The Cochranes in Texas

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

so these are the missing photo's, will try harder next time...I am sure it said for me to do that on all my school reports anyway...obviously times have not changed.
Anyway, to sum up our evening in El Paso, much more mountainous than we had expected, seeing Mexico across the river..which by the way is the Rio Grande..which stands for 'great river'..is not great at this point of its journey..it is a pathetic trickle that is no more than ankle deep and only about 15'' wide..so very disappointing...the imagination is much better than reality!!!
Anyway, back to Mexico..there is a shanty town across the river, only feet separate the two countries, but the difference in appearance is stark. We followed Mexico for a lot of our journey to San Diego..will be posting more pictures..had to go through lots of border check points to confirm we were legal..they let us keep going...we obviously look fine..although Allan gets very antagonistic when being questions..he becomes very bullish, even in the airport..nightmare.but they still let us go..one check point suggested we carry all our documentation because we are British citizens, but the others were happy with our American driving license..which needed all the documentation to get...anyway..husband and wife survived the border control check points...just!!!
We ate in an Italian restaurant, always a winner with the boys, and when they are tired and hungry, you need to be thinking ease of a meal..and it worked for all of us.., slept well and were back on the road by 0630.
We had crossed a time zone just before El Paso so were now an hour behind Texas..in New Mexico it stayed the same, but Arizona do not recognise daylight saving, so they were still on pacific time, so when we went there it was back another hour..which we did not realise until we stopped for lunch in Tucson...and the Subway clock was at a different time..another story, am going now..need to get this day going

El Paso

so we arrived in El Paso on Saturday evening, it had been a long boring drive across Texas but the kids had enjoyed there new DVD player and films and no arguments had happened..in fact the first 'are we there yet' came from a friend in England texting us..so funny..made us laugh in the car..

I learnt that El Paso means..The Pass..so obvious when you see it, it literally lies in a break in the mountain range..and would have been a pass for those first traveling across this vast continent.

It is a long and thin town, but has all the trappings of a busy town..all the shops, high rises and traffic you would expect..although for some reason after all the comments I had heard about El Paso, I was expecting a more basic town...I also think it would be defined a city in Texas..so sorry if I got that wrong. Not sure where the other photos have gone I had downloaded..hate computers..will have to find them..one was of laura medical school..the reason she left us in Austin and moved here, one was a huge capital A on the side of the mountain..Alexander is fixated with that, sure it has been put there for him..and one of all the men up the mountains above Laura and Alfred's home, and of course El Paso. well lets try and find those while this posts..ahhhhhhh com puters

Today we go to Legoland

The boys are both excited, they have been counting down for months for today..LegoLand..so I am hoping they have a great day..Allan and I are expecting to have to go to all the lands and be exhausted by the end of today..but have two very content boys.

Last night we had an earthquake, so feel welcomed to California..can't say i enjoyed it, but it was not so dramatic once you knew what it was, and I was tired enough after spending a day walking up and down, down and up, ladders and steps on the USS Midway..

we realise we are becoming acclimatised to Texas, as the weather was sunny and in the low 70's yesterday, but we found it cool, and in the shade positively hugging arms to keep warm..might not have bought enough warm clothes..actually b ought none..just a fleece each for evenings in El Dorado Hills, because we know it gets cooler at night...Will and Victoria told us often enough..because in Texas the heat does not go at night, it still stays hot and can also be humid..

will go and try and put some photo's onto the computer from yesterday and download the iPhone as well..

am off to IHOP for breakfast now..for those not in the know, IHOP stands for International House of Pancakes, and they are open 24/7, everyday of the year..and all across America..so always a good standby when you arrive at silly times with kids..or when traveling..all my wonderful kids love IHOP