Day 7

Day 7

January 24, 2015

Miles: 1068

It's 0330 on day 8 technically and we just pulled in to our stop for the night.

So let's start from the beginning.

I woke up on a beautiful sunny day in El Paso on Day 7.  Relaxed from a halfway decent sleep after the hospital episode the night before.

I was super stoked today because I got to see my favorite Juan today!  We went to lunch and let me tell you, that was an experience all its own.

So we went to Los Altos Ranch Market on Zaragoza (yes the street is specific..) and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Juan described it like "as the Mexican HEB".  But, DUDE, it is SOOO friggin much more!!!

When you first walk in the door, you are bombarded with colors and smells.  The bakery is first and the sugary confections are wafting through the air.  Your eyes are overwhelmed by the vivacious colors clashing throughout the area.  The gelatin fruit cakes (yes you read that correctly) and pastries line the display cases while tres leeches and an assortment of other delectables surround the perimeter.... There's no escaping the scrumptious encasement!!!  Next you have a choice, you can walk through the produce aisle or walk next to the cocina with the agua fresca hut; both options are dangerously beautiful!  The whole store is broken up into markets around the dry goods in the middle, just like most other grocers, but this place.... The markets are just so bountiful!  So many options and it's just overwhelming!  I believe all 5 senses are stimulated at once in this place.... It's just.  Oh man I could write a book on the wondrous goodness that is Ranch Markets, instead I'll just post some pictures of heaven.

So lunch with my favorite Juan was AWESOME to say the very least. 

Next began our long trek.  We got into New Mexico and had to stop at a border patrol check point. That was fun... 😐

So we had maybe planned to stay in New Mexico for the evening but when my baby furry butt got sick, I was motivated to just drive until we got to where we would be staying for a long duration.  

The drive through New Mexico into Arizona was just BEAUTIFUL!  

I feel like I keep repeating adjectives, I apologize (it's super late and my brain is ceasing function quickly) but really these views are just awe-inspiring!!!  These are some of the shots.  Y'all have to remember I am the one that drives so my pictures are taken at a cruising speed of aprox 67mph through a windscreen off my mounted iPhone.  So as pretty as these images are, imagine their greatness in person.  My phone really does NOT do any of the landscapes any justice.

It was just.... Worth it.  The drive tonight, although exhausting, was so worth the entire trip!!!  I couldn't ask for a better backdrop to life!!

So yes, we drove all the way past Tucson to the middle of nowhere.  

We are now on a base surrounded by desert.  This place is so remote, they removed the water faucet valves so that when illegal immigrants wander in from the desert, they don't have a place to get water.  😳

I'd take a picture but you would see just darkness.

So now it's 0428 local time and I'm friggin WIPED!!

Just know I love y'all so much I started this blog early so it would be on the correct day, AND I stayed up after driving three states today just to finish this for y'all..

I love you.

I miss you.

Goodnight!