The Land of Enchantment

We slept last night just a shade north of Interstate 10 and two shades south of the El Paso airport. It was not a quiet night. It was not a restful night. In fact it was the kind of night that makes you think about a cup of REAL coffee the next morning, if you are, like me, a decaf drinker.

My Magic Magellan GPS told me last night that I was within .2 miles of a Starbucks. That is not very far. So last night Chorro and I walked all the way around the huge mall next to us, thinking for sure we would find a Starbucks there somewhere. Did you know that Starbucks will give you a cup of milk foam for your dog if you ask them? I learned that from a friend of Chorro's back in Jackson, Mississippi. I also learned that milk foam in a paper cup will keep a dog busy for a long time, since the foam at the bottom can't be reached except by a very long tongue. Chorro only has a medium long tongue.

So both of us were interested in finding Starbucks, but we had no luck. We were interested to note though that about every fourth car in the mall lot had licensed plates that looked like this. Chorro was very excited to see this, since he thought for sure if that many chihauhaus were driving cars here, he might finally get his chance to drive our truck!

This morning, I decided instead of walking 2 miles to find something .2 miles away, I would drive. So we drove over to the mall, .2 miles away (across a narrow street, actually), and noticed where, at 8:00 in the morning, the cars were parked. Can you see the tiny little Starbucks sign to the left of the entry, about half way up? Not surprisingly, we missed it last night.


This Starbucks, like the sign, was tiny, but the REAL latte was wonderful.
Then, without moving our RV, I spotted this sign very close by.

I have been looking for a Health Food Store so I could replenish my supply of whey protein powder, the main ingredient in a killer breakfast shake I make most every day. And I also learned that "manifiestos" means health food in Spanish.

Well, it was a day for signs, and I soon found this one, which made me very happy.


I haven't seen a Costco since Bozeman, Montana, last September. For my friends from the eastern half of the country, Costco is the northwest's version of Sam's Club. Traveling in a small RV, I am aware that I need to stay out of stores that give you great deals on 24 rolls of toilet paper.

But hey, I coveted the pleasure of flashing my sleek black Costco card.

I bought almonds and fresh snap peas in bulk, but I already have a place to store the almonds and I know that I will eat the fresh peas quite quickly. My long-pondered purchase was 30 bottles of Sparkling Rain flavored carbonated water. Yes, I had to work hard to find places to store 30 bottles of Sparkling Rain, but I did it and so now I will enjoy my favorite beverage treat for several weeks.

No more signs beckoned, so we left El Paso, Texas. Here's a quick glimpse of the residential area as we left so that you can see how hilly El Paso is. Remember the country western song with the line, "I stood on the hill overlooking El Paso . . ."? Well, it would be easy to do that.

New vistas lie ahead. We are entering New Mexico.

Here's my first picture of the Land of Enchantment.

Here's Chorro looking enchanted (and enchanting, to my eyes).

We also saw our first cactus in bloom. Another sign of spring!

We'll enjoy discovering more of New Mexico's enchantment tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a new day.