Everything's bigger in Texas!!

even the curbs

But obviously not the campgrounds or why is it, that for the first time on our journey we have to make reservations to get a spot?

But always on the run for a new attraction to add to our “real” Lonely Planet, here a travel suggestion, in case you hit the high season: Visit a city that has recently been hit by a disastrous hurricane! Try to match the map with the now existing city. Sure, this meadow over there could once have been the RV Park we are looking for. And those poles are probably for us to imagine how nice it could be to have a stroll along a pier. Well, at least the beach’s location was exactly where it is shown on the map (Only we had to walk a little to find stairs that would still hold up).

And with an oil spill not too long ago you can also have the miles long beautiful beaches to yourself. You might even find some oil leftovers here and there, and collecting oil seems already to have outrun collecting sea shells.

Galveston

Fredericksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg:

Yesterday, tacos in Mexico, today, Wurst in Germany, or Fredericksburg, to be more accurate. It’s a small town in the middle of Texas, once founded by Geman settlers and today as German as it can be: Bier, Brats and Free range chickens:

Texas:

Viva la Mexico

Tacos for lunch today? We could go to Mexico! You can have that in the US, too? Well, what about some mariachi bands? Not new either? Then, maybe, what about practicing your Spanish? No? What about a Coke with real sugar in it? OK, let’s go to Mexico!

It only takes a short walk from El Paso, Texas to Juarez, Mexico. And everyone is welcome there! No passport control, no questions, nothing. Finally all those American movies where the bad guys always try to make it to Mexico make totally sense! We made it, too. And we had Tacos and music and sugar. Fantastico!

Feeling totally relaxed after 2 hours of Mexican sunshine we made it back to the US, which took about another 2 hours of waiting in line to get in. Weird enough, since the actual passport control was only after driving about 100 miles up-country, shortly before we hit New Mexico. Maybe the Texan police mistook Texas for Arizona. Anyway, we were allowed to enter New Mexico after being warned that Juarez is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Well, we enjoyed our Tacos – and weapons are legal where again?

Back in New Mexico we saw one of of the most impressive things we had seen on our trip so far, the Carlsbad Caverns: 

 Und weils so schön ist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98oABccStL0

Santa Fe, Taos and Alamos

We were strolling along the beautiful adobe city center of Santa Fe, nothing bad in mind. But when we decided to have a look into the history museum we were told that they close at 3pm, due to a gas shut off. And that we should rather cuddle up and get some blankets and water canisters for the next couple of days, since the gas would stay turned off. Shelters would be provided and we should hurry, since people panicked already and we were among the first to know about this tragedy.

Ha! For the first time Wilma was ahead of them all! With the tanks full of propane and water and enough food in the fridge we had no need to panic.

Only a couple of minutes later and Santa Fe was closed. 

Ok, ok, I admit, we hit a motel when turning up the heating still made the temperature inside of Wilma going down. That night the temperature dropped to minus 30 degree Fahrenheit, as low as it hasn’t been in New Mexico since 1951.

So temperature-wise it could only get better when we were heading even further north to Taos. We visited Taos pueblo, a small Indian community that lives very remote in simple houses without electricity or running water. And they were not without irony for those who fear a couple of days without gas supply. With their fireplaces they were as self-sufficient as Wilma!

former Indian dwellings

Taos Pueblo

More astonishing than all the gypsum white sand dunes we saw on our way was the ignorance of the museums in Alamos. Alamos, a city that only exists because the US once built it for the scientists who in a secret mission built the A-bomb there, prides itself to be the atomic city. The museums glorify the invention and effects of the A-bomb without showing any pictures or stories of those who had been killed by it. Nagasaki wasn’t mentioned at all. 

White Sands

Now the snow is gone, the temperature rose to above zero and our fridge is colder than the living room again: we’re heading south!!

P.S. When Chris was painting some patches on Wilma that were leftovers from our accident he was asked by a lady: “Tell me, what are you doing? I’m new to the RV-scene. Will I have to do this for maintenance, too?”

Sure, some fresh paint once a month will keep you going!

New Alaska

We’ve been to the desert today. And the rain forest, too. And on our way to the
rain forest we passed the savanna and the ocean. No, it’s not that Wilma all of a
sudden grew wings and and flew us around the globe. It’s the so-called
“Biosphere 2” we visited today, a project once initiated by some crazy New Age visionaries. They wanted to duplicate the earth’s conditions to create a self-contained, sustainable space kept in a huge greenhouse – and failed. But since the Arizona University pays lot of money to keep the experiment alive, they don’t call it a failure but a really very important greenhouse.

I wonder why Arizona generates so may people that escape into alternative ways of living: Arcosanti, Phoenix and now the Biosphere 2?

We only escaped to New Mexico. Or should I rather say, New Alaska?
I am wearing gloves while writing this, sitting at Wilma’s kitchen table. The
water supply can go neither in nor out, beautiful flowers magically emerge on the windows inside and I can turn my coffee mug upside down without spilling anything. But I don’t
wanna complain. At least, we don’t have to buy ice cubes anymore to keep the
fridge cold!

In Vegas there is a bar that charges $20 for having a cocktail in a room cooled down to 5 Degree Fahrenheit. Imagine how much money we could make by offering the unique experience of having a full meal served in Wilma at that temperature?!

Talking of unique experiences. Chris and I are seriously considering writing a travel guide. Something like a “real” Lonely Planet, a “How to make sure not to meet anyone else while traveling ”-guide. If you choose the right places and time of the year you can have all the beautiful experiences to yourself, f.e. visiting ice caves in  New Mexico when temperatures hit their minimum, strolling through a botanical garden months before the flowers start blossoming, seeing downtown Albuquerque when all shops are closed due to icy weather conditions or hit RV parks when everyone else fled into motels to keep their water tubes from freezing.

So somehow this vast country even seems a little more vast and empty to us than it already is.

By the way, Albuquerque is really a cute town and when I grow up, I wanna be a post office clerk in Albuquerque with wonderful working hours- the post offices’ hours are from 10am to 3pm, Saturday and Sunday off!!