We crossed from rural Louisiana into Texas.  Our plan was to shoot through the 850 miles of Interstate 10 that is confined within the borders of Texas, with planned stops in San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso.  A MAJOR storm with freezing rain meant forget going to Austin, but we did remember the Alamo in San Antonio, which was a surprisingly good stop.  Another fantastic stop was a Mexican food trailer in Fort Stockton, TX.  If you are ever on I-10, stop in Fort Stockton, head South from the freeway, and stop at the trailer in a gas station parking lot.  It was SO good!  I recommend the Brisket and Barbecoa (BBQ) menu items. 

We approached the New Mexican border near El Paso with no trouble, despite the horrible road conditions behind us.  We decided to skip El Paso and the tail end of Texas to cut up North into New Mexico to see the Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, and Santa Fe.  We made it close to Carlsbad, but driving conditions where the worse I have ever driven on in the US.  The state police closed the road, and we were forced to return to El Paso.

There is a weather condition called "Freezing Fog."  It is similar to freezing rain, in that it encases everything in a sheet of ice, but it is ten times worse because it is completely invisible.  Unlike rain, when fog freezes, the tiny particles of water freeze into a very thin layer of ice. Another layer of super small particles freeze on top of that layer, and soon you have a thick layer of ice, without blemish or texture to make it visible.  Any time I downshifted, the car would start a spinning slide on the icy road.  I was driving 10-15 MPH, and still sliding quite a bit.  Susie's Dad recently purchased new tires, and although I do not know what he purchased, they saved our ass!  While I started our fair share of slides, the tires always regained traction before we entered an all out spin.  We pulled off the highway at a rest stop to check road conditions.  As we carefully exited the car in a parking lot of solid ice, a truck on the other side of the rest area careened into a garbage can.  The rest area staffer told us the road was closed, the freezing fog would continue well into the next day, and that many accidents had occurred.  We turned around, and sped South toward El Paso at a rocket pace of 15 MPH.  A single car passed us going the other direction, followed 45 minutes later by  a State Police car.  The uniformed driver stared at us, visibly surprised that we could still be on the closed highway.

El Paso was strange.  On the North side of the Rio Grande are average American tract houses.  On the South side, maybe 100 yards from the US, are the dilapidated homes of Juarez.  I have never been to Juarez, and after my friend's story of ordering a drink at a bar only to have the drink stirred by someone's penis is any indication (he ordered a second drink, shaken not stirred), Jarez is best viewed from the I-10.  We passed through Las Cruces, New Mexico, and on to Silver City.  Enchiladas with great New Mexican chile sauces made my day--Still, to be safe, we did not order any drinks.  More about New Mexico further down this page.