Monday, February 12, 2018

LAS CRUCES NEW MEXICO TO FORT STOCKTON TEXAS AND THE U.S. BORDER PATROL NABBED US!!

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Morning dawned clear and bright after a restful night in the Las Cruces Roadrunner Rest Area alongside I-10 ‘s Eastbound lanes southwest of the city.  Only a few trucks parked nearby and they weren’t a bother.  I would recommend this Rest Area for anyone traveling in the area.  By the way that big Roadrunner bird in my Sunday night post at the Rest Area is not lit up at night.  I had to use my flashlight and carefully illuminate the Roadrunner for it to be seen.

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A FEW PARTING LAS CRUCES NEW MEXICO SUNRISE PHOTOS

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I-10 FOLLOWS THAT LINE OF LIGHTS TO THE RIGHT SOUTH TO EL PASO AND THAT IS THE WAY WE WENT

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A NICE QUARTER MOON THIS MORNING

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SUNRISE:))

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FROM I-10 WE WAVE A FOND FAREWELL TO THE BIG ROADRUNNER BIRD ON THE HILL

For the second morning in a row it was 8:20 when we had the big wheels rolling.  We plowed through a stiff southeast wind all the way to just north of El Paso where we exited I-10 and grabbed the 375 by-pass around El Paso.  And again a big thanks to Howard Payne for the alternative route directions to the alternative routes west end thus avoiding 375’s mountain grades.  Howard’s route has a few tricky dog leg turns in it and one has to precisely pay attention to the directions for sure.  While on the by-pass we entered Texas at exactly 9 a.m.  Here’s a LINK to Howard’s directions both from East to West and West to East around El Paso.

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THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS NORTH OF EL PASO TEXAS AS WE MAKE OUR WAY AROUND THE 375 BY-PASS

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HOLY SMOKES WE’RE IN THE CORRECT LANE AND THAT’S WITHOUT OUR GPS GUIDING US ALONG

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ABOVE WE WING OVER I-10 AND BELOW WE COME DOWN THE RAMP TO MERGE WITH IT

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Back on I-10 heading East I watched El Paso and the Franklin Mountains disappear in my driver’s side mirror.  And with all the smog and dust in the air they were gone within minutes.  Winds diminished as we steadily plodded East.  McDonald’s coffee in Van Horn and we were on our way again.  Been a long time since we drove this stretch of I-10 and we think it was back in January of 2005 on our way home from spending Christmas in Big Bend National Park.

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A TINY WHITE CROSS ATOP THAT BUTTE MAKES ONE WONDER WHAT IT MEANS AND WHAT HAPPENED THERE

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YEP WERE EAST FOR FLORIDA ALRIGHT

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LIKE THE WAY TEXAS PAINTS UP SOME OF IT’S BRIDGE ABUTMENTS

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We’ve been through lots of Border Patrol check-points over the years and we sometimes get waved through while other times a few questions are asked.  Today i was asked several questions several times then asked to hand over my driver’s license.  Well that was a first…..but there was more.  I could see another border patrol fella going around our coach with a dog.  Nothing new about that but then we were told the dog had ‘alerted’ to something and we were to pull over to the side which of course we did.  With Pheebs on a leash we were instructed to step out of the coach while they did a preliminary search with the dog again and this time inside.  We were asked if we had any weapons and I said ‘No Sir, we’re Canadians.  He asked about drugs and that was another ‘No Sir’ for us.  He said the reason we were ‘flagged’ was because the dog had ‘alerted’ to either drugs or illegal aliens.  I was tempted to tell him I was married to a legal alien from Spencerport New York but I thought better of it.   The dog and his handler were in and out of our coach in about 10 seconds.  Good thing I had left a pair of dirty socks laying out or I’m sure they would have stayed longer.  When he stepped out of the coach he gave the fella standing in front of us a hand signal to say ‘clear’.  The fella with us wished us a good day and that was that.  We were on our way.  I think that dog’s gonna need a little more training.

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ABOVE A BORDER PATROL AGENT COMES OVER TO TALK TO US AND BELOW ANOTHER AGENT WITH HIS DOG ENTERS OUR COACH

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Decided our destination today would be Fort Stockton Texas.  Our third time here after passing through it on our way to Big Bend on that same trip in December 2004.  Kelly determined Fort Stockton had a Walmart so that is where this post is coming from.  West of Van Horn we had passed through another time zone change so we arrived in Fort Stockton at 4:20 Texas time.  We are now only 1 hour different from Ontario time.

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WE ONCE FOUND A WALLET LYING BY THE CURB HERE  WEST OF VAN HORN TEXAS AND LATER STOPPED IN VAN HORN GIVING IT TO A GROUP OF STATE TROOPERS HAVING LUNCH IN A RESTAURANT

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AS WE MOVE STEADILY EASTWARDS WE ARE SLOWLY RUNNING OUT OF MOUNTAINS

Luckily we were the first RV into the Walmart parking lot this afternoon because within the hour there were probably 20+ rigs crowded in for the night.  Shades of an RV Park I’d say.  We’re not used to that.

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THAT’S US TO THE VERY LEFT

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THIS IS THE MOST CROWDED WE’VE EVER BEEN IN A WALMART PARKING LOT

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 <<< PICKING UP A FEW WALMART GROCERIES

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Woman's Quote of the Day:  "Men are like fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something with which you'd like to have dinner with."
Men's Counter-Quote of the Day:  "Women are like fine wine. They all start out fresh, fruity and intoxicating to the mind and then turn full-bodied with age until they turn sour and vinegary and give you a headache."

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A guy goes to a psychiatrist. "Doc, I keep having these alternating recurring dreams. First I'm a teepee; then I'm a wigwam; then I'm a teepee; then I'm a wigwam. It's driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?"
The doctor replies: "It's very simple. You're two tents."

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Q: What do you get when you cross a sheep and a kangaroo?
A: A sweater with big pockets.

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14 comments:

  1. Three nights ago we were parked exactly where that Fuzion 5th wheel is in your photo. It was pretty crazy when we were there, too! Sorry we'll miss you out in the desert, but travel safe as you head east!

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  2. I think you got pulled over because you stayed the night between check points. Between that rest area and the Arizona border there is a check point going the other way...but they are taking pictures of the east bound traffic too. Since there was a gap in time, and the supposed dog hit, they checked you out (in my opinion that is).

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  3. That is pretty exciting getting checked out by Border Patrol. If that happen to us our grandchildren would be so excited ... they love watching those Border Patrol TV shows :-) They once had the opportunity to meet Nyla the drug dog from one of the Vancouver, B.C. stations and they still haven't stopped talking about it.

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  4. Those were neat photos of the stop over above Las Cruces. That is a great place to stay for a night.

    You probably look a little foreign and that's why they stopped you. I would have been shaking if they stopped me and forgotten to take pictures of the event.

    Glad your Trip is going smoothly. The weather out here has certainly cooled down thank goodness.

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  5. I have seen that bird from the road, thanks for all the close up pics. I never would have suspected that. We are leaving Florida until the 14th of March. Safe travels.

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  6. You both are fine wine in my blog Al...

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  7. Moving right along with a little excitement for the day. That Walmart always seems to be a busy spot for Rv's, we like to arrive early as well.

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  8. You sure have the night photography down pat. Great photos. Got out the map to follow your route east.

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  9. Wow, glad you made it through the check point, I'm guessing it was the dirty socks that alerted the dog!! It's always a bit of worrisome feeling when you are asked to pull over even when you know you don't have anything to worry about. Or at least it is for me.

    Looks like a great drive along that bypss. I'll have to remember it if we're in the area.

    Like you we like to arrive at Wally World early to ensure we get a nice spot on the front lawn when we stay over. That's a lot of overnight guests.

    Safe travels.

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  10. I think that dog had the hots for Pheebs! He wanted a closer sniff of her house!

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  11. I really loved how you were able to light up the Roadrunner and get its picture with the city lights in the background.
    Interesting border patrol stop, I wonder if the dog is in training and needed to practice.
    We have spent the night in that Walmart parking lot and both times it was very crowded. Our first time there, before we went to bed, we counted around 15 other RV's and in the morning there where over 25 squished in.

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  12. We had the inside of our Cougar searched by the Border Patrol before we crossed Hoover Dam ( when you could actually drive over it)..that was after 2001..I'm always happy to see them being diligent about their very dangerous job...We do take I-10 a lot heading to Florida..I love that Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida!!

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  13. We were stopped at a checkpoint on I-8 west of Yuma. Border Patrol search dog hit on our sewer outlet. Patrolman said no big deal and off we went. A couple of days later we entered the same Border Patrol checkpoint as you in Texas. Search dog hit on our sewer outlet again! We were asked to exit vehicle along with our two muttzos. Patrolman and dog thoroughly searched our 5ver and our truck and then bid us safe travels. My guess is the both of the dogs really liked the sweet smell of our sewer outlet! As a side note the younger of the Patrolman was very jumpy as two of their own had been recently shot.

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  14. I was coming back from visiting in Terlingua and went through one of those border patrol check points. They asked me if I had any firearms and I replied that "you wouldn't think that I would leave them in an empty house do you?" And they let me go through. Either that answer or our three dogs made them figure we were OK.

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