Tuscon, Arizona to Van Horn, Texas

Tuscon, Arizona to Van Horn, Texas
Hello Everyone,
With Jez having done majority of the blogging lately I thought I better chip in and help him out (Carl here). Travelling from Tuscon to Van Horn was a big driving day in which we started in the state of Arizona crossed New Mexico and finished two hours past the border of Texas. We rose early for the big trip and were off before nine thirty only to realise 15 minutes later we had left invaluable supplies of food and beer behind. On our second departure we finally left the road runner hostel and its interesting characters behind for good.
The first six hours of driving where across the arid and cactus covered plains of Arizona into New Mexico towards out first main destination of the White Sands National Park. On the way we made two stops. First was our favourite lunch destination Sub-way, which Wonders assures us provides all the fresh vegetables we need each day while the second stop was a quirky antique shop selling fireworks. Excited by the prospect of legally being able to light up the night’s sky with some big explosions we brought $20 worth of sky rockets and bungers. Unfortunately we had to pass on the more elaborate “Battle Ship” and “TNT” packs.
Appropriately, just before reaching White Sands we passed through the military missile testing range. A large flat plain surrounding by small mountains it is the perfect area for testing explosives and has been used numerous times for nuclear missiles. We finally reached White Sands National Park at 4 pm with only an hour of sunlight remaining. The parks, as the name suggests, consists of rolling white sand dunes made from gypson. Besides being beautiful the major appeal for us was being allowed to slide down the dunes on plastic discs. Having slid down the dunes (Jez and I defeating the two Nick in the dune slide challenge) and watched the sun set with a few beers we headed off for El Paso.
El Paso is a fascinating city just inside Texas and right on the Mexican border, we arrived about 8 and ate at a mexican restaurant called “Tap” eight blocks from the border. Neither waitress spoke English so we all had a go at Spanish, Wonders mastered the language quickly saying “Per Favore” when the meals were delivered. We arrived at our final destination at 11 exhausted from a big day in the car. Tomorrow we complete the journey to Austin.
Cheers
Carl