Driving Day … Ft Stockton to El Paso

Tuesday, 24 April 2018
Fort Bliss RV Park — El Paso, Texas
Temps: 91F (33C) / 57 (14C)

We did much better today and got on the road at 8:00a.  To do so, we had to scrap our plans for an early morning walk.  Normally, we would not have done so, but the military RV park at Fort Bliss does not take reservations, so it behooved us to get on the road sooner rather than later.

Leaving Fort Stockton, the temp was a comfy 68F … blue skies and sunshine.  Very pleasant.  The plan was to keep our stops short and sweet.  No dilly dallying like we did yesterday.  First stop  … at the I-10/I-20 intersection rest area to give Mui a chance to stretch his legs.  Just a couple of picnic shelters; no public restrooms … we don’t need them anyway since we have our own facilities.

The picnic shelter provides a frame for the Phaeton.

Next stop … at a rest area in the Fort Hancock area.  At about that point in our drive, we had moved into Mountain Standard Time and gained an hour.  So we decided to dally a bit.  Though the new time was only 9:53a, an early lunch at one of the tepee picnic shelters seemed like a good idea.  After all, breakfast had been hours ago.  On the menu today … meat stuffed dolmades with yogurt … pineapple for dessert.  By 10:51a, we were back on the road.

A fun picnic shelter in the Fort Hancock rest area.

It’s too nice to eat indoors, so I take our food to the picnic shelter.

We were about 30 miles (48 km) from El Paso when we called the Fort Bliss RV Park to ask about availability.  The words “We have 6 sites open,” spurred us on … though we did take the time to top off our fuel tank at the Pilot/Flying J truck stop just outside the city.  Completing today’s 246-mile (394 km) drive, we arrived at the campground at 12:30p.  The temperature gauge read 93F (34C) … a light breeze mitigated the worst of the heat as we quickly set up in site 126.

In 2016, we were on the other side of the blue-roofed pavilion.

The sites here are all 50A-FHU pull-throughs  They have level concrete pads, but the front has a slight slope.  Though the nightly rate is $22, we’re getting a freebie tonight.  No, it’s not that we are special.  Rather the computer system was down today.  Not only was the campground manager unable to register us, he’s also not allowed to accept cash.  We plan to be on the road before the office opens tomorrow, so the manager told Mui that our stay is on them this time.  Thank you Fort Bliss RV Park.

We drove over the Franklin Mountains in the distance in the CR-V last time.
The GPS wants to take us that way in the Phaeton … no thank you.
We built in a 6-mile detour to go a different way instead.

We took care of chores and rested for a bit until 3:30p.  Then we headed into El Paso to have dinner at L&J Café … the Old Place by the Graveyard.  We first dined at L&J in 2016 at the recommendation of friends Bill and Marjie.  After two meals there, Mui said he’d go out of his way to drive through El Paso if we were even remotely close … just so he could eat there again.  Yes, we found the food — authentic border Mexican cuisine — that good.  Luckily, no detour was necessary to enjoy the great food at L&J today.

You come to L&J for the food … not the exterior ambiance.

L&J is an El Paso institution … it has won “best Mexican food” awards from all sorts of magazines and newspapers … people’s choice accolades, too.  It used to be called Tony’s Place.  When the place first opened in 1927, it was known as much for its food as for bootlegging.  The story goes that the cavalry stationed at Fort Bliss were regulars here, and they even trained a mule to travel a path from the post to the café … carrying items to barter for some of Tony’s homemade brew ;-)

Mui ordered the beef flautas again.  I went with something different this time and ordered tostadas compuestas — three crispy tostadas … very thin … each with a different topping … guacamole, shredded chicken, and refried beans … garnished with a mound of shredded lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese.  Yummm!  I skipped the sopapilla I initially planned to get and helped Mui with the tres leches he had his heart set on for dessert.  Double yummm!

Another great meal at L&J.

After our early dinner, we intended to walk around the historic graveyard — aka the Concordia Cemetery — which is right across the street from L&J.  We made an effort … really we did.  But it was way too hot — 91F (33C) at 5:30p — to be out and about.  Hot is hot even when it is dry heat.  We made a quick stop at the Buffalo Soldiers Memorial and skedaddled home.  We did get a good number of steps in by walking the campground loops once the sun started to set, so we’re good.

Buffalo Soldiers Memorial … from our visit in 2016.
These soldiers were members of a regiment of African American cavalry that was
authorized by Congress after slavery was abolished in 1866.  They were given
the nickname by the Cheyenne, who considered the buffalo a sacred animal.

Tomorrow is another long driving day … but that’s for another post.

PS: T-Mobile Status … the signal was non-existent for a short stretch after we left the Fort Stockton RV Park and then wavered between four bars 4G/LTE and fewer bars for a while.  Cell towers are few and far between on that stretch of I-10, so I think the same signal issue would apply to the other carriers.  By the time we got to the I-20 intersection, however, I was enjoying a steady signal that lasted all the way to El Paso.

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