Baymont Inns & Suites El Paso West Hotel

This is definitely the worst campground we have stayed at. Next time we will remember and take our time to visit the shower-house before we pay. It was to dirty to use. The ground was covered with little pickers that stuck to my shoes, one even came through my shoe to poke me. Oh well, live and learn.<br>

... considered dangerous at night and dealys withe the bike build unfortunately meant it was night by the time I crossed. The drug cartels are at war and this erupts in public sometimes. Also robberies are common, but I felt safe enough. The military cruise around the streets hanging out the back of pickup trucks welding huge machine guns, and there are plenty of police around. <br><br>So after Nancy bought back some nice street food, flat soft tacos and freshly squeezed juice with pure ...

... smokey the bear peeled out of the median with lights flasing and siren blaring. I thougth for sure he was after me but luckily he flew right past and nicked someone in a car. whew. New Mexico had nice weather, it was cool out. The sun hung low on the horizon behind me, the moutains were a purple hue set againist an orangy-blue sky filled with big puffy clouds. I wish i could have taken some pics while I was riding, it was really nice and made me ...

... Unfortunately both of these were closed so we were only able to see the outside. On our way back to town we stopped at the Tigue Cultural center. Though small it had one of the best displays of the native people's history and artifacts. They display their original cerimonial drum from the 1600's as well as many pots, baskets, and other artifacts from the last 4 centuries. A small gift shop at the center has a resident potter who makes beautiful wares ...

Lunch conversation with BJ and Ozzie made me glad we returned to be Border after a summer in the Midwest. These two Mexican-Americans--leaders in education and in business, now retired-- shared openly and emotionally about their experiences of a lifetime in the US, including the racist attacks that still hurt decades later. Here's just one story, told by a U.S. citizen ...

... Maryville MO Mary Linn Performing Arts Center T 2/12/2008 Lawrence KS Lied Center of Kansas W 2/13/2008 Cape Girardeau MO Bedell Theatre R 2/14/2008 Shreveport LA The Strand Theatre F 2/15 ...

... at about 3am and checked into the first available Hotel as it is definitely not the kind of place to be wandering around at night. They have had an unexplained series of feminicides over the last ten years that some say have been perpetrated by the police! I will let Lisa fill you in next time about crossing the Rio Grande (or lack of Rio Grande more like) over to El Paso and traveling up to Montana via Greyhound as well as our activities here since we have arrived! Vaya bien! x Sam

Environmental pollution was a concern I had about living in El Paso. Indeed, the ASARCO smokestack was one of the first landmarks I noticed on the skyline. ASARCO is a copper smelting plant that operated for years here and is trying to start up once again, although it's been cited for blatent offenses against the environment. In March, local activists chartered a bus to lobby ...

... sometimes so strongly that our bikes were pushed sideways and blowing sand and dust obscured the road. We soon began our 5-mile ascent of the Trans Mountain road, crossing through el Paso del Norte (the pass of the North) and descending from the Franklin Mountains into the city of El Paso. We never were quite sure just when we actually entered Texas, as we never saw a "Welcome to Texas" sign. The final 10-miles were through urban ...

... rebels. He laughed. Of course by now I'm not too interested in the donkey shows or whatever it was that they used to have out at 'Boys Town,&#8217; a place I only heard about through the barkings of of taxi drivers and other assorted facilitators. I remember distinctly the smell of bad gasoline, though, or maybe it was the lead they put in it.