Feb 29 - El Paso, TX

  I must say, El Paso has all of the appeal that most big cities have for me, which is minimal.  We spent the morning being busy.  After lunch, we did something a little different, taking advantage of the offerings in a big city.  We went to the El Paso Art Museum, which is located, it turns out, in downtown El Paso, which is RIGHT AT the Mexican border.  There is a bridge that crosses the Rio Grande River into Mexico (a misnomer if  I ever saw one, as that river is anything now but grand).  The city of Juarez is right across the bridge.  It is even larger than El Paso.  From the mountain tops, looking down into the valley, you can't tell where El Paso stops, and Juarez begins.  Both are huge. 
  As we were driving around, looking for a parking place to go to the museum, we happened upon the local shopping area for the Mexicans.  I would call it "Mexi-town".  Several long streets with many local retail shops, with lots of shoppers, all with inexpensive goods, small dark shops, and shop keepers outside inviting folks in.  We saw NO white Caucasians, only Latin-looking folks.  There were more tourists in Chinatown in San Francisco, than we saw here.  Peter wanted to walk the bridge over into Mexico, but I had no interest in going into the city of Juarez.  I believed it looks a lot like the city of El Paso, and I've heard it is not safe for tourists.  However, Peter wanted to talk to the border police person who was stationed on the dead end main road right at the bridge.  So, I let him off, and circled the neighborhood.  Too many reminiscences of Peace Corps in 3rd world countries. 
  This bridge used to be easy to go between cities.  Sort of like the bridge in Detroit over to Windsor.  Now, the Border Patrol person said it would take around 2 hours waiting on the other side to walk back over the bridge to El Paso. 
  We toured the Art Museum.  It was located in a beautiful, large,  new building.  It had some really interesting pieces, but I was surprised at how few pieces were being displayed in such a large space.  Their walk plaques state they have some huge collections, but are only displaying a few--not sure why.
  We then drove along the Scenic Rim drive, along the foothills of the Franklin Mountain range located on the west side of the city.  Very nice views of El Paso and Juarez on the valley floor.  The drive had a few overlook parks, and you could tell this is one of the places where the 1% lives.  I guess, like any big city, there are areas that are really depressing and areas developed for the more well-off. 
  Finally, we drove over to Camping World to pick up a few RV items.  I guess there are some good things associated with big cities, after all.
  Dinner "home" and we watched the movie "Harriet".  A really well done movie about Harriet Tubman.  We were going to go back out and experience a Texas bar with live music, but they don't usually start until too late.

El Paso Art Museum photos:

Streets of "Mexi-town" photos;

El Paso Scenic Rim drive photos: