el Paso

Monday, April 13, 2015
We woke up in El Paso, Texas.

It was rainy and cold (to us). We reserved the morning to do paperwork type tasks. I did my Duolingo Spanish and worked on the blog. Not sure what Ken was doing but it required concentration and quiet.

The employees at the Hotel must have trouble getting people to leave at the check out time. Four different people asked when we were leaving. Way to make customers feel welcome!

We ate lunch at an Oriental restaurant. It was great to have good oriental food again. That is something that is somewhat lacking in parts of Mexico. We had tons of food, enough for supper.

We drove around to malls and a few thrift stores. We are looking for some mix and match items for Europe. Perhaps a bit upscale and a bit more drab than we are used to. I need boots as I did not bring any with me. I have cold feet, literally. Ken is looking at the computer scene and Europe. We might buy an iPad mini. We need some European adaptors, etc.

We are so not use to the cooler weather. Considering about two weeks ago we were in Merida and it was oven hot for the early afternoon. It feels weird to wear so many clothes, too.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015
We shopped to day for items for Europe.

We know we need to cut down on the amount of items we take and must change out style slightly. I guess what we find will influence our style slightly. We are fortunate to be able to shop in the US before going on our trip. There is such a variety of clothing to choose from and price ranges to go along with that. We also need things like luggage and converter plugs for different countries.

The day was spent shopping. What can I say. Some days that is what you need to do. Big American cities are fun to explore but they are also fun to shop in. To day that is what we have to do.

At supper we were enticed by a huge Mexican restaurant. We both thought we might be not wanting Mexican food for awhile, not so. It was delicious. They had a big salsa bar that could have also served as a salad bar with lettuce, cucumber and radishes. We walked around it this area, too. We were able to stand by the tall skinny cactus with red flowers on the end. They are very tall, you could not tell from driving by them on the highway. We also saw the little clumps of yellow flowered plants.

After supper we were off to Albuquerque or close to it. We knew we would be driving in the dark but in the States that is relatively okay so long as the weather holds out. I was not thrilled with staying at a rest area because we had not done it for so long. By the time we got there I was so tired I did not really care anymore. It was very cold outside, too. The desert can be very cold after dark.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015
We mostly did shopping today.




We are trying to get a new wardrobe for Europe. We have read travel blogs so we would have some idea of the weather where we are going and the types of clothing needed. We want a wardrobe that coordinates nicely so that we can take a limited amount of items. We will be taking short plane flights from one destination or city to another. The prices are cheap compared to flights in Canada. The one clincher is that they charge for anything but overhead luggage. We are going to buy luggage that will fit overhead, so we do not get charged. This also cuts down on the amount we have to dig through when looking for something. I think it will streamline out entire trip.

We ate lunch downtown at a place we chose on a previous trip. It is a vegetarian, East Indian restaurant - A&M Spices. The food it so delicious. We split a dish and were full. It came on a big divided, stainless steel tray with little stainless bowls. Both of us made sure we complimented the owners on the good food.

At some point while on our whirlwind shopping expedition Ken discovered we had a flat tire on the rear, driver's side tire. We were lucky enough to be in a parking lot with a garage on the corner. We had a little air so Ken just drove up to the garage and a mechanic put air in for us. We drove to a Big O Tire shop (our brand) to get the tire fixed (free repairs) but it could not be fixed. Long story short, we got quotes and will figure out our tire situation tomorrow. On with more shopping.

We walked a bit in the area. It was pretty cold for us two since it seems like not that long ago we were in Merida where it was almost too hot. Somewhere in the middle would be nice. Cold is definitely not as good a hot.