On my way to the Alamo

I was in Eagle Pass yesteday and decided to drive to the Mexican city of Acuna. A Mexican border agent asked me a bunch of questions about my trip then decided to become a tourist guide. He suggested all kinds of places I should visit on my way to Progresso, in the Yucatan Peninsula, where I'll be going in January. We talked for over 30 minutes. And he even suggested that when I come back, he would come with me if he had some time off. Really cool guy but his suggestions would would take me about 2 weeks to accomplish. And I want to spend time with my friends Pierrette and Marcel.

I just drove a bit in Acuna and suddenly realized that I didn't have Mexican car insurance so I returned quickly to the border. Once there, the US immigration asked me all kinds of questions, put me under the microscope and searched throughout my car. Bad decision on my part to take this little excursion.

Well, looks like the bad Canadian weather is following me. I've even been accused of bringing the cold Canadian winter weather with me. But I try to explain that I came from sunny California. It's cool, rainy and dull; memories of BC,

Yes, I'm in San Antonio, Texas, and I went to the Alamo today. I was surprised to find the Alamo in the middle of the city of San Antonio. The site is actually a lot smaller than I imagined. What hapenned after the battle: the Mexicans took down the big wall that surrounded the Alamo, to prevent any future standoffs. So all that is left is the church, long barracks and some other walls. For more info on the Alamo go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_Mission_in_San_Antonio

El Paso Texas

By the way, those pics are from Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. I thought they were nice and forgot to include them in my BC blog.

Travel trivia
I`ve logged about 14,000 kilometers
Was going to kayak the Rio Grande but it`s only 4 inches deep and I`ve put on some weight so, enough said.
About El Paso
-population 700,000
-85% mexican-americans
-Mexicans from Juarez come to shop in El Paso because it`s cheaper and goods are better quality
-I observed 100s walking back to Juarez, Mexico, with shopping bags full.
I chose not to go across because they kill one another there at the rate of 12-14 per week and the shootings are indiscriminate. They(drug gangs) use uzis and spray whoever they want to kill and shoot innocent bystanders.
I went for a walk the other night in my CS host`s neigbourhood here in El paso and got lost. They have no street lights and I missed his street on my return. It`s a beautiful subdivision with very nice homes but when it`s dark, it`s hard to recognize any landmarks. My host says the city is too poor to put up street lights. I stayed with another host in El Paso, a retired teacher and he too lives in a beautiful home in a very nice subdivision. Both were very pleasant stays.

Now I have a dilemma: go south to Brownsville, my original plan, or go to Houston, where I was to stop at the end of Jan. or early Feb. I can't get a hold of my friend Rick in Brownsville. I would also have a better choice of airlines in Houston to get back to Canada for Christmas.

Oh yeah, it's my bd today. I'm 65...A real, honest to goodness senior. I can't wait to cash in on all those benefits!!!!!! So far, no birthday hugs or kisses.

Eastern California, Arizona & New Mexico

Well, I'm definitely in desert country. It seems like Arizona is one huge desert: lots of cactus trees, dry, desolate yet pretty scenery. I stayed with a Mexican-American family in Indio; Andres, Patricia and their three sons. It was nice to relax and and talk about life and its many challenges.

I visited Joshua Tree National Park and Pioneertown. The park is really awesome with its joshua trees, a unique cactus and different rock formations. I only had a few hours to visit the park when I could have taken a whole day. I then went to Pioneertown which is a recreation of an old "wild west" town replete with saloon, bank, general store and a wanted poster of Pancho Villa.

Then it was on to Arizona where I was enthralled by Sedona and Montezuma's Castle. The castle, pictured here at your left, was built by local first nations in the 1400s and not the Aztec. It's very impressive and the state has done a lot of research in restoring it to it's original specs. It had been abandonned for decades and damaged by looters in the 1800s.

Then on to Phoenix and a stay with a friendly couple, Alexis and Kobi. They took me to a restaurant where I had a special dish called chicken fried steak: a battered deep-fried steak but no chicken. It reminded me a little of veal. They also forced me to have the biggest piece of chocolate cream pie that I ever had. As you may have observed from the pictures, I think I have put on a few extra pounds or 10. All this driving, eating and little exercise is not the best thing to keep me in shape. But then, round is a shape...hahaha, I know...it's lame, but I just had to say it.

I need to add that I often don't have time to "blog" due to lack of internet or time(often times, motels don't have the net or if I'm at a CS host, we chat and there is no time for computers which is good. I prefer chatting with my hosts and sharing travel or life stories). Tonight, it seems like I'm just cruising through this and not giving it everything.

So, I continued my journey east and drove through the most boring part of my trip although I did see the most humungus open pit mine you can imagine. It's a huge copper operation on the Arizona-New Mexico border. going to bed finish it tomorrow...my hosts are already in bed 10:10 pm

I'm now in Silver City, New Mexico,

Hollywood, San Diego and the Mohave Desert

Hollywood
Took a quick drive to downtown Hollywood, drove up the hill close to the BIG sign and had to pay the Bat Lady and her friend to have my picture taken with them(memories of Thailand). Drove around Rodeo Drive but didn't buy anything.

San Diego and Hotel del Coronado
Saturday, Nov 28
I'm in Oceanside, Southern California. Winter has arrived in this area. It was a cool, windy and wet day, 15 celcius. My host, Mike, took me to San Diego. I hadn't planned on going there but I'm glad I did. SD is a beautiful city with a lot of spanish influence. There is also a large naval base here and a ship rebuilding facility.
It's a pretty city with beautiful architecture and a revitalized downtown.
It was time to leave the Pacific part of my trip and that left me a bit sad. I really enjoyed the drive along the coast and all the incredible scenery. But then, I was heading for the deserts of eastern California and and all that had to offer; you'll see from my pics and stories that I was not going to be disappointed

Indio and Joshua Tree National Park
Ok, I arrived in the Mohave Desert area and new hosts, Andres and Patricia and their family. I spent two nights with this family and was directed by Andres to a number of sights to see in the area. I first went to Pioneertown where there is a reconstructed old west town. That was a lot of fun and brought back memories of my favorite cowboy movies.
I then went to the Joshua Tree Park which is a photographer's delight. I never took so many pictures of rocks, mountains and trees. If I ever return here, I'll stay a week because there is so much to see and some great hiking and camping sites.
Now, on to Arizona and hopefully kayak on the Colorado!