Day 6 - Tucson, Arizona to Presidio, Texas (just on the outskirts of Big Bend).

After pushing Travis hard yesterday and keeping him up very late, Dean graciously lets him sleep in until 9 a.m. (7a.m. local time). Travis is still clinging to his two hour time differential, but since we plan on crossing two time zones today, Dean is not convinced it will do Travis any good. We get ready in our $45 motel, by far the worst one we've stayed at to date and excluding the ritzy resort hotel at the Grand Canyon the night before, also the most expensive. We discuss the importance of avoiding San Antonio on Friday night after learning this lesson on tourist towns (We guess Tucson is a tourist town; all of the hotels must have been expensive for some reason). Dean starts to get anxious to leave Arizona, especially after yesterday's two near-felonies, and hurries Travis along. Travis agrees to start the day with the top down. Dean is excited!

We knew from the start that today was going to be a long day of driving with very little excitement, so we decided to stop and eat a good breakfast before taking off, we are growing boys after all! Don't go to sleep on today's pics, most of them were taken from the moving car on an overcast day.

Mile 2226 - 9:30 a.m. local time, we finally pull out of the restaurant. Pretty lousy start for a full day where we will loose 2 hours. Dean is still driving.

Mile 2234 - (un)Officially leave Tucson City Limits.

Mile 2250 - Dean spots something familiar on the highway (remember it's a slow picture day).

For those of you who don't know, Dean works for Air Products and can't wait to get back to work.

Mile 2276 - Dean remembers that he left his coat hanging in the closet back at the motel. "What kind of cheap motel has a closet to hide stuff from me anyway?" He asks. Travis notes that this is not the first item Dean has lost on this trip.

Mile 2293 - Stop in Dragoon, AZ for gas. $1.699/gal. While filling up, Dean calls the motel. Good news, they will send him the jacket C.O.D. Travis assumes his familiar spot behind the wheel.

Mile 2327 - Travis almost hits a dove (you know the international sign of peace) on the highway. The needless slaughter is narrowly avoided, no thanks to Travis who appears to be in his "Driving Zone".

Mile 2361 - Stop while entering New Mexico for some documentation that we didn't make this trip up and are actually holed away in a basement somewhere playing on the internet all day.

Dean sighs a sigh of relief to be out of Arizona a free man!

Mile 2408 - Travis becomes so bored with I-10 that when they pass a tanker truck with placard number 1203, he makes Dean pull out the Hazmat book from the glove compartment and look it up. Those of you at home who play this game of course know the answer is petrol. If you have no idea what we are talking about, don't worry, you're not missing anything.

Mile 2415 - Cross Continental Divide at an elevation of 4,585 feet.

Mile 2424 - Almost hit another bird (you know it's a slow day when this makes our notes)! Dean quickly grabs the map and looks for back roads into El Paso.

Mile 2430 - Dean finds a back route and we finally pull off of I-10 after 204 miles. We are both glad to be off of the interstate.

Mile2444 - We enter Demming, NM and Dean begins a viscous game of "Slug-bug" with Travis.

Mile 2445 - Stop at the grocery store in Demming for more supplies, we are crossing the desert after all. One of us (you know who) stops a local in the grocery store and inquires about a back road to El Paso that he has found on the map. Local highly recommends the road and actually takes it himself to El Paso. We're off! 

Mile 2446 - Before embarking on a 90 mile trek through the desert, we decide to stop for gas. Surprisingly, we are approached by the two attendants at the station. Full service at a self service price. Does it get any better? Thanks Alex, you did a great job! You may never realize the pressure considering how particular Travis is about topping off his tank. Dean takes the wheel and heads off to cross the desert. $1.619 / gal.

Mile 2474 - Our road selection is just what we wanted, open road, little traffic, wide open vistas! Much better than the Interstate!

Mile 2539 - Stop outside of El Paso for a pic (we actually stopped this time). Unfortunately, you may not be able to make it out, but trust me, Juarez and El Paso are at the base of those Mountains.

Mile 2542 - Re-enter Texas. Travis says he is back home finally. Dean reminds him that we still have almost 1000 miles to go.

Mile 2545 - Dean hits Travis with yet another Slug-Bug (Travis claims he got hit 8 times, Dean says only 3). Travis starts whining and Dean apologizes and calls a ban on the slugging part of slugbug.

Mile 2556 - Dean drives into downtown El Paso and scares Travis with threats of mingling with the locals. Travis is hungry and starting to get cranky, so Dean decides to head for the suburbs to get Travis some fast food.

Mile 2559 - Re-enter I-10

Mile 2564 - Stop at Arby's and eat. Travis starts behaving much better now, Dean notes.

Mile 2572 - Leave El Paso city limits

Mile 2602 - Navigator Travis is finally on the ball and almost redeems himself by alerting dean about tire debris in road ahead. Can you tell we are back on I-10 when this is considered noteworthy?

Mile 2640 - Stopped at Immigration Inspection Station by Border Patrol. Despite Travis' dark complexion and newly acquired convertible top down tan, we are waved on through. Hope that hitchhiker we picked up had all his correct papers (Just kidding mom).

Mile 2644 - Stop in Sierra Blanca for Gas at $1.699/gal. Travis kicks Dean out of the driver's seat once again today.

Mile 2645 - Get lost #11 getting out of Sierra Blanca. Dean was even navigating.

Mile 2673 - Enter Central Time. Travis tries to adjust his watch while driving. Dean looks down at his, imagine that, he had the correct time all along.

Mile 2675 - Dean forces Travis to drive after sunset yet another night!

Mile 2678 - We leave I-10 in Van Horn for the last time until San Antonio. Yeah! We're off to Marfa on U.S. 90.

Mile 2744 - Alert navigator Dean spots antelope on road up ahead--slaughter is thankfully avoided.

Mile 2752 - Check in at the Holiday Capri Inn in Marfa, TX at 10 p.m. Two late nights in a row is too much and the antelope incident has us concerned. We paid $48 but it is the only place in town. In lobby, Dean sees brochure about the Mystery Lights of Marfa. After talking to the clerk, we decide to go out of town and check them out.

Mile 2762 - We actually see the mystery lights up in the hills outside of town. At first we are a little skeptical, but when we see them start to dance around Travis gets spooked and Dean wants to go out in the country and search for them. Travis tells him to wait until the "Unsolved Mysteries" trip. Dean doesn't think Travis will be on that expedition. We don't know if the lights are a hoax or not, but enjoyed seeing them and thinking that there is some unexplained phenomena going on out there.

Mile 2771 - Return to the hotel and call it a night. Total miles for the day is 545. Not great, but not bad for the late start and the two hour loss.

Other items from today:

- Travis makes note today not to wear white shirt in dirty car.

- And a personal note to Travis' friend Michelle in Dallas (who he has known since 5^th grade!), see below for the cattle guard.

To those of you that think our interest in bridges has diminished, think again, here's one from just today:

Tomorrow we plan on hitting Big Bend then on to San Antonio. Dean has to be back to Houston on Saturday and we're trying to get there on time. Hope you all enjoyed our day at least as much as we did, see you tomorrow. 

Thanks for all of the e-mail that we've received! We wish that we could answer everyone individually, but there just isn't enough time in the day to accomplish this. We do read them every night, and they really make our day. Thanks!