We stopped for lunch at a roadside rest sitting on a bluff overlooking Las Cruzes, NM. It was a bit breezy, but the picnic tables were set inside stone structures that blocked a lot of the wind but not all.
We forced ourselves to sit there long enough to eat and walk the dog as we didn't want to eat in the truck again. It was warm - just breezy. The roadrunner was keeping an eye on the rest area!
We decided we prefer the more northern routes through New Mexico. There's just not a whole lot to see but scrub and very distant mountains. Although, just west of the Texas border for about a 5 mile stretch there are hundreds of acres of feed lots. That thrilled us for sure. We did see miles and miles of empty rail cars along the route - waiting for the engines we saw yesterday?
OK, I've said it before and I will reiterate here - El Paso, TX is probably the ugliest place in the US. Rog says it is the worst to drive through of all the cities on our route. It was awful. Construction, traffic, and just ugliness and it seemed never ending. We did see the border fence and Juarez, Mexico in the distance. That didn't look very nice either.
Just after we got into Texas I spotted a sign on a gas station/food mart - OPEN 25/7. Interesting, no? Time warp?
There's not a whole lot to see between El Paso and Van Horn. The altitude is staying at about 4,500ft, so there is a high desert look - no sagebrush, though. I think they refer to it as chaparral. Boring.
The RV park tonight is another former KOA that is now a Good Sam park. It's typical of what one finds in this neck of the woods. Not much to it. It's filling up as the day goes on, though. In fact, our next door neighbor is the same neighbor we had last night in Lordsburg. Not the friendly type. Did say hello but then retreated to his huge motorhome. Coming back from taking Maggie to the doggie park I spotted a truck with UNR Wolfpack decals. The guy was outside working on his rig so I said, "Go Wolfpack!" as I passed and waved. He is friendly - too much so. Wouldn't shut up. Seems he lives in Sparks just up the road from us in Spanish Springs. He also made sure we knew he is a super conservative as are all his friends. Not sure how that came up, but it did. Wierd. Anyway, "small world" happens again! 
No drugs for the dog today. She climbed in the truck and panted for about the first hour and then mellowed out. Half the day she faced Roger and the other half she had her head in my lap. The times we stopped for a break, though, and she thought I was going to get back in the truck right away, she sat down and looked pitiful. After a few minutes of walking around and having a snack and water she was fine about getting back in. She is being so good when we stop for the day and before we get going in the morning. I put out a rug and tie her leash to the door handle and she just patiently waits. We haven't had to use the pen at all. She has rabbits and chickens to watch here, so she is being entertained again this evening.We will stay here tomorrow. Rog needs a day of rest and I am not anxious to get back in the truck for a drive across more of Texas. I know it's coming but am willing to put it off another day. Van Horn is a small town - the sign said 3,500 population. Not a lot here, but we will go wandering tomorrow - need to get fuel, propane, and the RV park management said there is a place where we can get homemade bagel sandwiches for lunch! Sounds like a plan.
We've done some reconfiguring of the trip going forward. We have replotted our stopping points and factored in a day of rest after two days of driving. Barring any weird weather it should work out just right for putting us into P'Cola on the 10th as planned.
Oh, I hear the train going by blowing it's signal. I-10 does follow the railroad and I think 99% of RV parks are near the tracks. One of those things that has become associated with RVing for us. Rog says he hears Johnny Cash singing "I hear the train a comin'" every night. Lucky him!
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