We left Ft Stockton at 8:30 am after we got gas and a truck stop mocha (French Vanilla). The wind was not bad for about the first 50 miles then a fairly strong cross wind kicked in. It was then "two hands on the wheel" with hard right rudder applied pretty much the rest of the 250 miles remaining. There is essentially not much between Ft. Stockton and El Paso and certainly nothing that can be called a wind break.
El Paso is also an interesting place. It surprisingly takes about twenty miles to get through the city if you count the suburban sprawl. And every time we have come through the city over the last 5 years there has been road construction in progress. It continues.
After we turned north from El Paso to Las Cruces,NM the wind got worse - a 25 mph sustained crosswind with higher gusts. Fortunately we only had 30 more miles to go to the Hacienda RV Resort, our destination for the night.
After resting awhile, we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at the La Posta de Mesilla, our favorite Mexican restaurant here. It is located in Old Mesilla, just down the road from the RV park.
Old Mesilla used to be the main stagecoach stop here. It was a station on the old pony express trail as well as a trading post and cross road for commerce. When the railroad came through however it went through old Las Cruces and the town declined as Las Cruces grew. Today, Old Mesilla is essentially a suburb of Las Cruces and is both a tourist attraction and a modest residential community of working class Hispanics and most likely a number of arts and crafts people. There is a town square ringed with tourist shops and galleries and a Catholic church at the top of the square. There are also several good restaurants including the La Posta de Mesilla. We had a great meal after a long and tiring day.
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