Big Bend NP to Carlsbad New Mexico via Van Horn.....19th/20th Feb

It's a cloudy morning as we leave Big Bend and head back north through Alpine to Van Horn.  We passed muster at the Border Control Post about 50 miles north of the Mexican border, the sniffer dog and border control police checked us out for stowaways, we were ready with our passports etc as we had passed the inspection point on the way down, we rounded a bend in the road and there is this bank of cameras mounted on poles all flashing away as we passed on down to BBNP..........
We did have a scary moment when leaving Alpine on the only road to Van Horn a 13ft 7in bridge !!! I remembered we had just cleared the same height on our way to Chattanooga last year.....well I had fingers crossed and holding my breath that I had remembered correctly !!!!!!!
And hey I thought you all might be having water tower withdrawal symptoms, this was in one of the 2 small towns we passed through on route !!!  Most of the journey up was flat plains, mountains on the horizon dead straight roads that went on for miles, telegraph poles and of course the railroad running along side of the road.......only saw one train though....

Because the terrain is so flat we could see this for miles before we got up close, at first it looked like a water tower suddenly we realise it's an airship, it was at a military research station.....
It's raining by the time we get to our overnight campsite at Van Horn and soooo cold but we get cosy and the next morning it's blue sky again and we are hitched and back on the road to Carlsbad, New Mexico....

Leaving Van Horn, not only another water tower but also a railroad crossing......

The first half of today's journey is on Texas 54 a minor road, lots of dips and flood run off areas......really interesting scenery, very pretty mountains and of course long straight roads........we shall have to get used to traffic again at some point !!

Hey there is snow on that mountain that we are heading towards.....we have to pass through the Guadeloupe Mountain Range which can be risky if there are strong winds but all ok today....

Our home on wheels parked at the picnic spot opposite El Capitan Mountain, next photo, in the Guadeloupe Mountain National Park, at elevation 8085 ft it is the 8th highest peak in Texas......

El Capitan......we are now in the Mountain Time Zone so 7 hours behind GB.
We shortly cross into New Mexico, a disappointing sign so small I didn't have time to take a pic......
Carlsbad is quite a big town so we can replenish our dwindling store cupboards including YorkieMan's beer !!!!
We also had a good chat with our "neighbours" for the night here at Carlsbad RV Park, full time RVers from California, what a nice guy, Jim, he burnt a disc for us and gave us the website info for low bridges in USA and other helpful hints......