Photos: The Road Home (Juarez, Mexico, El Paso, TX, Guadalupe Mountains, and Pecos, TX)

[thehefner]

So going to Juarez was a bad idea. I survived and didn't run into any trouble, which also means I don't have that much of a story to tell, but that city was scarier than the scariest dive bar in Vegas.

Well, Atomic Liquors' scariness was only alleged by one of my guidebooks, but my other main guide book offered no such warnings about Juarez, Mexico. Quite the opposite, in fact! ROAD TRIP USA said:

Largest by far of the Mexican border cities, Ciudad Juárez (pop. 1.2 million, and growing fast) is a compelling, disturbing, exciting, and unforgettable place to visit. Though the city sprawls through miles and miles of some of the worst pollution and direst poverty in Mexico, the downtown areas offer a quick taste of the country, and a half-hour walk can take you very far away from the United States.

Doing this would have been a horrible idea even if you weren't a pasty gringo wearing a bowler derby, a bright red scarf, and a giant tourist camera around your neck. I didn't even make it count either, just snapping off this shot:





And these ones of a cathedral recommended to me by the waiter at a restaurant I perused for an hour.







The waiter was an affable sort who spent most of his life in the States, so communication was no problem. I wish I could remember any of it, really. That's one of those many little encounters I had that are just gone now, the kind of things that just make me wish I had a tape recorder on my person at all time. Then again, maybe wearing a wire in Juarez would be a bad idea generally. The next day, NPR has a news report that there were over 6200 drug-related murders in Mexico over the past year, and the majority of those were in Juarez.

After sleeping in an El Paso hostel, I continued Eastward, getting breakfast in the Texas ghost town of Salt Flat (Population 54, but good luck finding them), which contained this sole cafe:



I had pancakes made with too much Bisquik, accompanied by gritty sausage patties. Then, I headed toward the Guadalupe Mountains State Park, another waste of time for anyone like me who has neither the gear nor time nor interest to really make the most of such a place. It's a sin to stand at the cusp of nature's bounty and just snap pictures, particularly pictures that just look like so much dust and sagebrush:









No, I'm not the hiking sort. Not doing it alone, anyway. Just driving on through the desolation of desert and abandoned buildings held far more interest to me.





















I searched for Orla Grocery on Google and found this: "Orla is a ghost town in Reeves County, Texas, United States. It lies about 38 miles north of Pecos. It is believed to have two residents and has its own post office, located on U.S. Route 285.[citation needed]"





Coming into the town of Pecos, signs advised turning to an AM channel to hear Pecos tourist information. A static-filled looped recording of a self-proclaimed Pecos Bill heartily recommended visiting the town's "famous" West of the Pecos Museum. This proved to be rather like the Deming Museum of Weird Random Antiques, but with a more western flair. But they had a budget, of sorts, as evidenced by the motion-activated animatronic bartender who would LOUDLY recount the gunfight that happened in this very bar:







It occurs to me that I'm being too blasé about this place, particularly when I looked it up to discover all these people rave about how fun it was. I dunno. I wasn't in the best mindset to appreciate it, nor anything else at that point. Even now, with perspective, I can't look back at these photos and find anything particularly fun or neat to enjoy. All I remember is how I felt as I took the shots, what few I took.











Much of the museum featured references to Judge Roy Bean, an eccentric Texas icon of whom I'd never heard, not even realizing that he was the self-proclaimed "Law West of the Pecos."





The rest of Pecos itself was technically a thriving city, but to me it looked as desolate as any other part of Texas highway:





A Google search revealed that this place was still open nine months earlier, as a traveler for Dallas Food and Wine Blog posted a rave review.





I'm actually sad that I'll never know just what quite made them "Texas-Sized."





Finally, a Rest Stop provided a welcome reminder that I was indeed in Texas.





In truth, I took this photo for fishymcb and all the other MST3K fans out there:

Comments

[angrylemur.livejournal.com]

Not that this is less awful, but I think you were probably actually pretty safe in Juarez, as someone who is neither a) involved in drugs at all, or b) a lady. Murders in Juarez are really mainly epidemic among those two groups of people (particularly women; there's been a huge backlash of violence against women who work in Juarez - not even in illegal/illicit professions, but women with, like, factory jobs - it's really, really bad).

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Very true, but even if I weren't decked out in my Hefner best/worst, I think I'd still be screaming "EASY MARK."

And yeah, I had heard a bit about the violence against women there. It's horrifying.

[pure-doxyk.livejournal.com]

You went on a Desolate Pictures Trip and DIDN'T come to Detroit? What the fuck, man?

;)

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Ever seen THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE? "Take him to be tortured. ... Take him to Detroit." "NOOOOO! NOT DETROIT! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

[pure-doxyk.livejournal.com]

And when people say that around here, they usually aren't kidding. Heh.

[viajes.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, there was just an article in the Atlantic about how Juarez is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. I have been forbidden from going there on my road trip by both my bf and my mother. Even though I'll probably pass through El Paso.