Across the Southern U.S. – Day 2

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Off Interstate 10 in Texas

Starting just south of El Paso, Texas, today will see us on the road well into the evening. The other side of Texas alone is 775 miles (1,255 km) from where we are now, and our destination, at a minimum, is Shreveport, Louisiana.

Off Interstate 10 in Texas

As Caroline and I have already driven Interstate 10 across Texas back when we were returning to Phoenix on our year 2000 road trip, we are taking Interstate 20 east to scout this part of Texas that will take us near Pecos, Odessa, Abilene, Dallas, and Longview.

Jutta Engelhardt and Caroline Wise off Interstate 10 in Texas

On a pit stop near Sweetwater, Texas, we are awestruck by a formation of five B-1 stealth bombers flying in from the north and heading to some nearby Air Force base.

Near Cisco, Texas

Oil, bombers, and wide-open ranch land have us thinking about how much we are in President Bush’s corner of the woods. We stopped to stretch our legs again, this time just up the road (as measured in Texas miles) from Crawford, Texas, where the President’s ranch is located.

Eastern Texas near Interstate 20

Eastern Texas is lush and green, a beautiful place really, and with cattle out here, I’m starting to feel we’ve seen the soul of the Lone Star state today. It will be 8:00 p.m. before we cross into Louisiana, and with everyone still energized, we push forward, passing Shreveport on our way to Alexandria. The day ends late, but not as late as the night before. We have driven about 925 miles (1,500 km) today or the equivalent of driving from Berlin, Germany, to Rome, Italy. Finally, we are in a position to start the core of our trip into the Southeastern United States.

Across the Southern U.S. – Day 1

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

This will be the most ambitious trip we’ve attempted to make with Jutta. Back on our year 2000 cross-country journey that we embarked on following Jutta’s last visit, where we took her to Yellowstone, among other places, Caroline and I headed out for nearly a month as we drove to Maine and down to Louisiana before heading home. We wanted to share with her that spectacle of seeing the breadth of America while not duplicating the same path we took previously, so this one will focus on the southern United States.

Prior to our departure today, yesterday, the jet lag bogged my mother-in-law down with some long naps. In between, we packed and repacked her bag for what she’d need for the 12 days we were scheduled to be out. Hopefully well rested today; she and I locked our place at 3:00 and went to pick up her daughter.

Pikacho Peak in Arizona

Heavy traffic out of Phoenix doesn’t see us making great time. It’s after 5:00 p.m. by the time we reach Picacho Peak and 6:30 when we pull into Benson, Arizona, for our first pit stop. I have to admit I don’t know how these two women have such great bladder control. At 7:45, we are crossing into New Mexico and are now traveling with the plan that as we get to the point where we’re too tired to go on, we’ll grab a motel. On this first day, our goal was to get as far away from Phoenix as possible, and we did great pulling into the Fabens Inn in Fabens, Texas, just before midnight. We are 462 miles down the road.

A Short Road Trip

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Caroline Wise, Jutta Engelhardt, and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona

With jet lag in full effect, Jutta puts on her best face and says, “Let’s go.” I presented her with the option of taking the day off so she could rest, but she insisted on going with me to drop her daughter at work; Caroline’s vacation doesn’t start until late afternoon on Thursday.

Ocotillo bloom in Arizona desert

From Scottsdale Jutta and I are going to take a drive southeast to chase some of the spring blooms that Caroline and I were out looking at a couple of weeks before. This incredible specimen is the blossom from the ocotillo plant.

Jutta Engelhardt next to the Gila River in Winkelman, Arizona

We make it as far south as Winkelman, where we stop to check out the high water of the Gila River. While not flood stage, this is high for what feels more like a creek than a river.

Horse in Winkelman, Arizona

This horse was just wandering around; Jutta found it interesting because you won’t be finding random horses just anywhere in Germany. Our road back north through the Mescal mountains is to the east of the one that brought us through Kearny to the riverside. Along the way, Jutta and I talk, and she practices her English, which she insists is horrible, but it is not.

Jutta Engelhardt and John Wise in Globe, Arizona

Seeing Caroline couldn’t join us, I did the next best thing and drew her likeness so she could be with us in spirit. I would have loved for Jutta to join me with Caroline’s and my favorite spicy guacamole, but anything much spicier than ketchup for my mother-in-law will create such drama that you won’t be asking her to try a second time. We are at Ed’s La Casita East in Globe. We used to visit La Casita West in Superior, but it has since closed down.

Along highway 60 in Arizona

Looking back into the Superstition Mountains I stop where I can for Jutta to gather impressions of the wild desert landscape that she’s oft to tell me how beautiful it is and how amazed she is to be back in Arizona. Back in Phoenix, we stop at Indo Euro for Jutta to meet Sonal who Caroline has been telling her about during her weekly multi-hour phone calls. From there we go pick up Caroline and head home so these two can start going through the loot Jutta brought with her from Germany. Don’t go thinking jewelry or anything like that; imagine candy and knickknacks.