Today we visited Chamizal National Memorial which memorializes the peaceful resolution of the Chamizal boundary dispute:

The ambassador’s ring used to seal the agreement:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges and patches:

On our way, we drove right next to the border fence:

Our next stop was the National Border Patrol Museum:

A low-risk border patrol job:

Temporary border patrol tower:

This ultralight trike was seized after being used for drug smuggling:

The cart on the floor was used to ride between the concrete I-beam rails under the border bridge to smuggle over the fence.  See the photo on the easel for how they found it.  The boat was welded together from a pair of car hoods and used to cross the Rio Grande.  The boat in the corner was used to row aliens from Cuba to Florida:

Stretch motorcycle to bring groups of aliens over the border:

This diorama depicts the tracking and capture of illegal aliens:

We drove north, crossing into New Mexico and filling up our propane.  We then continued on to Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, a National Monument administered by the BLM (as opposed to NPS), established in 2014:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their pins:

The views from the trail next to the visitor center:

We headed west, stopping to use the RV dump station at a gas station in Deming, NM:

Continuing west, we found we were loosing pressure in a tire and discovered we had run over a nail.  We switched out the damaged tire and continued on:

We finally stopped to overnight at the Walmart of Globe, AZ.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

This morning I attempted to fly but was stymied by light and variable winds:

B modeled the boot cuffs Trish made for her:

We closed up the RV in preparation for our departure:

We said our farewells to Chupacabra, named after the mythical beast of the same name:

Ben was obviously depressed to see us go:

We gave John this portrait of Chupa as a parting gift:

John gave us a silver coin he minted himself:

He also gave us these two postcards.  John and Ben:

Benita, John’s first pet cow:

We were really sad to leave.  We really enjoyed spending time with John and seeing how he has made an amazing life for himself in the wilds of Texas.  We hope to return someday:

We drove north to the town of Fort Davis, site of Fort Davis National Historic Site, the best preserved US Army Fort in the US.  Fort Davis was built in 1854 and manned until the 1890s to defend settlers travelling the San Antonio – El Paso road from Indian attack:

Yes, that’s right, the narrator of the park film is none other than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar:

A room in the fort hospital:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

We drove west to overnight at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Last night’s Walmart has designated RV parking.  Thanks!

This little fellow was hitching a ride on the RV:

Our first stop of the day was the Mission San José unit of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park:

They grew them big out here:

The mission courtyard was ringed by housing which doubled as a defensive wall:

Some of the original plaster and paint from 1768 still remains:

We checked out the mission’s grist mill, the oldest in Texas:

The kids completed their Junior Ranger books and received their badges:

We left the RV at the visitor center and drove the truck to downtown San Antonio to visit the Mission San Antonio de Valero, more commonly known as The Alamo.  Here, 200 Texian defenders fell before Santa Anna and his 1,800 troops:

No interior photography was allowed, unfortunately.  After touring the site, we drove back to the RV, hitched up and continued driving west to overnight at the Walmart of Del Rio, Texas.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.