Jen’s Journal – November 30, 2019

Day 154: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX

Sunny in the east, dark clouds in the west, and extremely windy.

The sun won out. The rain stayed over the mountains. But the wind was the chief weather concern.

A Sobering Event

We had just left the Frijoles Ranch, still in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park, when around a curve we saw the accident.

A fifth wheel was on its side, pulled away from its towing truck. The truck was crashed in the front. We were the first ones at the scene.

Tom remembered just passing a police car and was attempting to turn around and get the police. Two more small cars stopped and one of the small cars, being more able to maneuver, fetched the police first.

Tom went out and asked if everyone was all right. There was a husband and wife, who were okay, looking for their cat. The man said the vehicle was their home and their livelihood.

I was standing in Arvi, engine still running, with the wind hitting broadside and rocking Arvi badly. We had to move, or I was afraid Arvi would be on its side in the middle of the road.

With the police and more people there, we and the two other cars drove on.

We wanted to help but we had to move. We discussed at length what we could have done. We could have helped pick up the pieces, which were blowing up the hill. We could have helped find the cat, but it most likely would have hid from us. But we had to move Arvi to relative safety first, head into the wind, and go back on foot. We couldn’t find a relatively safe place, and the couple was getting some assistance now.

Feeling a little guilty, we drove on, being blasted by a cross wind. I hope they were insured. And I hope they find their cat.

In El Paso we went to the Magoffin Home State Historic Park to learn a little about Texas history. We did!

We went to the National Border Patrol Museum and read some border patrol stories. Both museums were worth it.

Oh oh oh the Border Wall! Here it is in El Paso. It consists of a steel grid (or vertical slats) fence, then a moat, then a chain link fence, then a driveway for official use. It is actually some distance from the border – the Rio Grande is beyond the wall here.

We found a very interesting Harvest Host spot, the Licon Dairy south of El Paso. They have a dairy store, a restaurant with bar, and a petting zoo. We like this place very much and had some really good chili poppers in the restaurant.