The Road Not Taken
I did want to drive back a bit further north... I really did. But the weather just looks too scary. Bitterly cold, and closer to the projected path of the next big cross-country winter storm than I'm comfortable with. Why did I want to go further north? Partly to spend more time on historic Route 66, especially this stretch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uucy_blcSrg although I understand that it may not be in such great shape any more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_uAy9JuT_E It still would be fun to try, but not this time.
Going Southeast instead of Northeast, there's still going to be a cold snap, but it will be about 20 degrees warmer. Lows in the 20's instead of the single digits. With any luck, when this next cold snap passes, the weather will start to mellow out a bit.
Going Southeast means going through the El Paso area, and you might recall that I'm not a fan of urban driving. So it was with some delight that I noticed a sign for historic missions at one of the freeway exits after I'd mostly gone through the El Paso metropolitan area. I wasn't prepared to take that exit as quickly as I would have needed to, so I had to do some backtracking to find the first mission. There was a big sign saying that the parking lot was closed, and the streets were busy with people trying to get from here to there in a hurry, but I noticed a road sign for El Camino Real. That's the name of the route that all the California missions are on, but I had no idea there was a road by the same name in Texas. So I turned to follow the signs, partly because I expected the other missions to be on that route, and partly just for fun. The traffic soon thinned out and the drive became pleasant.
The second mission I arrived at had a sandwich board sign outside advertising their gift shop, and plenty of places to park. Much more promising! I got out and took some pictures. Attracted by all the brightly colored decorations, I walked over to the cemetery. The gate was closed, but I could see over the fence. One of the nearest graves looked a bit like its occupant might have tried to escape, perhaps even more than once:
On the walk back, I noticed a mound with three crosses on top. Closer inspection revealed a cave and a stone rolled away from its entrance. It is the time of year when Easter is approaching, but this looks like a permanent installation:
The church was built in a way you'd expect to do well in the desert:
A sign described some of the high points of history in the area. The thing I found most interesting: the town where this mission is located used to be South of the Rio Grande River, but after a big flood, the river changed course to the South of the town.
After winding around for several miles and finding the third mission (which had no visible signs of life), I decided to see how to get to my hotel from where I was, and found that I was only a short distance away. I would not have to get back on the freeway at all. Yay!
If you're interested, here's an article about posting the signs for El Camino Real in El Paso: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/history/2016/07/02/signs-mark-el-camino-real-el-paso-county/86618422/
Going Southeast means going through the El Paso area, and you might recall that I'm not a fan of urban driving. So it was with some delight that I noticed a sign for historic missions at one of the freeway exits after I'd mostly gone through the El Paso metropolitan area. I wasn't prepared to take that exit as quickly as I would have needed to, so I had to do some backtracking to find the first mission. There was a big sign saying that the parking lot was closed, and the streets were busy with people trying to get from here to there in a hurry, but I noticed a road sign for El Camino Real. That's the name of the route that all the California missions are on, but I had no idea there was a road by the same name in Texas. So I turned to follow the signs, partly because I expected the other missions to be on that route, and partly just for fun. The traffic soon thinned out and the drive became pleasant.
The second mission I arrived at had a sandwich board sign outside advertising their gift shop, and plenty of places to park. Much more promising! I got out and took some pictures. Attracted by all the brightly colored decorations, I walked over to the cemetery. The gate was closed, but I could see over the fence. One of the nearest graves looked a bit like its occupant might have tried to escape, perhaps even more than once:
On the walk back, I noticed a mound with three crosses on top. Closer inspection revealed a cave and a stone rolled away from its entrance. It is the time of year when Easter is approaching, but this looks like a permanent installation:
The church was built in a way you'd expect to do well in the desert:
A sign described some of the high points of history in the area. The thing I found most interesting: the town where this mission is located used to be South of the Rio Grande River, but after a big flood, the river changed course to the South of the town.
After winding around for several miles and finding the third mission (which had no visible signs of life), I decided to see how to get to my hotel from where I was, and found that I was only a short distance away. I would not have to get back on the freeway at all. Yay!
If you're interested, here's an article about posting the signs for El Camino Real in El Paso: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/history/2016/07/02/signs-mark-el-camino-real-el-paso-county/86618422/
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