Juarez, MEXICO

                      
Alcoholics Anonymous       Chevy Dealer                       Golden Arches                     Residential Fountain  

NEXT STOP:  ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO