It's hard to believe that it is already day 29 of the 2017 Grand Western Tour. We have officially been traveling this amazing country for over 4 weeks. Today the group was lucky enough to sleep in and enjoy a relaxing morning at the Westward Look Resort. Our Tucson departure time was set for 9:30 AM but we couldn't leave until some of us got a little fresh picked fruit (thanks to Ward). The grounds of the resort were scattered with fruit trees like orange, grapefruit, avocado, and pomegranate!
About 70 miles down Interstate 10 we took a lunch break in Wilcox, Arizona. The crew chose from Carl's Jr., McDonald's, Safeway, Pizza Hut and Los Bertos. Southern Arizona seemed pretty desolate with dry hills and a few lonely farms. The group passed the time by listening to music, chatting with their seat partner, sleeping and watching a movie. The movie of choice was originally "High School Musical 2" but it turns out we only had the special features DVD! Oops! Next in line was "Bride Wars" starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson. The girls on the bus were definitely pleased with this choice, finally a "chick flick"!
After a while longer on the road, we crossed the Arizona-New Mexico State line. We stopped at an award winning rest area (1992) in Las Cruces but had to be quick because it was pouring down rain! The group sought shelter under a picnic area before hopping back on the bus.
Soon after making our way into Texas, we could spot the US-Mexico border on our right as we drove down the highway parallel to Juarez, Mexico. The group was expecting to see a large wall dividing the two countries. They were disappointed to only see a narrow section of the Rio Grande River and a small fence. There was definitely a noticeable difference in architecture between countries. Though the border wasn't flashy, it was exciting nonetheless!
We had a few minutes of free time between checking into the La Quinta in El Paso and dinner. A lot of our crowd used the time to check out a Sketchers store across the street or get a slurpee from Circle K. The group couldn't find a 7-Elevan a few days ago on National Slurpee Day (7-11), so this made up for it!
Our dinner tonight was an authentic Mexican buffet at Carlos and Mickey's. We started with tortilla chips and spicy salsa then moved onto the main course of enchiladas, tacos, flautas, rice, beans, and sopaipillas for dessert. Yum!
Gray finally got to live his dream of sitting in the shotgun seat of the bus!
After dinner, Jack and Anna took a few minutes on behalf of the group, to thank Clarence, our wonderful bus driver. Clarence has been patient, driven safely, cleaned up after us, and brought life to the group! He certainly has helped make this a trip of a lifetime. We appreciate all that he does!
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