bluecordfishermen 
Day One 23 MAR: Destination El Paso
We left Bandera in two cars holding 5 travelers. First stop was El Paso. No problems or unusual events on the way. We drove independently and met up at Fort Stockton at the Loves Gas Station. Heading west past Kerrville, I-10 has long stretches without major urban areas. Junction is always busy. But everyone stops at Stockton to top off before that last leg to El Paso. That station may be the busiest in Texas if you exclude the Buckee’s outside of San Antonio heading to Houston. The Guadelupe Mountains make the scenery enjoyable and can fire up the imagination of a boy who grew up playing cowboys and Indians.
El Paso has grown. It has been 4 years since I worked at Fort Bliss. To avoid the border and downtown, we stayed along Loop 375 in a newly
constructed Holiday Inn. A Rudy’s was right next door but will not open for a few more months. The sign was just a tease. We settled for Olive Garden. Some how I repeatedly turned down a Jack and Coke. Miss P was as good as any toddler can be after 7 hours in the car. She can make everyone smile by just being herself having linguine. It brought back a lot of great memories of Western Sizzler.
Day Two 24 MAR
Drive from El Paso to Flagstaff
First stop was Franklin State Park in El Paso. Trail was not toddler suitable so it was a quick decision to return to the car.
Next stop was Tucson at Segura National Park. Enjoyed the desert scenery and the large segura cacti. We thought these were limited to southern AZ. We saw then enroute to Flagstaff up on I-17 North of Phoenix. Phoenix sprawls forever.
The drive on I-17 was remarkable how fast the vegetation transitioned from high desert to prairie. After climbing the first mesa we saw a small herd of Elk near the Interstate. We got to Flagstaff in the dark.
The Hampton Inn at the intersection of 40 and 17 was the perfect rest stop. Walmart next door to pick up things we forgot (sun block).
Big One 
